Copyediting

After you’ve done your developmental and line edits, a good copy edit will ensure that grammar, spelling and punctuation consistently follow your chosen style guide and preferences.

I am experienced in copyediting across a wide variety of genres and in various regional styles, such as Canadian, British and American English. I can also localize your work for a specific regional market, if that’s your preference.

The copy edit will verify the consistency of timelines, character attributes and other details, too, while flagging anachronisms and potentially libellous content.

For works that contain them, headings, tables, figures and captions will be checked for consistency with the body text and for preferred style. Likewise, citations and bibliographies will be cross-referenced and styled according to the requested format.

Any questions I have for the author on these points will be queried in the returned manuscript with a clear explanation of the question itself as well as suggested solutions where applicable.

A style sheet will be assembled during the edit and returned to you as a record of your book’s style choices. I will include a list of all proper nouns, a list of style preferences and an alpha list of general spelling preferences (that you prefer alright to all right, for example). You can pass this list to your proofreader to ensure continuity of work and reference it when it comes time to write your follow-up works.

Proofreading

After your work has been copyedited and then typeset or prepared for publication, proofreading will catch any grammar, spelling and punctuation concerns that remain, following your chosen style guide and copyediting style sheet.

The proofread will also address any typesetting issues, such as misaligned text and incorrect spacing or font usage, ensuring that the final product is correct and legible.

As with copyediting, I am experienced in proofreading a wide variety of genres and in various regional styles, such as Canadian, British and American English.