TYPES OF EDITING

There are many types of editing, so it’s easy to become confused. We’re going to keep it simple and only deal with two types. I combine three into one: copyediting, line editing, and mechanical editing. Let’s call this a “combined edit.” See descriptions below marked with red.

If I see an issue, I may send you notes related to substantive and/or developmental editing along with your requested edit, but I am not a developmental editor.

If you only want a light edit, or proofreading, after you have made your editing changes, we can do a proofread edit. See description below noted with teal.

Your cost can be by the hour, or by page. How much it will be depends on how much editing you need (do you have many errors, how well you write).

That’s why I would like for you to send three pages of your manuscript (a few chapters past the beginning, because people always work harder on their first chapter; I want to see a sample of what the majority of it will read like) for a free edit.

This will also allow you to decide whether you like my brand of editing. If it’s a screenplay, please send five to ten pages. Send me an email (on contact page) to ask any questions; I'll send you a direct email address to which you may send your pages.

For your reference the different types of editing (abbreviated descriptions) are:

• Copyediting – applies a professional polish to your work, grammar check, and punctuation.
• Line Editing – falls between copyediting and developmental editing. It’s a more intense line-by-line edit that examines your grammar and punctuation plus word choices, syntax, and whether your sentence needs tightening or trimming. Line editing makes your prose sing.
• Mechanical Editing – is related to style, and applies a particular style manual’s rules (i.e., The Chicago Manual of Style) to your prose regarding punctuation, capitalization, spelling, abbreviations, and any other style issues.
• Substantive Editing – considers your work not just from a sentence level, but looks at paragraphs and chapters individually for structure. It can be confused with developmental editing—or line editing—but it isn’t the same.
• Developmental Editing – looks at the big picture, delves deep to consider pacing, plots and subplots, your characters, their point-of-view, tense, and dialogue—and a whole lot more. It’s also a major financial investment for you, because it is a major time investment for the editor.
• Proofreading – this is to proofread after you have made the edits, to be sure that nothing was missed, and that you made all of your edits without leaving in a word or leaving out a word (so often seen after an edited manuscript has been published but didn’t get that final proofread). Don’t be in such a hurry that you skip this.