cOPY AND lINE eDITING

For refining your manuscript

Copy and line editing is the final step for writers getting ready to query or self-publish. This sentence-level edit checks your manuscript for errors in grammar, punctuation and spelling. It also digs into the depth of your words and cleans up ambiguity and strengthens language.

I only recommend copy and line edits once you’re completely satisfied with your manuscript and there are no more big-picture revisions to be made. Trust me, it would be a pain to clean your grammar and enhance your language…only to scrap it all and have to re-edit because you realized you had a gaping plot hole to sew together still.

My goal in copy and line editing is to strengthen your prose and make sure your work meets top editorial standard so you can be proud of it, whatever your publishing end goals.

What I Focus On

Copy editing is the final step in making your prose shine. In my copy edits, I focus on

  • Words or sentences that are extraneous or overused

  • Run-on sentences

  • Cutting out redundancies

  • Dialogue or paragraphs that can be tightened

  • Strengthening scenes where the action is confusing or the meaning is unclear

  • Enhancing bland language use

  • Improving the pacing of a passage

  • Correcting spelling, grammar, punctuation, and syntax

  • Ensuring consistency in spelling, hyphenation, numerals, fonts, and capitalization

Pricing

up to 50,000 words: $250

up to 80,000 words: $400

81,000-100,000 words: $500

101,000-120,000 words: $600

***I offer a 10% discount to returning clients.

What You’ll Receive

Your copy and line edit will include the following:

  • A pre-call to meet the editor (me) and go over your vision and goals for your manuscript as well as ask me any questions

  • A line-by-line copy edit of your manuscript focusing on the elements I listed above. Microsoft Track Changes will be used so you can see and approve all the edits once I send you the final product

  • A consistency style guide to make sure spelling of character names, places, and other words are uniform throughout the manuscript

So What’s Next?

Request a copy and line edit!

Fill out my contact form and tell me a little bit about yourself and your novel.

I will let you know my schedule, and we can move forward with scheduling your edit and arranging the downpayment. I will usually have a copy and line edit done in 6 weeks. After the edit is complete, I will send you a preview of the manuscript edits and request the remaining fee. Once it is paid, the full manuscript with track changes will be sent to you.

To request a copy and line edit, fill out the contact form. I look forward to working with you!