Proofreading

I provide proofreading services to book publishers, independent book authors, magazines, businesses, and nonprofits.

Proofreading is typically the last round of editing that a piece of text receives. It often (and ideally) follows a round of copyediting. It includes the nitty-gritty, fine-detail work of checking things like grammar, punctuation, and spelling one last time, as well as looking over the formatting, particularly for writing that has been set in its final layout.

I normally proofread in Word or on PDF using Adobe Acrobat.

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Copyediting

I copyedit many types of prose, including books (both fiction and nonfiction), articles, academic material, writing by businesses and nonprofits, and web copy.

Copyediting includes checking grammar, punctuation, spelling, consistency (of character and place names, timelines, and other details), word choice (ensure or insure? accept or except?), and light fact-checking (confirming things like spelling of places and names, and the dates of historical events). For book manuscripts, the copyediting round typically comes after a round with a developmental and/or substantive editor, who helps with big-picture details such as the overall structure and flow of a manuscript, character issues, and plot.

Copyedits are typically done in Microsoft Word, using the Track Changes tool to make edits and add comments and queries. (Google Docs has a more limited set of editing tools.)

English Language Editing

I help people who speak English as a second (or third, or fourth!) language smooth out their writing so that it is as clear and natural as possible. For this type of work, I do all the work I do in a copyedit, plus provide extra help to make the English sound more fluent. I have experience working on master’s theses and PhD dissertations, on articles to be submitted to a professional journal, and on other types of materials that need the touch of a native English speaker and writer.