Copyediting

Copyediting is an essential step in publishing your book or journal article. A skilled copy editor will
  • remove inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation;
  • point out factual errors;
  • correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors;
  • eliminate redundancies and wordiness; and
  • cross-check each citation and reference and conform them to a consistent style.

What copyediting is

When your manuscript is complete and all major revisions (restructuring, rewriting) are complete, copyediting polishes the prose; corrects grammar infelicities; conforms spelling, punctuation, and capitalization to a consistent style; examines all the pieces of the manuscript (figures, tables, illustrations, appendixes) in relation to the text; and cross-checks and formats the citations and reference lists. If the manuscript has not been line edited, then copyediting can include some sentence-level rewriting, but larger passages that need rewriting or refining will be flagged for your attention.

When this should be done

Copyediting is the last step before submitting your manuscript to a publisher.

About the cost

  • I use a per-page rate for copyediting based on my review of the manuscript and our discussion of the scope of the work.
  • A deposit of 50 percent of the fee is required at the time of scheduling the work.
  • If you will be using institutional funds to pay for my services, I will likely need to register as a vendor or independent contractor with your institution. I'm happy to do this, but I'll need your help to make that connection as soon as possible.

The process

  • With all of the pieces of the manuscript in hand, I'll copyedit using Microsoft Word's tracked changes feature, so all of my changes will be visible to you.
  • I'll also create a comprehensive style sheet for this manuscript, detailing points of usage and style and cataloging names, terms, and abbreviations. If you have a contract with a publisher, I'll follow the styles preferred by that publisher.
  • You'll have the opportunity to review my changes and make additional revisions of your own, including overwriting my revisions or restoring the original where you prefer. At this point the tracking will be "locked," so your revisions will also be tracked when you return the manuscript to me for cleanup.
  • You'll return the manuscript to me for one final pass in which I'll complete the process of accepting or rejecting revisions according to your direction, and I'll return to you a clean, consistently edited manuscript, ready for submission to the publisher.

When to schedule

Copyediting can take two to three weeks for books and five to ten days for journal articles or chapters.

​Plan to schedule copyediting one to two months in advance for books and three to four weeks in advance for journal articles or chapters.
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