Who Needs An Editor?

The first port of call when editing, a Developmental Edit provides a critical analysis of how the book works as a whole and on an individual chapter/section basis. The work is examined for troublesome writing habits on a large scale which permit fatal errors in structure. This includes examining the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript relevant to engaging the target audience with a focus on topics, thoughts, advice, while managing structure, theme, and voice. A Developmental Edit ensures balance before publishing. 

The line-editing part of the process seeks to make the writing consistent, smooth, and compelling so the reader moves effortlessly through the material. It analyses the creative content, writing style, and language use at the sentence and paragraph level of the manuscript.

The purpose is not to search the manuscript for errors but to focus on how the Author uses language and words to communicate their ideas, searching for tone, writing style, atmosphere, and emotion while avoiding cliché, repetition, redundant words, and convoluted language.

The copy-editing part of the process addresses flaws on a very technical level and is designed to correct the mechanics, grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. This process will also flag ambiguous or factually incorrect statements, and ensures correct use of hyphenation, numerals, fonts, and capitalization, etc. It will highlight any discrepancies within the manuscript such as with facts or figures.

As a final review of the manuscript, this service will ensure the Work is ready for publication. Although the manuscript may have gone through developmental editing, line editing, and copy editing, errors can still get missed in these earlier review stages.

Proofreading is the last opportunity to correct any errors which may have slipped through before it is published.