COPY EDITING SERVICES

Copy Editor Services

DO YOU NEED A COPY EDITOR OR A PROOFREADER?

Are you unsure of the difference between discreet and discrete? Do you write defiantly when you mean definitely? Are your manuscripts laughed out of an editor's office and rejected before the editor finishes reading the first page? I can help you.

I offer both proofreading and basic copy editing services. What’s the difference? Proofreading is looking for SPAG errors (spelling, punctuation, and grammar). It’s typically done when a story or article is nearly ready for publication. Copy editing includes finding and correcting SPAG errors, but also checking for jargon, wordiness, awkward transitions, a character who changes the spelling of her name from chapter three to chapter seven, and making sure that the article fits the preferred style of the intended publication. For an excellent explanation of copy editing vs. proofreading, I recommend this article.

RATES

For basic copy editing, I charge $25 an hour, at an estimated pace of 5-10 manuscript pages per hour.

For proofreading, I charge $20, at an estimated pace of 10-15 manuscript pages per hour.

According to the Editorial Freelancers Association, the industry standard for a manuscript page is a firm 250 words.

[I do not do heavy copy editing, line editing, or website copy editing at this time.]

For ghostwriting blogs, I charge $10 for the first 250 words, $20 for a 251-500 word article, $30 for 501-750 words, etc.

For assisting an author to format their story into standard manuscript format, my rates are negotiable depending on the length of the story and whether or not I am also copy editing that story. E-mail me to discuss it in private.

These prices are currently lower than the EFA suggested industry rates because the ink is barely dry on my certificate. My prices will be rising to editorial standards once I am no longer a novice, so take advantage of these low rates now. They won’t last more than a year.

QUALIFICATIONS

I am a member of American Copy Editors Society (ACES) and a guest member of Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). I have a Poynter ACES Certificate in Editing from Poynter News University. My BA is from San Diego State University, with a major in English. I am a former teacher, with years of experience grading papers. Would you like to hire me to polish your prose?

TESTIMONIALS

"You are efficient, easy to work with, smart, and direct." Bob Brown, editor of Alternative Truths, publisher of B Cubed Press.

"Thank you so much! And you are a great proofreader! :-)" Vera Nazarian, author of Mansfield Park and Mummies, Cobweb Bride, and the Atlantis Grail series, publisher of Norilana Books.

“I have just gone through and implemented your recommendations, following your advice in all but the very fewest instances — the ones where you said I could get away with it as a matter of personal style. You have a magnificent eye for the errant typo, and your suggestions regarding grammar were spot-on in every instance. You definitely spotted many places where I *thought* I knew the correct spelling…but didn’t! Dalmatian and monocle and others! As Mark Twain said — I’m sure you know the quote — “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” Thank you again and again and again! You are my hero, and I cannot thank you properly!” Jefferson P. Swycaffer, author of Warsprite, Web of Futures, and the Concordat of Archive series.