Line/Copyediting
Your project’s narrative structure and story are solid. Now let's make it sparkle at the level of each paragraph, sentence, and word.
Here you have some options:
All of these services include:
Because we’re all trying to be kind and get it right, I always query, explain, and propose solutions if I encounter language or storytelling that strikes me as potentially harmful to readers because of connections to ableism, racism, fat phobia, classism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, or any other cultural yuckiness.
- A copyedit attends to consistency, correctness, and adherence to a particular publisher’s (or your own) style requirements: noticing that a sentence’s grammar went wonky, a “you’re” snuck in where “your” belongs, or that the color is spelled “grey” in some places and “gray” in others, for example. A copyeditor combs the texts for errors, suggests corrections, and queries the author when uncertain of the intended meaning. This is for you if your manuscript has already been line edited and you are seeking a straight-up copyedit as the editorial stage before proofread.
- A line edit focuses on more stylistic issues such as voice, clarity, readability, flow, point of view, qualities of language such as precision and conciseness, and the relationships amongst language, emotion, atmosphere, and pacing. A line editor will flag mechanical issues when noticed in passing but is not focused on seeking out every possible error. This is the way to go if you want someone to focus eagle-eyed on stylistic qualities, jump into the music of your scenes, and leave the mechanics for later. A partial line edit—this kind of stylistic edit applied to a limited amount of the text—can also be an economical option for writers who are confident self-editors but want an outside perspective on what’s working and what might benefit from adjustment.
- The service I typically offer at this stage, sometimes called a heavy copyedit, is a hybrid of these two types of edit. Here, I edit for both style and mechanics, which I see as inextricably linked in creative writing.
All of these services include:
- extensive in-text edits, comments, and queries,
- a style sheet listing details such as how numbers are treated, which spelling is used when multiple options are correct, the nitty gritty of hyphenation, and how the text represents text messages or telepathy or whatever you’ve got going on (or additions to an existing style sheet if you’re already working from one), and
- a detailed editorial letter tailored to your particular concerns, strengths, voice, and values as a storyteller.
Because we’re all trying to be kind and get it right, I always query, explain, and propose solutions if I encounter language or storytelling that strikes me as potentially harmful to readers because of connections to ableism, racism, fat phobia, classism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, or any other cultural yuckiness.
genres & content
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I am available to edit your joyful, nerdy work, including but not limited to:
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I don’t work on material that involves:
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nuts & bolts
I primarily work in American (US) English and am well-versed in The Chicago Manual of Style and loads of other relevant resources.
For line/copyediting, clients typically send me a Word or Pages file, which I edit using Track Changes and Comments. For interactive narratives, I am most used to working in Sublime Text on games written in ChoiceScript. Let me know if you have other needs.
For line/copyediting, clients typically send me a Word or Pages file, which I edit using Track Changes and Comments. For interactive narratives, I am most used to working in Sublime Text on games written in ChoiceScript. Let me know if you have other needs.
What's next?
If you think this sounds promising, let’s communicate! The first step in my process is to get to know you and your work and, of course, answer your questions. From there, I’ll ask to see some excerpts from the text to be edited. All that data allows me to put together one or more custom editorial packages for you to consider, along with samples of what my work looks like in the context of your own writing. Then, if we’ve determined it’s a good fit, we’ll sign an agreement and get to work!
