In all jobs the first hour is free. I’ll make general comments or suggestions for your document or edit a sample of it. If you’re interested in having more, I will then give an obligation-free quote. I hope my comments are helpful regardless of whether you decide to engage me to do more.
Editing is usually divided into three stages: structural (substantive) editing, copyediting and proofreading. I find it useful to further divide copyediting into what I call ‘standard’ copyediting and ‘value-added’ copyediting, as noted below.
The borders between the stages are not bright lines, and authoritative sources don’t always agree about which details belong where. So it’s important that we have a good talk about your situation and your goals for the document so I have a clear understanding of how much intervention you’d like.
Structural (substantive) editing means suggesting improvements to the length, structure, content and character of the document as a whole considering its purpose and intended readers. For example, it will ensure that:
- the length and level of detail suits readers’ needs and assumed knowledge
- the story or line of argument is clear and complete; nothing important is missing
- the order of material and the structure of sections and headings is logical and supports the line of argument
- the overall character conveyed by the use of language (for example neutral, formal, academic) is appropriate for readers’ needs.
Standard copyediting means checking the document line by line to ensure that:
- spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct
- the intended meaning is clear
- language is used consistently to convey the desired character
- styles are used consistently for normal text and other elements such as headings, tables, captions, block quotes, footnotes and endnotes
- in-text citations and bibliographic references use an agreed referencing style
- the style for words follows an agreed style sheet on details such as the use of capital letters in proper names, hyphens, numerals, italics, abbreviations and rendering of specialist terms.
Value-added copyediting may include, in addition to the points above:
- make minor changes on Plain English/plain language principles to improve readability (some examples are on my ‘Resources’ page, below the fold)
- check that the discussion of numerical or statistical material is clear and accurate
- comment on design aspects of figures, tables and infographics
- comment on matters that the editing may suggest concerning the overall structure or content (without looking for these matters exhaustively—that would be part of structural editing).
Proofreading is done after the content is completely finalised. It means checking all other details to do with the appearance and consistency of the document—for example:
- there are no typographical errors
- pages, headings, tables, illustrations, captions and notes are correctly numbered
- cross-references are accurate and hyperlinks work
- the table of contents matches the document.
Proofreading a designed document will also check that:
- nothing has been accidentally omitted during the design
- the content lies neatly on the page—for example, there are no widowed or orphaned lines; headings are suitably sized to show the heading hierarchy; elements such as figures and tables are near their related text.