Copyediting
I provide three different levels of copyediting.
During a light copyedit, I ensure that the mechanics—spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, punctuation, numbers, quotations, abbreviations, fonts, and treatment of special elements and footnotes—and the language—grammar and word use—are correct and consistent. I check correlating parts within the manuscript, such as cross-references, illustrations, tables, and lists, and highlight areas where text may be missing.
I give some attention to the content of the manuscript during a medium copyedit. In addition to performing all light copyediting tasks, I change text and headings to ensure parallel structure and suggest changes to wordy or ambiguous sentences. I highlight, for your review, suspected factual inaccuracies and logic gaps. I can also ensure that tenses are consistent throughout the text.
During a substantive (or heavy) edit, I work more directly on the manuscript, rewriting wordy or ambiguous text, eliminating unnecessary redundancies, smoothing transitions between sections and paragraphs, revising facts that are incorrect or inconsistent, and correcting faulty organization and ensuring logical flow by moving text and suggesting where additional language may be needed. I also identify places for graphics and sidebars, if appropriate, and build front and back matter (such as glossaries). All the mechanical and grammatical tasks of light copyediting and the structural tasks of medium copyediting are included.
For all work, I develop and provide a style sheet that annotates the editorial rules that I have followed. The style sheet also includes a listing of key words and terms, so that you can see how I have treated them in the text.