One step closer to your closest reading yet.
Copy editing
Maybe you’re an independent publisher looking for a freelancer who can work within a crunch.
Maybe you’re an author looking to polish your manuscript before sending it out to contests or open calls.
I’m here to make your life easier.
Do you have a house or personal style guide? Fantastic. Otherwise, I will default to the industry standard Chicago Manual of Style. I can also work in AP, APA, and MLA.
You may have time constraints that only allow for a light edit. Or you may want me to really sink my teeth in and help your style and flow. Or you may have a budget. Let me know your needs and we can discuss.
Rates
My rate for basic copy editing with no stylistic input is $12 per 250-word page. I copy edit for grammar, spelling, usage, and factual errors.
My rate for copy editing with in-depth stylistic input is $16 per 250-word page. Stylistic editing means I comment on your habits, pet words/phrases, flow, diction, and tone with the intention of maintaining consistency.
At this time, these rates are negotiable.
For more complex requests, please describe your needs in an email.
I am happy to provide Zoom consultations and offer quotes.
Want to work together? Have a question? Fill out the form below!
Let’s work together
What is copy editing?
If you’re a publisher, you already know what you want. Feel free to skip this section and put me to work.
If you’re an author, let’s make sure what you want is a copy editor.
A copy editor is not:
A developmental editor. A developmental editor helps with big picture items like plot and character development. I work on a smaller scale than that.
A content editor. This is similar to a developmental editor. Content editors work on a more structural level. Again, I work on a smaller scale.
A proofreader (hear me out). I mean this in an industry sense. When you think proofreader, you’re probably thinking someone who checks grammar and spelling. And yes, I do that. When I say proofreader, I mean someone who looks at proofs of a manuscript and checks alignment, margins, and formatting before printing. I do not do that as a copy editor.
An acquisitions editor, agent, or distributor. Maybe it goes without saying, but I’m not the person who’s going to put your book out into the world. I’m the person who’s going to make sure it doesn’t have any mistakes in it when it is out in the world.
A copy editor is:
…a proofreader. Or what we normally think of as a proofreader outside of the industry jargon meaning. I check grammar, spelling, usage, italicization, dashes, ellipses, etc.
A fact checker. Would someone really be driving that model of car in that year and in that city? Does that breed of dog really shed that much? Was the moon full on May 7, 1989? (No, it was a waxing crescent.) Let my obsession with veracity and research help you save face.
A general error net. Did you make it rain more than the yearly average in Alamogordo in just one week? I’ll let you know.
A copy editor can sometimes be:
A stylistic editor. If you want, I’ll make notes on your flow, pet phrases, overused imagery, etc.
A line editor. Not all line editing is copy editing, and not all copy editing is line editing. This goes hand-in-hand with stylistic editing and has to do with flow, consistency, and how comfortable lines feel with each other.