What is the difference between editing and proofreading?

Editing and proofreading are both important steps in the writing process, but they serve distinct purposes.

Editing focuses on improving the overall quality, clarity, and effectiveness of a written piece. It involves a comprehensive review and revision of the content, structure, style, and language.

Proofreading comes after editing and concentrates on identifying and correcting surface-level errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting. Proofreaders examine the final draft of a document to ensure it is error-free and ready for publication.

What are the different kinds of editing?

There are several types of editing, each serving a specific purpose in the process of refining written or visual content:

1. Structural Editing: Also known as developmental or substantive editing, this type focuses on the overall structure, organization, and flow of the content. It involves rearranging or reorganizing sections, clarifying ideas, and ensuring coherence and logical progression.

2. Copy Editing: Copy editing involves thoroughly reviewing the text to improve readability, eliminate errors and ambiguity, and adhere to the established style guide or editorial standards. Sentences may be rephrased or rewritten to enhance the author’s intended message.

3. Line Editing: Line editing delves deeper into the language and style of the writing. It focuses on improving sentence structure, word choice, clarity, and consistency. Line editors often provide suggestions to enhance the prose and make it more engaging.

4. Content Editing: Content editing is specific to digital content, such as web pages, blog posts, or online articles. It involves optimizing the content for search engine optimization (SEO), ensuring it aligns with the target audience, and enhancing readability for online consumption.

5. Technical Editing: Technical editing is specialized editing for technical or scientific documents. It involves verifying the accuracy of technical information, checking for consistency in terminology and notation, and ensuring compliance with industry or publication standards.

6. Visual Editing: Visual editing is primarily related to images, videos, or other visual media. It includes tasks such as cropping, resizing, color correction, enhancing visual elements, and ensuring overall visual coherence.

7. Proofreading: Proofreading is the final stage of editing and focuses on identifying and correcting errors or typos that may have been missed during previous editing stages. It involves meticulously reviewing the content to ensure accuracy, consistency, and formatting.

These editing types may overlap or be combined depending on the context and requirements of the content being edited.

What kind of editing do you do?

I primarily do copy editing and line editing, along with proofreading.

How do I know which service to choose?

If you’re at a point where you need a second set of eyes to be sure you’re producing the best work possible, it’s time for an editor. If your work has already been through a robust editing process, the final step before publication is proofreading. I can work with you to determine the most logical next step for your work.

What about AI?

ChatGPT and other similar services are great tools for generating ideas and rough concepts. They do not eliminate the need for the human perspective and a professional review. Not even all spelling errors are addressed consistently by an AI tool — don’t risk it.

What are your prices?

While each project is unique and therefore requires an individualized approach to pricing, I do follow general guidelines as a starting point. For editing, you can expect $25/1000 words, and for proofreading, $14/1000 words. Prices vary depending on the writing’s complexity, if there is research required, the estimated time required, and whether the writing is in a specialty category like cookbook editing or academic work.