A final-stage edit that ensures consistency of grammar, punctuation, and spelling; clarifies meaning; and polishes style, usage, and tone. Together, we'll find a balance of how the "rules" best serve your work and your readers.

 

Stage of writing: Your manuscript has gone through several revisions and is almost ready to go to print. All developmental and logical concerns have been addressed and the work needs to be reviewed for correct usage, standard spelling, grammar, and punctuation conventions, consistency of terms and text elements, and alignment with a style guide.

 

With copyediting, you'll get:

• A manuscript that meets the standards expected of published work. This means that it's in accordance with the conventions determined by the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, and Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Online Dictionary. Or we can use the references of your choice.

• A complete manuscript. I'll correlate the chapter titles and table of contents, cross-references, illustrations, tables and captions, and footnotes and let you know what's missing.

• A custom style sheet. I'll keep track of all the words that give you pause or have you searching your document again. You'll have a record of the choices we made for spelling, punctuation, numbers, and dates. This will save you time and ensure consistency when your book is typeset and proofread.

• A manuscript corrected for grammar, syntax, and usage. I'll revise whatever is incorrect, unidiomatic, or unclear without changing your content, meaning, or voice.

• Confidence that you've written exactly what you mean and that you mean what you've written. Maybe you do mean to say, "Let's eat Grandpa!" and not "Let's eat, Grandpa!" We'll make sure.