Professional Copyediting to Ensure a High-Quality Manuscript

Don’t let typos or misspellings distract your readers.

 

After weeks and months of writing, rewriting, and revising, authors can have a hard time spotting remaining errors in grammar or usage. That’s why professional copyediting is so important. An editor comes to your manuscript fresh, and those corrections can mean the difference between a best seller and a beet cellar.

 

Rely on our copyediting services for authors.

At Elite Authors, you know you’re working with the best professional copy editors in the business. Our copy editors have years of experience in the publishing world. In fact, last year alone, Elite editors worked on nearly 1,750 manuscripts. Our editing process uses the Chicago Manual of Style (the publishing industry’s go-to guide) for grammar, punctuation, and usage and Merriam-Webster (the standard American-language dictionary) for spellings.

Find your perfect match.

What’s more, we pair you with an experienced copy editor who works with manuscripts in your particular genre. So you can feel confident that we will respect and enhance your writing voice and style. In addition to looking for grammar and spelling errors, your editor will spot inconsistencies and repetition. For example, the editor ensures that a character’s name is spelled the same way in chapter 18 as in chapter 2.

Why should you choose Elite Authors for your copyediting?

To be a good copy editor requires education, experience, and skill. However, the best copy editors add another layer: a deep love of words, language, and storytelling. When the copy editors at Elite Authors work on a manuscript, they’re not just seeing words and sentences. They’re seeing your story, and they work to help make that story as perfect as possible.

Protect your credibility as an author.

Perhaps readers shouldn’t judge book writers by their missing apostrophes or minor lapses of consistency, but they do. So a thorough, professional copyedit can do wonders for your manuscript—and your reputation. Thus, Elite Authors makes sure that every manuscript we edit is as good or better quality than those that come out of traditional publishing houses. And we would know—we edit those too.


We’re riding shotgun.

You are always in the driver’s seat (and the driver picks the music). No one knows your work better than you, and that’s why our editors use MS Word’s Track Changes feature to edit your manuscript. So you can easily accept or reject any changes your editor makes. Also, your copy editor writes you a letter explaining the reasoning behind those edits, so you’re making an informed choice.


Choose from a variety of manuscript editing services.

In addition to copyediting, Elite Authors offers line editing, developmental editing, and proofreading. Perhaps you're a writer interested in longer-term collaborations (which we love!). If so, we offer money-saving bundles that include one or more rounds of line edits before a final copyedit. Multiple rounds of editing are industry standard and allow editors and writers time to dig into what works and what doesn’t and how to make every word of a manuscript better.

Not sure which book editing service you need?

Talk to a publishing expert and find out which service is right for you.







     
    Working with Elite Authors has been a fabulous experience! I felt I had a true partner by my side throughout the self-publishing process. I was very impressed with the copy editing work that they did on my manuscript. The back and front cover design of my book “Baba’s Wisdom – Inspiration for a Simple, Happy Life” is truly beautiful and exceeded my expectations. I would work with them again in a heartbeat.

    Dagny Mofid

    I was really impressed by the way my editor understood what I was trying to do and how he found inconsistencies in the plot and characters. He made concrete edits and suggestions for changes. And this was just in the first round of editing! My editor was positive and supportive while also offering constructive criticism. That was really helpful. I plan to do the second round in a few months.

    Daphne Ashling Purpus

     

    Copyediting Questions

    What is copyediting?

    Copyediting is the process in which professional editors review and correct your manuscript to ensure that your writing is free from typos, misspelled words, and grammatical errors. This service allows readers to focus on your story instead of being distracted by small mistakes.


    Why should I invest in copyediting?

    You should invest in copyediting because you’ve already invested a lot of time and energy in your manuscript, and copyediting takes it to the next level. On average, our editors make ten to fifteen typographical, spelling, and punctuation revisions per page, which means they’re finding and correcting things you’re likely to miss.


    Do I need copyediting or line editing?

    To know if you need copyediting or line editing, think about the current state of your manuscript. If it is pretty polished and you’re not looking to make changes to the plot, characterization, or style, copyediting is perfect. On the other hand, if you’d really like some feedback about higher-level elements such as pacing, dialogue, plot flow, and so on, you will love the extra insight offered by a line edit.


    I’ve already had a line edit. Do I still need a copyedit?

    If you’ve already had a line edit, you may be wondering why you still need a copyedit. Well, after a line edit, many writers make substantial changes to their manuscript. Thus, it’s really easy to insert additional mechanical errors during those revisions. Therefore, a final copyedit can not only polish up any new sections but also offer you peace of mind before you release your book into the wild


    Why do authors get multiple rounds of editing?

    We highly recommend our authors going through numerous rounds of editing to ensure the manuscript is as clean and well written as possible. Most traditionally published books are edited six to eight times before publication, so we have rolled out some editorial packages to encompass multiple rounds of editing at a discount to our authors.

    How do I know if my project needs copyediting or proofreading?

    Knowing if your project needs copyediting or proofreading is actually pretty straightforward. If your manuscript is still a Word document or you’re still fiddling around with minor changes, you’re looking for a copyedit. On the other hand, perhaps your project is already laid out for publication as a PDF. If so, and you just need a sharp pair of eyes to spot any lingering typographical errors, misplaced punctuation marks, or missing words, you need a proofreader. Don’t worry—our editors can handle both!


    What is the difference between a copy editor and a proofreader?

    The main difference between a copy editor and a proofreader is what they pay attention to during their reviews. A copy editor carefully combs your manuscript, correcting and explaining all grammatical, punctuation, usage, or spelling errors, right down to suggesting the best choice for words with more than one correct spelling. However, a proofreader is looking for typographical errors and any small mechanical mistakes that slipped through the net. Even with these differences, there is considerable professional overlap between copy editors and proofreaders. Both love words and books, are good with detail, and can spot typos from twenty feet away on a cloudy day.


    Hold up! Is it copyediting? Or copy editing?

    Editors love thinking about this kind of thing, so here’s the scoop. Neither copyediting nor copy editing is technically in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. However, both copyedit and copy edit are accepted variants of the verb form. So you can get away with either copyediting or copy editing, but the modern trend is toward the closed-up form. Until recently, it was as common to see Web site instead of the now more commonly seen website. You still see both healthcare and health care. But even though you’ll still see copy editing used, we’re going with the more modern copyediting. For now, however, those who copyedit are still copy editors.

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