sentence-level editing

Copyediting and line editing

which one do i need?

Copy and line editing explained

Copyediting involves:

  • Technical corrections – such as errors in punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Changes are made to improve the accuracy, consistency, and flow of the text.
  • Applying an industry style guide (such as Chicago for US English or New Hart’s Rules for UK English) to ensure uniformity.
  • Creating a detailed style sheet to track editorial decisions and make sure everything is consistent, even across a long series.
  • Formatting checks, such as correcting chapter headings, page breaks, scene breaks, and indentations.

For more information on copyediting, read my blog post.

Line editing involves:

  • Stylistic in-depth editing, focusing on flow, word choice, clarity, and smoothness.
  • Improving your writing and helping you become a better writer by identifying areas of writing craft that need work.
  • Highlighting sentence-level issues such as redundancy, unclear sections, awkward tone shifts, pacing problems, etc.
  • Expert guidance. It’s sometimes known as heavy copyediting, but goes deeper – think of it like a sentence-level writing coach.

For more information on line editing, read my blog post.

How to choose

For most self-publishing authors, I recommend a combined copy and line edit. This provides you with a comprehensive edit, covering both the technical and stylistic aspects of writing. You’ll receive a polished manuscript as well as line-level writing craft coaching to help you improve your writing skills. I’ll always consider your needs and writing experience, so the intensity of the edit can be adjusted to suit you – some authors only require copyediting. I will discuss this with you after taking a look at a sample of your work.

For authors who are seeking traditional publishing, you won’t need copyediting at this stage, as this would be provided for you by a publisher. Line editing can help you refine your work stylistically before submitting to agents or publishers, particularly if you’d like to improve your manuscript at a sentence level, without overhauling the story itself. This can be useful for authors who are worried about awkward or clunky passages, the flow of scenes and chapters, perspective issues, and so on. A line edit can guide you in developing your writing craft.

what you get

Service includes…

For both copyediting and line editing, you will receive a fully edited manuscript marked up in Microsoft Word using the Track Changes feature. This is the easiest way for you to see and understand my edits and comments, as everything is tracked in red. You’ll also receive a set of detailed editing notes (around 5–12 pages), expanding on the edit in more depth, including explanations, broader comments, and any revision choices you need to consider.

For line editing, a customised resource sheet is created for you to help you in further developing your writing craft.

For copyediting, a style sheet will be sent to you outlining all of my key editorial decisions. A review of any changes you make based on my edits is included within four weeks.

For line editing and heavier editing, reviews of changes are available for an additional charge.

If you hire me for either of these services, I’ll edit your blurb or query letter for free.

still unsure?

What other writers are saying

In capable hands

You are amazingly thorough. I love your process and your level of detail. And your enthusiasm for the story means everything. THANK YOU so, so much for levelling this manuscript up. I knew it was in capable hands. I don’t feel any anxiety around looking at these edits, and trust me that is an enormous feat.
K.T. Anglehart
Author of the Scottish Scrolls series
Website

Top-quality

I can’t praise Rachel enough. From the first conversation we had, I could see how professional she was, but, more importantly, how much she genuinely wanted to help bring my projects to life. Her editing skills are top-quality, not only catching and highlighting issues for me to address but giving me detailed feedback and critiques to help me improve as a writer. As an added bonus, every deadline was met and work was delivered promptly, which helped me keep to my own schedules. I look forward to working with her on future projects!
dave mccreery
Sci-fi and fantasy author
Website

Amazing

If you ever need an editor, Rachel is AMAZING. She’s so nice, professional, and understanding. Working with her has been great!
Kristen hynes
YA author

Impressed

The thing that convinced me to keep going was the quality of your editing and the dedication you put into it – you didn’t just point to the issues, you came to me with real, constructive ideas and suggestions. These are very helpful to a non-native English speaker, since showing me what you mean can make up for thousands of words of advice. What’s more, you did all this while truly respecting my voice and authorial style. I am impressed.
catherine stowe
Sci-fi/thriller author

Incredibly high standard

The editing and feedback Rachel has provided have proven invaluable to the structure of my work, and my progress as a fledgling writer. She not only patiently explained each change she made to my manuscript, but she also gave me advice about the grammatical mistakes I was repeatedly making. Her obvious love of reading and enthusiasm for writing make her a great editor, but her kindness makes her an excellent one. Rachel’s editing was carried out quickly, to an incredibly high standard, and I cannot recommend her highly enough, except to say that I hope to be coming to her with my manuscripts for many years to come.
ashlie m.
YA author

Would not hesitate to recommend

I’ve been lucky enough to count Rachel among Black Library’s pool of freelance editors and proofreaders since 2018, and since then she has lent her talents to a variety of products across our range, including work on our fantasy, science-fiction and horror genres. Rachel is a professional and conscientious editor, taking the time to provide in-depth queries where necessary. She is extremely thorough in her work, always hits deadlines, and is seemingly never phased by the amount of unusual terms to be found in our fiction! She has worked on both short and long-form stories, and seems eager to tackle any task. I would not hesitate to recommend her services.
Karen miksza, desk editor
Black Library (Games Workshop)
Website

A better manuscript

I admire your editing skills. You know how to look through the reader’s eyes and have surprised me with several comments which will make the manuscript so much better. Thanks again for your help.
S.T. HILLS
Crime author

Forensic

Rachel line and copy-edited my forthcoming book, The Last Secret of The Soul. Her attention to point of view, spelling, grammar, and continuity is forensic. She is also very friendly, helpful and flexible. I highly recommend her.
Stephen p. smith
Historical fiction author
Website

A devoted editor

I am a new writer, and Rachel not only seemed very interested in my book, but she often communicated with me about the editing itself, which I was very new at. Rachel went over my monster of a manuscript and showed me parts that needed to be rewritten, fixed, and changed and I feel my manuscript will become better because of it. If you are a new writer, and would like a professional to go over your book, I believe Rachel is one of the most devoted to making your book the best it can be.
A.L. Hornbeck
Fantasy author

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