why is it necessary?

A copy edit covers the technical aspects of writing: correcting errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and more. Individually, these may seem minor however, accumulatively, they can be jarring for your reader and distract from the story. A polished and error-free manuscript allows your reader to focus on your storytelling rather than becoming preoccupied or, at worst, put-off by mistakes that could have been addressed in an edit.

If you have budget constraints, it may not be feasible to have developmental, line and copy edits. My advice in that case would be to go for a copy edit because a manuscript that has not been copy edited is more noticeable to a reader. Whether you choose to hire an editor or self-edit, copy editing your writing is critical before publishing your work.

A line edit and copy edit go hand-in-hand and there are some aspects of copy editing (such as the flagging of confusing language) that are addressed in line editing (adjusting sentences for coherency, style and word choice). I offer a service which combines the two; there are more details on a line and copy combo edit further down this page.

if you go through with a copy edit, this is what you will receive from me

An initial 1000 word free sample edit

A fully edited manuscript using track changes with in-line comments

A separate commentary document detailing changes/suggestions

A style sheet personalised according to your manuscript

A combined timeline and outline of your entire manuscript

A character table for physical appearance, personality, backstory, etc.

A copy edit involves the following, and more:

– Fixing spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors

– Ensuring consistent spelling, hyphenation, capitals and numerals throughout

– Fact-checking statements

– Flagging up confusing language and incorrect statements

Additionally, I offer multiple revisions. We can go back-and-forth until you are fully satisfied with your manuscript and are ready to move on to the next stage of the editing process.

Finally, I also have an open line of communication that lasts beyond the completion of my work with you. If at any point leading up to publication or after, you would like some advice or support — even if you just want someone to be excited about your manuscript and progress with you — please do get in touch. I would love to hear from you!

what you can expect while working with me

Once you have filled out the form below, I will get in touch to arrange a call. We will go over where you’re at with your manuscript and what service(s) you’d like. I offer a free sample edit with a copy edit so you can see how I work, I can assess your manuscript, and we can decide if we’re a good fit for each other.

Following that, if you decide to continue working together, I’ll go over your entire manuscript and return it, fully edited, alongside a commentary document, style sheet, character table and timeline. As I offer multiple revisions, you can return it to me with your amendments and we can repeat the process until you are satisfied. If you have any questions about my feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out!

line & copy combo edit

Line edits and copy edits are often combined into one service as they complement each other well. There are various ways to do this — some like to do the technical copy edits while they are doing line edits simultaneously. As I offer multiple revisions of your manuscript, my preferred method is to complete the line edit and, once you are happy with the outcome, do a couple rounds of copy edits. The reason for this is that, while we pass the manuscript back-and-forth during the line edits, we may unknowingly add typos and other errors which I can later address in the copy edit.

I have more information on line editing below. If you have any questions, please get in touch via the contact form or email me at hanan@hananeditor.com.