Editing plays a crucial role in a well-read book. It can impact many aspects of your story, so it’s important to get it right.
That’s why, here at Bespoken Word, our goal is to always produce the best work possible so you can feel confident that your story and writing have received the best treatment.
So, what services do we offer?
We offer two main services for authors: copy & line editing and proofreading.
Why focus on this and not a developmental edit?
Well, they’re all very different skills, and my background is copy editing.
I spent many years as an in-house copy editor and proofreader, depending on the document, so my skills have been honed in that area, and I think it would be a disservice for authors to come to me for a developmental edit without the experience backing me.
I also believe a manuscript should be read by multiple eyes
Why? Because we all look at different things.
A developmental editor will look at the story as a whole and point out any plot holes or even offer advice on restructures to make sure the manuscript is an engaging story that hooks the reader.
A line/copy edit looks at sentence structure, fact checking, continuity, grammar, punctuation, basically a line by line read to make sure it all makes sense and reads well.
A proofread is the final read through before publishing. Here, the proofreader doesn’t look to make line by line or structural improvements, instead this is to check for any formatting issues, typos and the like missed by the editor or added in after copy editing/reviewing. It’s a final run through to make sure everything is as it should be.
So, you may be wondering, isn’t it a little hypocritical that you offer both line & copy editing and proofreading if you believe that there should be many eyes on a manuscript?
Well…maybe?
However, I have so many years working this way, going from editing to proofreading the same document that it’s second nature to me.
But it’s not like I just do one read through and then wipe my hands clean.
The process isn’t a short one, and I do think each manuscript deserves the time and attention of their editor rather than just a quick edit.
In next month’s newsletter, I’ll go through my process at Bespoken Word and why I work this way.
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If you’d like to read our previous articles, you can do so on my blog.
And if you’d like to find out more about our services and get a quick estimate, you can do that on our services page.
Happy writing,
Alana
