There’s nothing more satisfying than making a piece of writing tighter, smoother and easier to read. That said, not every document needs the same kind of editorial treatment. Here are the four basic categories:

Structural Editing
This is the trauma ward. Sentences, paragraphs, even whole sections will be reorganized, rewritten and sometimes even surgically removed.

Stylistic Editing
This is cosmetic surgery. Together we’ll give the piece a facelift, focusing on word choice and sentence structure to get things flowing more smoothly.

Copyediting
This is sentence therapy. I’ll put the manuscript under a grammar microscope to eliminate errors in punctuation, grammatical usage and spelling. This is also the place for a fact-check if one is needed.

Proofreading
This is the photoshoot. I’ll parse your publication-ready manuscript for stray typos, formatting errors and other cosmetic imperfections.

If you think your manuscript could benefit from some TLC in one of the above areas, contact me using this form. Tell me about your project and your time frame. If it’s something I can tackle, then I’ll ask you to send me a piece of the manuscript so I can give you a sample edit, my assessment and a fee quote.

Speaking of fees, you’re probably wondering how much this will cost you. The answer is that I can’t tell you until I’ve made a diagnosis. Surgery will cost more than a facelift, which will in turn cost more than an airbrushing. Get in touch with me and we can discuss your project.

I’ll edit using track changes in Microsoft Word, and I can also explain those changes in more detail in a separate document if you’d like. This way you’ll know exactly what I’ve done to your baby and why.

Speaking of improving your writing, here are some resources and tips.