Every writer needs an editor. I’m a published author and editor-in-chief, but I still need an editor sometimes – and in fact would never release something important (like a book) without one. A good editor does not change your voice or style but rather challenges you to polish your work through a collaborative process.

Developmental editing helps identify the big picture problems in longer projects like book manuscripts or lengthy training communications. My job as a developmental editor is to look at your completed work to identify all of its strengths and weaknesses. Developmental editing focuses on cohesiveness, pacing, theme, flow, clarity of ideas, and the overall need for revisions/edits. I offer a basic evaluation for those who only want a high-level impression, ongoing writing coaching for those whose work is less complete, or a detailed review and edit of a fully completed piece for those who are ready to work on the final draft.

Copyediting (or line editing) is my most utilized service, and is a closer look at the structure of your writing as it exists in paragraphs and sentences. The goal is to identify problems with flow, grammar, clarity, tone, voice, word repetition, tense, point of view, style (AP Style, Chicago Manual of Style, or internal style guides), and obvious punctuation or spelling misses. As a copyeditor, my job is to make your writing even better by providing a detailed line edit of your work that goes page-by-page. My practice is to favor recommendations or suggestions over making direct changes to your work; I am not looking to alter your voice or style.

Proofreading combs through your copyedited work to identify any remaining technical errors such as grammar/punctuation errors, missed spelling errors, and extra spaces. As a proofreader, I look at the work with a different set of goggles. The major issues have  already been addressed via copyediting, so now I am looking for the tiny errors that have been missed (there are always some). It is important to do both copyediting and proofreading if you want your work to be taken seriously.