The best copy editors are invisible. They work behind the scenes with you to ensure your manuscript is polished to the highest possible standard—while retaining your voice—before being passed on to a proofreader, the last stage of the editorial process.  

A copy editor’s job is multifaceted. They check your manuscript for issues relating to syntax (the art of a well-formed sentence), use of grammar, issues with language, spelling, and punctuation, repetition and redundancy, and all the other little copy-gremlins that could be sabotaging your hard work.

Additionally, you can expect a copy editor to focus on consistency and continuity.  They’ll notice if Jack, who was wearing a blue baseball cap on page 16, is suddenly sporting a red one on page 78. Or if Hadryx, the alien overlord from Planet Zephyr-12, has sprouted an extra tentacle along his path to intergalactic domination.

Ideally, your manuscript should come to a copy editor as a draft in which you have high satisfaction with your content. That is, it may have gone through a structural/developmental edit—a ‘big picture’ focus on characterisation, point of view, plot, structure, tone, theme, and pace. Perhaps you have let your manuscript ‘rest’ for a good long period, before revisiting it with fresh eyes, and have redrafted to address any glaring inconsistencies or plot holes. Maybe you’re on to draft seventy-eight of your manuscript, and you’re finally ready to pass your beloved book baby into the arms of an editor…

…I promise to take good care of your precious words.

Each project is as individual as its writer, and dependent on whether a light or heavy copy edit is required. To discuss your unique editing requirements, send your enquiry via the contact form.