Well Written Wordshop
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Editing Services
Need another perspective?
We edit:
We edit:
- Articles
- Blog postings
- Brochures
- e-Learning courses
- Memoirs
- Newsletters
- Nonfiction book manuscripts
- Press releases
- Speeches and presentations
- Training manuals and handouts
- Websites
"Maureen edited and
revised the memoir I am writing on my experience with Multiple
Sclerosis. What I most valued was that she matched my voice so it all
sounds like me. She kept my words and my message intact, yet the
writing is much better. She also conducted research on MS and added
content that expanded the quality and clarity of my work. I really
enjoyed the process. Next step -- publication!"Anita Pardo
Memoirist
Memoirist
"Editing should be...a counseling rather than a collaborative task. The tendency of the writer-editor to collaborate is natural, but he should say to himself 'How can I help this writer to say it better in his own style?' and avoid 'How can I show him how I would write it if it were my piece?'"
-- James Thurber
You want your work to be both well written and widely read. We will help you to make your writing more readable and compelling while preserving your unique voice, vision and self-expression.
You will sound like yourself...only better!
Light Copyediting (baseline editing)
Involves:
Medium Copyediting
Involves:
Heavy Copyediting (substantive editing)
Involves:
Developmental Editing
Developmental editing may include consultation before the writing begins. The developmental editor may help plan the organization, features, and other aspects of the work, and prepare developmental reviews or analyses.
Can involve:
You will sound like yourself...only better!
Light Copyediting (baseline editing)
Involves:
- Correcting faulty spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
- Correcting incorrect usage.
- Checking specific cross-references (for example, "As Table 12-4 shows...").
- Ensuring consistency in spelling, hyphenation, numerals, fonts, and capitalization.
- Checking for proper sequencing in lists and other displayed material.
- Recording the first references to figures, tables, and other display elements.
Medium Copyediting
Involves:
- Performing all tasks for light copyediting.
- Changing text and headings to achieve parallel structure.
- Flagging inappropriate figures of speech.
- Ensuring that key terms are handled consistently and that vocabulary lists and the index contain all the terms that meet criteria specified by the publisher.
- Ensuring that previews, summaries, and end-of-chapter questions reflect content.
- Tracking continuity.
- Enforcing consistent style and tone in a multi-author manuscript.
- Changing passive voice to active voice, if requested.
- Flagging ambiguous or incorrect statements.
- Typemarking the manuscript.
Heavy Copyediting (substantive editing)
Involves:
- Performing all tasks for medium copyediting.
- Eliminating wordiness, triteness, and inappropriate jargon.
- Smoothing transitions and moving sentences to improve readability.
- Assigning new levels to heads to achieve logical structure.
- Suggesting—and sometimes implementing—additions and deletions, noting them at the sentence and paragraph level.
Developmental Editing
Developmental editing may include consultation before the writing begins. The developmental editor may help plan the organization, features, and other aspects of the work, and prepare developmental reviews or analyses.
Can involve:
- Suggesting formats to communicate the message.
- Rewriting and restructuring the text to fit the format.
- Moving entire paragraphs and sentences to improve flow.
- Ensuring consistent structure by adding or deleting headings.
- Identifying gaps in content, and supplying or describing the needed copy, so the author can resolve them.
- Deleting content that is outdated or that does not achieve the desired marketing focus or tone.
- Developing an effective system for handling trademarks and notes.
My thanks to the BAEF Editorial Services Guide for the above definitions.
