What my authors say ...​

'​I hired Louise to copyedit my entire series (ten books). I'd used multiple editors in the past, and every time they'd fallen short of my expectations. So I dipped my toe in and started by hiring her for book one, and from the first day I felt I was working with a level of professional I had never encountered before. Then when she delivered the book back to me, I rushed to book her for the rest of my series.
​Jeff Carson, mystery & thriller writer
I offer two levels of service for independent writers:

​Proofreading Standard – who it's for
Writers who have already commissioned previous rounds of professional editing and want a final polish prior to publication. If you're epublishing, I'll work directly in Word with Track Changes switched on. If you're print publishing, I'll mark up the designed page proofs for you.
​
Proofreading Plus – who it's for
Writers who need assistance that includes the sentence-level checks of a standard proofread PLUS copyediting/line editing that smooths and polishes the text. I work in Word, using the Track Changes and Comments tools.
Most of the independent authors I work with choose Proofreading Plus because I'm the first editorial professional to work on the text and the required revisions extend well beyond grammar, punctuation, spelling and layout.

​Proofreading Plus

Proofreading Plus ​is my line editing and copyediting service. It includes all the checks covered by Proofreading Standard but I'll also flag up and offer solutions to any problems I encounter with regard to the following:
  • Repetition and wordiness within sentences and paragraphs
  • Awkward or irregular sentence structure and word usage
  • Inappropriate language (e.g. using contemporary slang in a historical setting)
  • Obvious time-line inconsistencies or impossibilities (flexibility allowed in parallel universes!)
  • Actions that could be perceived as improbable or impossible
  • Character problems (e.g. disappearing characters, inconsistent physical descriptions, illogical family trees)
  • Basic factual errors (e.g. is the description of a country's flag correct?)
  • Confusing similarities (e.g. two major characters with similar names)
  • Paragraph, section and chapter breaks (do they make sense and help the reader to navigate their way through the novel?)

​Proofreading Standard

Proofreading entails more than just looking out for incorrect spelling. I want to make your book look professional so I'll carry out the following quality-control checks on your behalf:
  • Grammatical sense (without compromising on readability, context or register)
  • Punctuation (while respecting the flow of the text) 
  • Dialogue treatment (e.g. punctuation and standard speech tagging)
  • Consistency (e.g. hyphenation, spelling, capitalization, italicization, number treatment)
  • Spelling and syntax (while being sensitive to and respectful of regional variations)
  • Layout and formatting that conform to publishing-industry standards (e.g. paragraph indentation and dialogue expression)
  • Presentation of cited published works, public buildings, titles and ranks, time and date styles, numbers, and abbreviations and contractions (with reference to industry-recognized standards)
  • Removal of rogue line- and letter-spaces
  • Chapters numbered and ordered chronologically
  • Style-sheet creation (based on e.g. The Chicago Manual of Style or New Hart’s Rules)
Please note that my services do not include extensive fact-checking, writing, indexing, and checking and arranging permissions to quote material in copyright.

​With hindsight ...

Some authors publish before they hire professional editorial help. This can lead to critical reviews that praise the plot but damn the presentation.

​With hindsight, these writers would have hired their proofreader or copyeditor first.

It's never too late, though. I've worked with several independent authors on their books after publication, enabling them to publish revised editions in top-notch shape.

Naturally, I recommend sourcing editorial help before you go public, but if that's not the choice you made, and you wish you'd done things differently, get in touch so we can chat about how to move forward.

​Sample proofreads and edits

Subject to availability in my schedule, I am happy to provide you with a sample of my proofreading/editing service. The price is a flat fee of £50 for a sample of no more than 1,000 words.

​Free library of resources

​​For more self-publishing resources, visit the library on my Self-publishers page. Or join the library to get monthly updates.

Fancy working with me?

If you'd like to discuss a proofreading or copyediting project, get in touch so we can have a chat.​