For Authors

Copyediting and Proofreading – who is it for?

You have finished your manuscript or prepared a translation in English, but the publisher has asked you to have your work ‘copyedited’ or ‘proofread’ before accepting it. This is because publishers often outsource what were once in-house processes. 

As a psychotherapist and copyeditor, I am keenly aware of the importance of using subject-specific copyeditors given this situation. Knowing the difference between ‘fantasy’ and ‘phantasy’ or why there is a capital O in Other is important! 

Copyediting is a quality-control check before your work is typeset. It ensures that technical words (superego or Super-Ego?) are consistent across the text, translations use idiomatic phrasing, there are no mistakes in the grammar or meaning of the text and the writing flows well. 

If you are preparing a manuscript for a publisher or submitting a paper to a journal this is the service you need.

Proofreading is a thorough check of the text after the manuscript has been typeset (formatted into a PDF document ready for publication). A proofread looks out for any problems that have slipped through previous rounds of editing and formatting. Only essential changes are allowed at this point. The layout will be checked (page numbers, inconsistencies between the contents page and in-text chapter titles etc.) alongside the text for mistakes or inconsistencies in grammar, punctuation, spelling and house style.

If a publisher asks you to have your book proofread after professional rounds of editing and sends you a final version (usually a PDF document), this is the service you need.