Let’s work together to prepare your writing for publishing!

proofreader, fiction proofreader, nonfiction proofreader, freelance proofreader

“Catt Editing was amazing to work with. This was my first published work. She made me feel comfortable and confident with the process. I felt very confident that she had my best interest in mind. I will definitely be using Carly again very soon.”

Services

Nonfiction genres: self-help, business, health/wellness, Christian, memoir, psychology

Proofreading

Proofreading is done after an editor has already taken a look at the text and it has been typeset.

This is for last-minute touch-ups before publishing.

Some of my responsibilities for proofreading:

  • Punctuation

  • Grammar

  • Spelling

  • Simple formatting

  • Editing book blurb and author bio

Editing

There are three types of editing: developmental, line, and copy editing. These services can be individual, combined, or packaged to accommodate your needs; contact me for a quote.

This step is done before a manuscript is typeset. I recommend a proofreader check the document after an editor to make final corrections.

The following list includes the editor’s responsibilities during each type of editing.

Developmental Editing

  • Organization, logic, flow of book as a whole

  • Organization, logic, flow of chapters

  • Overall structure

  • Writing techniques

  • Audience is clear

  • Concepts and language appropriate for intended audience

  • Goal is achieved

  • Tone and word choice match target audience

  • Suggest global ways to improve the book

 

Line Editing

  • Dialogue engaging and followed by powerful tags or action beats

  • Sentence length, flow, and rhythm

  • “Show and tell” used well

  • Writing techniques

  • Reduce bias and cliches

  • Clarity and word choice

  • Point of view, perspective, and tense

  • Mood, voice, tone

  • Flag areas that may be missing proper citations to avoid plagiarism

  • Editing book blurb and author bio

 

Copy Editing

  • Punctuation

  • Grammar

  • Spelling

  • Agreement (subject/verb and other)

  • Active voice used, concrete and concise language

  • Parallelism

  • Keep the author’s original voice

  • Formatting errors

  • Reduce bias

  • Flag areas to be recast, offer suggestions when possible

  • Editing book blurb and author bio

  • Flag areas that may be missing proper citations to avoid plagiarism

  • Add front and back matter as needed (copyright page, title page, table of contents, acknowledgments, etc.)

All About Editing

Learn about the types of editing, how to find the right editor for you, and how to prepare for editing.

Citations Checking/Creating

Make sure you’re quoting and citing sources correctly. Whether you already have a bibliography and footnotes that just need double-checking or just a bunch of links attached to quotes that need sorting out, we can help you!

If you’re starting at square one with citations, we can help you decide which form of citations would best benefit your audience: footnotes (+ bibliography), endnotes (with or without bibliography, end of chapters or end of book), or parenthetical citations.

To learn more about creating citations, check out this blog post: How to Cite Sources!

Here are the things we can do for you to make sure you give credit where credit is due:

  • Create proper citations after each quote, either parenthetical or as a note.

  • Compile a list of sources, organized alphabetically with complete, proper citations according to the agreed-upon style guide.

  • Check each citation against the original document to ensure accuracy in author's name, title, publisher, journal issue, etc.

  • If a list of sources has already been created, we will organize and edit each citation according to the agreed-upon style guide.

Can’t decide which service is best for you?

Proofreading vs Book Editing

Proofreading

The goal of proofreading is to ensure correctness and to change only what’s necessary.

A proofreader is the last person to look at your text before publishing.

The text should already be typeset as it will be printed.

You are content with your writing; you only need final touches.

Editing

The goal of editing is to correct the writing flow and grammar so the reader can understand the writing more.

An editor is not the last person to read the text. A proofreader should look at the text after an editor.

The document should only be running text. It should not be formatted for publishing when sent to the editor.

You are still early on in the editing process; the text needs a little more work before publishing.