No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else’s draft
All writers know that feeling when they have crawled over their work so much that all the words appear to merge into one. You have read the same paragraph so many times you can’t make out if you are repeating yourself or just re-reading the same passage. Then someone looks over your shoulder and their eyes go straight to the little mistakes.
Let us be that extra pair of eyes and go through your manuscript line by line to correct grammar, remove repetitions and track down those spelling mistakes and stray commas.
Although we make every effort to catch all mistakes during copy editing, most books will need a final proofread to catch any typos and those little bits that inevitably slip the net.
Most publishers will correct proofs several times, and we would advise that you have the final version of your manuscript proofread before publishing.
When you present your work to an agent or publisher it is essential to make the best possible impression and you don’t want them distracted by bad spelling or grammar. They need to know that you are serious and professional if they are going to invest in you.
Copy editing
Copy editing goes that little bit deeper than proofreading. It catches not only those grammatical, spelling and punctuation mistakes and awkward sentences that can slip into your manuscript while you concentrate on the bigger picture, but also picks up any ambiguous points, repeated text or inconsistencies.
Publishers have hundreds of manuscripts to consider every week, and sometimes a badly edited manuscript could flip the decision on who they will take on.
Copy editing is even more important if you wish to self-publish. Nothing irritates a reader more than sloppy editing, and to succeed you need to have the same standards as the top publishers.
Let The Oxford Editors be that extra pair of eyes and go through your manuscript line by line to correct grammar, remove repetitions and track down those spelling mistakes and stray commas we all leave behind.
Although we make every effort to catch all mistakes during copy editing, most books will need a final proofread to catch any typos and those little bits that inevitably slip the net. Most publishers will correct proofs several times, and we would advise that you have the final version of your manuscript proofread before publishing.
Every manuscript is different and some require more work than others, so please contact us first for a quote. We are always happy to answer any questions. Fees for copy editing start at £22 per 1,000 words for fiction. Proofreading starts at £12 per 1,000 words.
Some of the many great proofreaders at The Oxford Editors:
Lynne Walker
Lynne is a freelance proof reader for, among others, The History Press, Summersdale, HarperCollins India, Hodder and Edward Elgar Publishing. She has experience in copy-editing self-published novels and memoirs.
Some books of note that she has worked on are The Line of Mercy, Tarun J Tejpal; A History of Objects, Carlo Pizzati; My Child and Other Mistakes, Ellie Taylor; Love And Choice, Lucy Fry; Cast a Diva: The Hidden Life of Maria Callas, Lyndsy Spence; Understanding J. Bruce Ismay, Clifford Ismay; Diane Abbott: The Authorised Biography, Robin Bunce and Samara Linton; Ladies Who Punch, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.
Lynne is a member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP).
Brenda Stones
Brenda Stones has worked in publishing for more than 30 years – starting as a graduate trainee at Cambridge University Press and finishing as publishing director at Oxford University Press, with stints at Macmillan, Longman, Letts, Hodder and Walker Books along the way. She has particular expertise in education, publishing for every subject area and every age-group, from pre-school to further education. She has been the author of educational series for WHSmith, HarperCollins, Badger Publishing and Franklin Watts.
Brenda lectures for the Publishing Training Centre, Oxford Brookes, and the MA in Publishing Studies at City University. She runs her own small poetry press, called Pisces Press, and organises the literary events programme for her local library. Brenda also has extensive contacts in every sector of publishing.
Our Fees and How to Submit:
Please click here to go to our fees page.
Discounts:
We offer discounts when more than one service is taken up and paid for at the same time at the start of the work.
Please see our Terms and Conditions.
