Copy Editing Service Recommendations
A common question I get is..."Can you recommend a good copy editing service for my book?"
I'm sure there are a TON of great editors out there (let me know if you've had great experience with one), but here are a couple people that I recommend. However, I still recommend that you ask for references and research the quality of their work. :)
But, first I'll share a few DIY resources...
Resources for DIY Copy Editing Service :)
3 Simple Stages of Self Editing by Jody Hedlund
The Best of Word Trippers - a free PDF download by Barbara McNichol
The Frugal Editor
Get Your Writing Fighting Fit - Editing Secrets Revealed by Audrey Owen also has many self editing tips for self published authors.
Now, on to my recommendations.
Lisa Lickel
Lisa Lickel is a small press editor and is also a Christian author. She offers copy editing services on completed or partial manuscripts, either fiction or non-fiction; she also submission packets and query letters.
Credentials: Credentials: Magazine editor, traditionally published novelist, short story writer and mentor, article and devotional writer, and blogger, assistant editor for Port Yonder Press, and freelance editor. Edits according to the latest Chicago Manual of Style and the Christian Writer's Manual of Style.
Prices: negotiable; $1 per page for general edits; $3 for full line by line edits; $25 for submission packets (not including manuscript/excerpts), $50 for a general read-through and opinion of manuscripts up to 300 pp. typed double-spaced. Other services and endorsements listed on the web site.
Website: http://www.lisalickel.com/
Contact: lisalickel-at-hotmail.com
Adele Brinkley
Adele has been editing and proofreading for errors in mechanics, grammar, spelling, style, and content forever. Her fees for an initial manuscript is $1.10 per double spaced page. References will be furnished at your request. You can also read an interview I did with Adele here.
Adele's Experience:
- English teacher (28 years)
- Professional editor (9 years)
- Feature writer for newspaper (18 years)
- Columnist for newspaper (15 years)
- Master's degree courses in journalism (editing and proofreading included)
- Edited papers for high school and college students
- Edited dissertations for doctoral candidates (APA)
- Edited theses for master's candidates (APA)
- Edited personal letters, journals, diaries, histories, and memoirs
- Edited query letters, business proposals, and abstracts
- Edited biographies and autobiographies
- Edited novels, short stories, and children’s stories
- Edited scripts for television, movies, and the stage
- Edited speeches for pastors, principals, professors, and politicians
Tammy Barley
Tammy is an award-winning, best-selling author, manuscript editor, and ghostwriter, more than ten years combined experience. Her clients include CEOs, advertising and marketing executives, screenwriters, television producers, an MD, psychologists, life coaches, public speakers, military personnel, missionaries, novelists, and others.
Nonfiction Specialty: Organizing, ghostwriting, and editing your marketing, management, self-help, biographical, or autobiographical content into a publication-ready book or e-book. All nonfiction books she has assisted with to date have garnered solid five-star reviews.
Fiction Specialty: Mentoring, ghostwriting, and editing manuscripts, virtually all genres. Books she has assisted with have earned writing awards, literary agent representation, and multi-book publishing contracts. She also judges a number of top writing contests.
As an Editor: She provides a detailed copyedit for maximum smoothness, transitions, simplifying, and tightening, or a substantive edit to ensure your manuscript is fresh, timely, and professional.
As a Proofreader: She provides a clean, detailed proofread or line edit to make your book or e-book publication-ready.
EDITORIAL SERVICES
For all nonfiction and fiction manuscripts.
Proofread: This is intended for a manuscript that has been edited, critiqued, or very well written, and is ready to be submitted to a literary agent or a publisher. A final proofread will catch errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, basic grammar (subject-verb agreement), spacing, and other mistakes at the sentence level. It will also provide consistency in spelling (traveled or travelled), capitalizations (Miss or miss), hyphens or dashes, abbreviations (Dr., Doctor, or doctor), numbers (125 or one hundred twenty-five), as well as verify consistency of format throughout. She will implement these corrections for you. No suggestions of alterations to your content will be made.
Beginning at $1.50 per page.
Copyedit: A copyedit adds industry-standard professionalism to a well-written manuscript. It is best used to help you complete your final rewrites. If a sentence is unclear, or if a section would benefit from different paragraph breaks, She will make recommendations. Word or phrase repetitions will be pointed out. She will suggest rephrasing for smoothness, transitions, simplifying, and tightening; implement what you will, in your personal writing style.
Beginning at $2 per page.
Other needs: Contact Tammy regarding any other editorial assistance you may need. For example, you may want her to do a focused edit of dialogue, narrative flow, or of another, specific, element. She's here to help.
