I offer five primary editorial services: line editing, copyediting, pre-submission editing, copyediting review assistance, and proofreading. I consider developmental editing projects on a case-by-case basis.
Once you’ve sorted out what you need, or if you need help doing so, you can get in touch with me via my contact form.
“Billie is among the sharpest copyeditors I’ve ever worked with in my 20+ year writing career, one that has spanned both journalism and academic publishing. Their suggestions tightened my writing in places that needed it and helped me maintain consistency in my language choices. When they copyedited my manuscript, a book I have been working on for a decade, they were particularly attentive to details that changed during this time: folks I cite who might go by another name now, or different pronouns, for example. That requires levels of verification that goes above and beyond what other copy editors have been willing to do for me. I’ll be requesting future publishers I work with to hire Billie again.”
— Kyle Boggs, Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Community Engagement at Boise State University and author of Recreational Colonialism and the Rhetorical Landscapes of the Outdoors
Line editing
Line editing is the level between developmental editing (wholesale structural revisions and reworking) and copyediting (grammatical and stylistic changes), and it focuses primarily on reworking at the sentence or, at most, paragraph level to streamline writing and improve clarity.
While I will correct grammatical and spelling issues as I notice them, things like comma placement errors and typos are not my primary focus in a line edit. I’ll look for those issues in a separate copyedit.
You may need this service if:
- You’ve been asked to revise and resubmit your manuscript to address writing style issues or reduce word count
- You’ve already worked with a developmental editor to hammer out your argument and find the best structure for your piece, but the writing doesn’t flow as well as you’d like
Copyediting
In a copyedit, I’ll take a closer look at your manuscript than I would in a line edit: I’ll clean up grammatical, mechanical, and spelling issues and conform the manuscript to your preferred style guide (Chicago, MLA, SAA, or another guide if needed).
If your work includes documentation (notes and references), I’ll clean that up according to your preferred style guide. Depending on the style you’ve used, I may be able to convert your documentation to a different style if needed.
You may need this service if:
- You need your manuscript checked for fine-grain mechanical and grammatical issues
- You need your documentation to conform to a specific style guide
Pre-submission editing
Pre-submission editing is a service I developed specifically for authors who’d like someone to take one last look at their manuscript before they submit it to a publisher or journal—what you may think of colloquially as a “proofread.”
I’ll keep an eye out for grammatical issues, missing words, and oddball phrasings, without getting too bogged down in style guide issues that your publisher’s copyeditor will take care of later.
You may need this service if:
- You’re preparing to submit your manuscript to publishers and want to be sure it’s tidied up and ready to make the best impression
Copyediting review assistance
If your manuscript has been accepted for publication at a publisher or journal, I can help you review the press’s copyedits during your allotted review period.
The intent of this work is not to “gotcha” your copyeditor but to serve as one more supporting set of eyes and a backup for you as an author.
You may need this service if:
- You’re publishing your first book with a university or other press and you’d like backup as you work through your copyedits
Proofreading
A proofread is a final check of proofs (after the manuscript has been designed and typeset) to identify any remnant grammatical mistakes, typos, and any other layout or typesetting issues. Proofreading is really the last look at a text and should be done only after copyediting.
You may need this service if:
- Your publisher has asked you to proofread your own book, and you’d like a professional to do the job
- You’re self-publishing, have pdf files from your designer, and are gearing up to finalize your book for publication
A note on pricing
I know it can be frustrating not to find hard pricing estimates, but unfortunately it’s quite difficult to provide an estimate that’s both useful and accurate because the needs of each manuscript vary so widely.
For line editing, copyediting, and pre-submission editing, I put together a pricing estimate based on a complimentary sample edit of a few pages from your manuscript. This will allow us to make sure we’re on the same page about the editing level and enable me to provide you with an accurate estimate.
“Billie helped me correct the proofs for an academic monograph and did an amazing job. They are transparent about their schedule, rigorous and precise in their review of proofs, and always on time. Billie has experience working at an academic press and can often demystify what is confusing to first-time book authors about the process of publishing an academic book. I appreciated their generosity and professionalism. I would definitely work with them again and I recommend their work highly!”
— Ross Lerner, assistant professor of English, Occidental College, and author of Unknowing Fanaticism: Reformation Literatures of Self-Annihilation
Billie Haffener Editing 