Everything you need to know about the editing and proofreading service: rates, differences, methods. Let’s start from the basics: what’s the difference between editing and proofreading ?
When approaching publication, many young authors are looking for a professional figure able to offer editing and proofreading services, to improve their manuscript and make it more “attractive” for publishing houses professional proofreading services.
Not many, however, know the real differences between proofreading and more complex editing work. Let’s clarify once and for all: both editing and proofreading have to do with the revision phase of a text, i.e. the phase following the first drafting (and rereading) of the manuscript. It is not a question of two distinct services, but of two levels of revision, more or less profound.
To simplify:
- The ‘ editing is the process of revision of the text that involves both macro-areas of a text: form and content.
- The revision of proofs , on the other hand, concerns only the formal level (i.e. the grammatical, semantic, syntactic, orthographic aspect)
But let’s go into more detail of the differences and, above all, of the methods that an author can choose and of the price differences of the various services.
What is editing?
Editing is a process of revising the text that can take place at more or less profound levels (depending on the complexity of the text, its initial stage and the needs of the author himself). As we have seen, in addition to the revision from a formal point of view, in addition to the revision from the formal point of view, also that from the content and structure point of view come into play .
What is proofreading?
Proofreading is the formal revision of a text , the last stage of the editing process. It consists in the elimination of any possible typos, typos, spelling errors, inaccurate terms. A manuscript may require several “rounds of drafts”, ie careful rereadings aimed at correcting typos. Often in editorial offices and publishing houses the correction of proofs is entrusted to several professionals , who carry out several rounds of crossed proofs.
This is because the rereading by more than one figure allows the elimination of all the most subtle errors, even those that, automatically, the human mind tends to “correct” and see as “right”.
Is there a do-it-yourself proofreading, without the intervention of a professional?
The author can proceed to a first review of “do it yourself” proofs on his own manuscript. This operation has many advantages, including providing the professional proofreader with a cleaner text, on which it will be necessary to intervene in a less profound way. Less work on the part of the proofreader will also lead to a lower cost of the service for the author.