Line and Copy Editing

Word by word, line by line, make your story sing.

What is Line and Copy Editing?

A Line and Copy Edit sharpens the author’s voice and cleans up distractions in the text.

Copy editing is a bulwark against potentially embarrassing errors and inconsistencies that would yank readers out of the story.

Line editing (also known as stylistic editing or content editing) sorts out muddled, clunky, or extraneous sentences that bog down the flow of the narrative.

Both types of editing concentrate the power of an author’s writing. In a Line and Copy Edit, I handle both.

What goes into a Line and Copy Edit?

Quite a bit! I’ll attend to each of the following areas and more:

Sentence mechanics

  • Spelling, grammar, and punctuation

  • Word usage

  • Sentence structure

  • Paragraphing

  • Typography (quotation marks, dashes, ellipses, italics, etc.)

Story mechanics

  • Continuity

  • Logic and plausibility

  • Point of view

  • Stage direction

  • Plot holes

  • The parts of a book: copyright page, table of contents, epigraph, acknowledgments, preface, captions, citations, etc.

Style

  • Clarity and readability

  • Cohesion

  • Wordiness, redundancies, digressions, information overload

  • Tone and register

  • Word choices

  • Order of words, sentences, and paragraphs

  • Transitions

  • Variety, rhythm, and impact

What does Line and Copy Editing include?

☑ The edited manuscript with all changes tracked for your approval

☑ Tips and tricks about recurring issues to improve your writing

☑ A custom style sheet for self-publishing authors

☑ A spot check of your post-edit revisions to catch any new errors you may have inadvertently introduced

Is Line and Copy Editing right for you?

This service is best suited to a draft that’s getting close to the finish line: any story-level editing has already been conducted, the plot is in its final form, and you aren’t planning on reworking your scenes. (Why pay someone to edit material you’re going to rewrite?)

Book a free sample edit & quote

FAQ

  • We’ll make a great team if you write…

    🚀 Middle grade fiction — Realistic & imaginary worlds

    🌩️ YA fiction — Character-driven with all the big feels

    🎇 Picture books — Fiction & nonfiction

    🔮 Speculative fiction — Urban fantasy, high fantasy, magical realism, soft sci-fi

    ❤️‍🔥 Romance — Contemporary, paranormal, romantasy, LGBTQ+

    🕰️ Memoir — Identity, coming of age, relationships, family, nature & environment, travel, health & wellbeing, visual art, dance, music… or hit me with your wackiest topic!

    🎴 Graphic novels — Junior, Middle grade, YA

    1. Please contact me and share a brief description of your WIP, along with an excerpt of the first 5000 words or so (or the full manuscript of a picture book).

    2. To familiarize me with your creative vision and publishing goals, you are welcome to fill out this questionnaire.

      Or, if you prefer, we can schedule a free 15-minute tea & chat to get acquainted and discuss your editing needs.

    3. I’ll email you a quote and a free sample edit to help you decide whether we’re a good creative fit.

    4. Once we’ve decided to partner up (hurrah!), I’ll send you a brief agreement. Signature of the agreement plus a 15% deposit guarantees your slot in my calendar. Payments may be sent by e-Transfer (Canada) or PayPal (US & international).

  • Yes indeed! Any publisher worth its salt will get a copy editor’s eagle eyes on manuscripts they acquire.

    That said, at the querying stage, it doesn’t reflect well on a writer to pitch work that’s full of distracting typos and errors. A squeaky-clean manuscript is a reassuring sign of professionalism to literary agents.

    In any case, the manuscript is likely to evolve after acquisition as it undergoes developmental editing. The publisher’s copy editor will then polish the final draft.

  • In one word: credibility.

    Readers have a habit of noticing finicky little bloopers like the fact that the main character’s eye colour changes from green to blue or that he’s heading a “pubic awareness campaign.” Errors and inconsistencies like these scream “unprofessional,” and they cost indie authors precious credibility. A clean, polished text is the foundation of earning your readers’ trust as a storyteller.

  • 100% Human Editor

    I do not employ LLMs such as ChatGPT to edit manuscripts. I won’t feed any part of your work to an LLM; nor will I use AI to inform my editorial judgment or draft my communications.

    100% Human Author

    I do not accept submissions of manuscripts that are partly or fully AI-generated. If you didn’t create the storyline and characters, or the prose isn’t entirely your own, we aren’t a good editorial match.

    Using a spelling and grammar checker to correct typos is perfectly fine.

Other Editing Services

“I was blown away by the Line and Copy Edit. Laura’s edits made my manuscript more concise and flow in a way I couldn’t get it to before. With Laura’s help I’ve remembered why I love writing and why I’m striving to become an author. Absolutely worth it!”

— Nicole Garvey, YA fantasy author

“Laura is thorough and responsive and knows her craft well. Her ability to understand my vision and match it with industry knowledge and standards has led to a finished version of my manuscript I am happy with and feels complete.”

— C. Sarah A. Elliott, YA romance author