Book editing

Many people use editing, copyediting and copy-editing to mean the same thing: they all aim to take your text to the next level. But when it comes to book editing, the editorial process usually involves a few more stages.

In very simple terms, a developmental editor gives advice on the big picture; line editors focus on style and voice; and the copyediting process looks at more technical language issues, such as grammar, punctuation and spelling errors.

To learn more about all the editorial magic we can work on your document, get in touch for a free consultation.

We place quality at the heart of everything we do, and we’re proud to be certified for compliance with ISO 9001:2015, the globally recognised quality standard. We only work with experienced and fully vetted editors and proofreaders, and our strict in-house quality-checking processes make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Read more about our approach to quality.

The work and personal data you share with us are treated as strictly confidential. All our team members are fully vetted and have signed a contract and non-disclosure agreement. We never share your details or documents with third parties, and we delete data once it is no longer needed. To find out more, please see our privacy policy.

All documents you send us are edited by humans, not machines. AI tools are impressive but they cannot rival the quality, thoughtfulness and confidentiality of work by a human book editor. We use handy, non-AI-driven editing tools that act as an extra safety net to pick up mistakes – but the core work is always done by a human book editor.

We can usually edit or proofread short documents in as little as 24 hours. Let us know your deadline and we’ll do our absolute best to meet it.

All varieties! We most commonly work in British, American, Canadian and Australian English, but we’ll adapt to whatever more specific preferences you have.

No. Our book editing services can be tailored to whatever kind of novel or book you’re writing, and we’ve helped writers working in many different genres – from history and finance to romance and sci-fi.

That said, if we believe a manuscript is designed to incite or promote hate, we reserve the right to cancel the work.

We work with all kinds of files. We most commonly edit and proofread in MS Word as changes can be easily tracked, but we also work in Google Docs, PDFs, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, LaTeX, InDesign and most other file types that are sent our way.

Depending on what we’ve agreed, we will communicate developmental editing feedback as a report or with changes or comments in your manuscript. For other types of editing or proofreading, we’ll send your document back in the format of your choice. If it’s a file type that supports tracked changes (such as MS Word or Google Docs), our suggestions and comments will be clearly marked up in the document.

Of course, if you have any follow-up questions after we’ve sent you the final document, we’re more than happy to answer them.

We do everything we possibly can to make your manuscript the best it can be. We hire only experienced editors and proofreaders with a keen eye for detail, and we have a strict quality assurance policy in place.

We’re also certified for compliance with globally recognised quality management standard ISO 9001:2015, which means we place customer satisfaction and quality at the heart of everything we do. Despite all of this, human error is still possible and we can’t guarantee 100% accuracy. And no one can guarantee success in the wild world of publishing. Read more about our approach to quality.

We calculate the cost of editorial services based on the number of words in your document and the amount of work involved (for example, a heavy copyedit will cost more than a light proofread as more work is involved in reworking the document). Send us your document and deadline (or a sample of your text and the total word count) and we’ll get back to you with a free, speedy and precise quote.

We accept payment via bank transfer and PayPal, which includes card payments via the PayPal interface.

For individual clients, we ask that you pay up front the first time we work together; after that, we’ll switch to 30-day invoicing. For businesses, universities and other organisations, we understand that you would most likely prefer an invoice on completion. We’ll ask for your business address, and our payment terms are 30 days from the date of invoicing.

Yes, as long as you can provide us with a full business address. For individual clients, we ask that you pay upfront the first time we work together; after that, we’ll switch to 30-day invoicing.