Writing a book is a big accomplishment! You’ve invested lots of time and effort to put your thoughts into words so others can benefit from them. But sentences and paragraphs that are clear to you may not be easily understood by readers who have not been immersed in these ideas for the months or years that you have.
Now it’s time for a fresh pair of eyes to help you bridge the gap between yourself and your readers. I work for you, to make sure the words you’ve written accurately represent your meaning; on behalf of readers, to make sure they can easily understand your message; and in the interest of the book itself, to make sure it’s putting its best foot forward when it goes out into the world.
Whether you need assistance with clarity and consistency, spelling and grammar, technical details such as formatting of tables and references, laying out the text and other elements for print and/or ebook publication, a final proofreading pass, or all of these, I can help.
Services for Nonfiction Authors
Subject areas
Christian Nonfiction
How-To or Self-Help
Business
Education
Tech
Food and Cooking
Line Editing and Copyediting
Copyediting is sentence-level editing with comprehensive, detailed attention to clarity, consistency, and correctness, so readers can easily understand your message without distractions or confusion.
Line editing is sentence- and paragraph-level editing with a focus on readability, style, and tone, so your message is clear, engaging and powerful.
There is some overlap between line editing and copyediting, so if you want me to line edit your book, I’ll combine the two services into one stage of editing. Line editing and copyediting take place after the structure and content of your book are in place and before it is formatted for publication.
I use Microsoft Word’s Track Changes feature so you can see exactly what changes I’ve made and decide if there are any that you don't want to implement. I also use comments to explain why certain changes were made, make additional suggestions, present multiple options, and ask for clarification when needed.
Book Interior Layout
After your manuscript has been copyedited and all the changes have been incorporated, I’ll create your print book interior and ebook files using Vellum.
Vellum produces beautiful print layouts with cohesive design, balanced page spreads, and lots of possibilities for customization. You'll also get reflowable ebook files optimized for Apple, Google, Kindle, Kobo, and Nook, and a generic ebook file for us on other platforms.
You can view my sample print layouts here.
If your book requires a more complex layout, I can refer you to a typesetter or interior designer who can do a fully customized layout for you.
Proofreading
Once your edited manuscript has been laid out for print and formatted as an ebook, it’s time for one final check to make sure everything is complete and in order before it’s published.
Proofreading addresses some of the same issues as copyediting, but changes are minimized at this stage because adding or deleting a line of text (or even a few words) can affect the layout of not just the page they are on, but also several following pages. It also involves checking elements that are not present until after the manuscript is typeset, such as page numbers, headers, and footers.
Citations and References
Reference formatting includes checking that in-text citations, footnotes or endnotes, and bibliography or reference list entries conform to your chosen style guide:
All elements are present and in the correct order for that source type.
All elements are correctly styled and punctuated.
All sources cited in the text are listed in the bibliography or reference list, and all sources listed in the bibliography or reference list are cited in the text.
The Chicago Manual of Style, either author-date or notes and bibliography, is the most commonly used reference style for nonfiction trade books, but I can implement APA or your custom style if you prefer.
This service includes formatting the citations and references to conform to the style guide. I’ll flag issues for you to address, such as missing or conflicting information. I can also provide more in-depth verification and correction of reference information if needed.
Ready to get started?
I would love to hear about your project and goals, then show you how I can help you reach them. Use one of the buttons below to get started—or just to ask for more information. I can’t wait to read what you’ve written and help you get it ready for its readers!
