Editing and proofreading
- Checking for typos and fundamental grammatical errors.
- Ensuring no offence or negative PR is likely to be caused.
- Ensuring clarity, consistency and correctness throughout.
- Ensuring plain English wherever possible.
- Emphasising logical flow and readability for the widest audience.
- Fact checking and accuracy.
- Helping non-English speakers with content creation.
Coastal Content delivers fast, accurate copy editing and proofreading services to small businesses, website owners, students and individuals.
When communication counts, so does accuracy, meaning and consistency. Don’t publish anything without having it proofed first!
My copy editing and proofreading service is ideal for small businesses, entrepreneurs, online publishers, bloggers, social media marketers and anyone who needs a second opinion, unbiased review or final check before publishing.
I specialise in non-fiction digital content but can turn my hand to most non-fiction mediums.
I typically copy edit or proofread:
- Website content.
- Blog posts and social media posts.
- Company communications and reports.
- External communications between businesses and customers.
- Educational content including online course content.
- Translated content from across the spectrum.
How editing works
For both copy editing and proofreading, all you need to do is send me an idea of what you’re looking for and for how many words.
I will quote for the work within 24 hours and give you an expectation of timescales. If you agree, you can send the work, I do my thing and return it on or before the deadline.
All changes will be tracked within Word or Google Doc, or with sticky notes in PDF format. Any suggestions or observations will also be added using comments.
I aim to retain as much of the original document as possible while editing where necessary.
All documentation will be treated with the utmost confidence and will be securely deleted once payment has been received.
Copy editing
Copy editing includes checking your content for grammar, spelling, formatting, word choice, sentence structure, style, consistency, clarity, correctness and a whole lot more.
You have heard the term ‘measure twice, cut once’ right? My version is ‘edit twice, publish once’ and that’s what my copy editing service ensures.
When I first began copy editing, it was a matter of fact checking, ensuring adherence to style, target audience, correctness, conciseness and clarity. Now copy editing is all those things and more.
I spend most of my time ensuring there is nothing offensive, nothing that could create negative press or that could bring your organisation into disrepute.
When people often look for things to get offended over and a misplaced word or momentary lack of judgement online or social media can cause a storm.
It’s well worth using a copy editor to ensure your content is good to go before you publish.
While grammar is part of copy editing, the ‘rules’ for using grammar in popular language are now largely ignored.
It is less about past participles or gerunds and more about ensuring tenses match and that the content will make sense to the target audience.
Proofreading
Proofreading is more about readability, accuracy and clarity. It’s a lighter touch than copy editing but concentrates less on the structure of content and more on the comprehension of it.
Proofreading is usually the final step, after all your edits and additions and just before you publish. A final pass before your content hits live or is sent to the printers.
Like copy editing, a lot of my time is spent ensuring there is nothing offensive in the content, that slang or colloquialisms are kept to a minimum and that the content is as inoffensive as it can be without losing it’s meaning.
If you would like the peace of mind a professional eye can deliver, contact Coastal Content today and request a copy editing or proofreading quote.
I won’t let you down!