Structural & Copy editing
WHY SHOULD I?
Whatever stage you are at in your writing career, your work will always benefit from the services of an editor. They will be able to view your manuscript with objectivity, meticulous attention-to-detail, and an eye to the trends and demands of the publishing industry.
Sam-Ellen’s background as an author herself means she approaches all editing work with sensitivity and an eye and ear for a writer’s unique voice and objectives - while polishing the work to make it best shine and meet industry standards.
All genres are welcome – fiction and non-fiction – although BPS specialises in children’s and YA, fantasy and sci-fi, and commercial and literary fiction. We can also offer editing services for academic projects, reports, articles and blogs, and website, marketing and media copy.
The two types of editing services BPS provide:
Structural / Developmental Editing:
Think of this as helping to strengthen the roots of your story – so it can grow into the wonderful work of art it’s destined to be!
Structural edits look at the foundation of your manuscript, and may check for any or all of the following:
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Is the narrative clear, logical and consistent in terms of plot, character development, chronology, structure, world-building?
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Is it told in the right voice, and the most effective point of view?
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Is it written in the right style, length, and language for the intended audience?
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Are the themes complimenting the story – do they need to be strengthened, or tweaked?
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How’s the pacing? Is it too slow in some parts, rushed in others?
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Is everything working together to create a cohesive, compelling, and resonant story?
Structural edits may involve reworking the manuscript significantly, shifting pages or chapters around, tweaking small parts, writing a new beginning or ending, deepening themes, changing character voice, deleting characters, finessing the world-building or historical detail.
Typically, a structural edit does not check punctuation, spelling or grammar – this falls under copy editing (although some instances are marked up or indicated in manuscript if relevant to structural edits).
In summary:
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A more in-depth analysis of your work than a manuscript assessment provides
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There will be some mark-up and edits made in text, but mostly you will see a lot of comments, queries, and suggestions made in the comments in tracked changes (often multiple comments a page)
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An in-depth reader report that expands on the comments in the manuscript, summarises major changes, and includes additional queries or points to note
Cost:
Structural and copy editing prices are based on manuscript word count and complexity.
This fee will be between 3 and 5 cents per word – with intensive or complicated editing attracting a higher cents-per-word fee. This is assessed after BPS receives a copy of the draft manuscript/work.
As an example – a relatively simple 50,000 word manuscript at 3 cents per word would be $1,500.
Allow 2-4 weeks for all editing services
Copy editing / line editing
Copy editing (sometimes known as line editing) is a thorough, detailed edit that ensures your manuscript is free of errors, typos, and inconsistencies. Your work will be corrected and improved using industry-standard rules, guidelines, and conventions. If you would like to self-publish your manuscript or submit it to publishers, copy editing allows you to present your cleanest, most professional manuscript.
Copy editing may involve some or all of the following:
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Checking punctuation, spelling, and grammar (Australia has its own standards, conventions and rules about grammar, punctuation and spelling that may be different to other countries – a copy-edit also ensures these are consistent throughout the text)
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Improving clarity, flow of story, and dialogue
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Removing repetition, redundant information, inconsistent information (such as character appearance)
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Highlighting cliched language, jargon, tautologies etc
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Applying House Style if applicable
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Monitoring anything that may be subject to copyright, defamation, or privacy law, or need fact-checking
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Cleaning up style or formatting including heading hierarchies, pagination, prelim and endmatter, footnotes, glossaries, menus
In summary:
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Copy editing is made in the manuscript using tracked changes (often with comments if further clarification or explanation is necessary). You will be able to see each edit and accept them, and compare both versions of the work.
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Copy edits will be accompanied by a style sheet (alphabetically listing any unusual spellings, grammar and style choices, place names etc).
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It is recommended that a structural edit is done before a copyedit, as a copy edit is not designed to catch any glaring structural errors. BPS also recommends that the manuscript is read by a proofreader as the final step in the editing process, as a fresh set of eyes will often catch anything that has slipped through the cracks.
Cost:
Structural and copy editing prices are based on manuscript word count and complexity.
This fee will be between 3 and 5 cents per word – with intensive or complicated editing attracting a higher cents-per-word fee. This is assessed after BPS receives a copy of the draft manuscript/work.
As an example – a relatively simple 50,000 word manuscript at 3 cents per word would be $1,500.
Allow 2-4 weeks for all editing services