*When I wrote this, I separated copy editing and line editing into two different services and price points. But I was trained at UCSD to do a comprehensive job, and I find it difficult to do less for clients who pay less. So I have now combined the services. Everybody edited by me gets my best work, in a full line edit plus copy edit, with hints of content editing. If I see something, I say something.

One mistake writers commonly make, when choosing a service, is to skip professional editing in favor of a proofread. Yes, it’s a bit cheaper. I get the appeal—I’ve lived modestly my entire life, and these services can be expensive. But buying proofreading before editing is a prime case of the cheaper option being more costly in the long run. 

Let’s say your manuscript is a promising 1970 Chevy Nova that you found gathering dust in a barn. Proofreading is giving that car a thorough wash and detail. Copy editing is having a mechanic check brakes and transmission, ensuring it runs. Line editing is optimizing it for superior performance. After a line edit, you could race this Chevy on a track. After a line edit plus proofread, you could show it at auction and give it the best chance of attracting top dollar. Not everyone needs to have that Nova performing so well it might be sold to a collector, though. Maybe you just want to drive around town, or you’re confident that the engine needs only a tune-up. That’s when a copy edit is the best choice. 

The proofread, naturally, happens only after a mechanic has it performing to the desired degree. But what if you skip that and go straight for a sudsy bucket of proofread? You can’t judge if it’s going to run, but no opossums seem to be nesting under the hood, so you hope for the best. Still, no pro has so much as checked gaskets or fluid levels. Is getting the outside gleaming worth it? Not usually. Unless you get really lucky, you’ll own a sparkling Chevy that’s not in condition to be driven around the block, let alone shopped around.

I know this sounds like upselling. But truthfully, if you only have the budget for one service, it’s better to opt for the copy edit than the proofread. At least with a copy edit, you’ll know your vehicle runs. Even if there are some bugs stuck to the grill.

And to totally exhaust this analogy: imagine taking grandma out in your car. She’ll forgive the bird “gift” on the windshield and the dust on the dashboard. She won’t forgive the car grinding to a halt on I-95 because it hasn’t been serviced. Similarly, readers and agents will forgive little typos and missing marks that were never caught in a proofread. But they won’t forgive repetitious or awkward passages that would have registered in a copy or line edit. 

Keep this in mind when choosing an editing service. Try to gage for yourself what level of service your manuscript needs. I’ll be happy that your work is getting the right level of attention, and you’ll be happy with a final product that not just sparkles on the outside, but runs like a champ. 

Pied-billed grebes in Golden Gate Park, CA. October 2018, HL Sianni