Editing Service

Nothing can sink your ship faster than a glaring misuse of language!

Mistakes in grammar or word selection can be disastrous to your ethos because most audiences (and readers) connect such errors with incompetence. They are likely to reason that anyone who misuses language can hardly offer a good editing service.

Editing projects include:

Manuscripts
Dissertations
Presentations
Speeches
Articles
Brochures
Research Reports
Correspondence
Essays

SAWN’s copy editing and proofreading service ensures the following:

the mechanical accuracy of spelling, punctuation and grammar
the stylistic consistency of the writing
we will query you when your meaning seems unclear, when information is missing, and when there are discrepancies between text citations and the reference list
we will not normally question the factual accuracy of the content, unless an error is obvious; it’s the sole responsibility of the original writer to ensure the accuracy of the content.

Most writers have an idea of what type of editing they’d like done, but don’t always know the correct definition. For many new authors having their work edited represents the mystical area between writing their first draft and one step closer to publication.

The different levels of editing include:

Light (baseline) copy editing – Light copy editing is similar to editorial proofreading but does a more thorough check of grammar rules. Proofreading means examining your text carefully to find and correct typographical errors and mistakes in grammar, style, and spelling.
Medium (standard) copy editing – Medium copy editing also checks for style consistency and relationships between text and graphics. Table-of-contents entries and organizational problems are also corrected.
Heavy (substantive) copy editing – The difference between medium and heavy copy editing is the level of rewriting involved. In a heavy copy edit, editors try to improve the flow of text by rewriting portions to enforce a uniform level, tone, and focus. They change passive voice to active voice and add missing articles (a, an, the). They also rearrange sentences to improve readability. This is particularly true with technical copy. For example, the phrase “hermetic two stage gear drive compressor,” is made more readable by adding a bit of punctuation, like this: “hermetic, two-stage, gear-drive compressor.”
Stylistic (line-by-line) Editing – Stylistic editing means clarifying meaning, eliminating jargon, smoothing language and other non-mechanical line-by-line editing. May include checking or correcting reading level; creating or recasting tables and/or figures.
Structural Editing – Structured editing refers to “checking” content, structure, flow, style, clarity, consistency, and identifying the strengths and weaknesses in it. Does the story flow? Are the characters believable? Is the story accessible? Does it make sense? Does the author create atmosphere? The editor also checks for consistency in story elements (plot, dialogue, setting, interaction) theme, flow, tense and voice.
Developmental Editing – Developmental editing is a form of writing support that comes into play before or during the production of a publishable manuscript, especially in non-fiction. Developmental editing involves “significant structuring or restructuring of a manuscript.