One of the most common questions I get from writers when helping them decide what service they need is this: What’s the difference between copyediting and proofreading?
People often think these services are interchangeable. Many think that since they both check for grammar that as long as you get at least one of them, you’re good. This is very untrue.
For one thing, these are two very distinct and important processes in a book’s journey to publishing. Skimping on one in favor of the other spells bad news for your text. They work in tandem with each other to ensure your words read as fluid and error-free as possible.
What is Copyediting?
Copyediting concerns itself with grammar, wordiness, spelling, confusing syntax, clunky transitions, uneven rhythm, tone & style deviations, and misused words. It handles more than a proofread does. Copyeditors are concerned with not only the proper grammar of the text, but the readability. They ask themselves questions like, “Is this phrased as concisely as possible or will its organization get in the way of conveying intended meaning to readers?” It almost goes into the territory of a line-edit, which focuses on the rhythm and flow of sentences.
Also, one of a copyeditor's main goals is to fact check and check for consistency throughout a text. In other words, they verify whether John F. Kennedy died on November 22, 1962 or 1963. A copyeditor will also make sure that if you’ve randomly started writing out JFK’s name without the period after his middle initial come the middle of the text, that it is reinstated. In addition, a copyeditor is concerned with the coherence of the overall text. They’re concerned with whether ideas connect logically from sentence to sentence.
I like to say copyeditors focus on the five C's:
Coherence, Conciseness, Consistency, Clarity, and Correctness.
What is Proofreading?
Proofreading concerns itself with grammar, punctuation, spelling, light formatting & layout, and capitalization. Proofreading is a lighter type of edit than copyediting.
You might think of copyediting as the process that sands down the rough edges of your work and proofreading as the final step that applies the varnish. Proofreaders try to make sure typos don’t make it through to the final printed text so it’s shiny and distraction-free for readers.
Examples of Copyediting vs. Proofreading
Take the rough paragraph below for example.
(Notice how the grammar AI wasn't able to catch all the errors. 🤔)
This is how a copyeditor would edit that paragraph:
So the end result would read like so:
In contrast, a proofreader would be less heavy-handed and less worried about conciseness and flow of sentences. They’d assume all the prosody and clarity edits the author wanted to accept had already been applied and might edit it like this:
So the end result would read like so:
When should I get a copyedit?
A copyedit is done after all the developmental changes have been made to a text. Ideally, writers bar themselves from conducting any more structural changes on their text once they initiate a copyedit in order to prevent the copyedit from becoming moot. A sudden decision to replace an entire chapter, for example, would be detrimental to the copyediting process. That chapter would have to be re-edited, since the new material would now have to be copyedited and checked for consistency with the rest of the text.
When should I get a proofread?
Proofreading takes place right after a copyedit. Likewise, the editor assumes no more developmental revisions will be made by the writer. Its main purpose is to catch any errors missed in the copyedit and to apply final formatting changes. After a proofread is done, a book gets sent off to be typeset which means it’s about to be printed!
Will my book turn out absolutely flawless now?
Not exactly. Even with the combination of spellcheck technology and a human editor’s discerning eye, it’s still possible for a couple typos to slip between the cracks. Even the absolute best editors only have about a 95% error detection rate, which is why we institute best practices like doing multiple passes during an edit and allowing technology to point out the most glaring issues.
Not even AI is flawless so you can’t expect a human to be, but you can bet your bottom dollar us human editors do a much better job at editing for things like prosody, consistency, and fact-checking.
Don’t be fooled by claims that skipping the human editor component is an okay corner to cut in the publishing process. The end result of your text will disappoint you.
Do know the difference between the types of editing your text needs to receive. I hope this article helped you on your way to understanding what the difference between copyediting and proofreading is.
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