Definitions

Light copyediting, according to The Copyeditor's Handbook, makes sure spelling, punctuation and grammar are correct, asks about possible factual problems, points out vague or awkward passages, makes sure references to tables, chapters and charts are correct, looks for consistency in any bibliography and/or footnotes.

Heavy editing does that and more: the editor reads for and rewrites awkward or wordy passages, and corrects inaccurate factual statements. It can take as little as 90 minutes to go through a 10-page document that is relatively "clean" and needs a lighter touch, or as long as four or more hours if the work is quite rough.

Proofreading is the last stage of the process and involves going over a finished work “one last time” before it goes to the printer. Layout problems, word breaks, style and typos are all fixed, with an eye kept out for any grammatical or factual errors. This may be all that your document needs.

An “evaluation” is just that: I'll be happy to read your manuscript and offer a couple of paragraphs regarding what I thought of the work, maybe with a suggestion or two. However, no editing or proofing is done on an evaluation.

New clients may submit a couple of pages and I'll lightly edit and proof them for free, with an estimation of what should be done next; returning clients may submit a couple of pages for a quick evaluation if they're not sure what they might need on a new document.

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