Book proofreadingProofreading & Copy Editing

Proofreading of a book manuscript before publishing

Usually ready in 15 minutesRevisions includedQuality check
Payment protectionDetails
  • Revisions within the package are free.
  • If you do not respond within 3 days of delivery, the work is accepted automatically.
Order · $39

The money is reserved when you pay and released only once you accept the work.

Proofreading of a book manuscript before publishing

Example result

Example for the Standard package

Proofreading: annual report of a community garden association

Before and after (excerpt)

Before:

This year the garden welcomed 23 new members, and our waiting list have grown to 41 familys. Thanks to a council grant of £2,400 we replaced the old shed, it's roof had been leaking since 2023. Volunteers put in over 1.200 hours, a new record! The composting area was moved behind plot 14, which means the paths along plots 12-16 is now clear for wheelchairs. Special thanks goes to Margret Hale who organised the Spring Plant sale.

After:

This year the garden welcomed 23 new members, and our waiting list has grown to 41 families. Thanks to a council grant of £2,400, we replaced the old shed; its roof had been leaking since 2023. Volunteers put in over 1,200 hours, a new record! The composting area was moved behind plot 14, which means the paths along plots 12–16 are now clear for wheelchairs. Special thanks go to Margaret Hale, who organised the spring plant sale.

List of changes (excerpt)

#ParagraphWasNowType
12waiting list have grownwaiting list has grownGrammar: agreement
22familysfamiliesSpelling
32grant of £2,400 wegrant of £2,400, wePunctuation
42shed, it's roofshed; its roofPunctuation; its/it's
521.200 hours1,200 hoursNumber format
62plots 12-16 isplots 12–16 areDash in range; agreement
72thanks goesthanks goGrammar
82Margret HaleMargaret HaleName: spelled "Margaret" on p. 1 and p. 4
92Spring Plant salespring plant saleCapitalisation, as elsewhere in the report

Consistency check across the whole report

  • Names: "Margaret Hale" (4 times), "Tom Okoye" (3), "Priya Shah" (2), all now spelled the same way everywhere
  • Organisation name: "Elm Street Community Garden" used in full the first time, then "the garden"; 3 cases of "Elm St. Garden" changed
  • Spelling: British throughout ("organised", "colour", "programme"); 7 American forms changed
  • Numbers: thousands with a comma, ranges with an en dash; amounts checked against the finance table on page 5, all match

Not changed (for you to decide)

  • Paragraph 6 says "nearly 50 volunteers"; the table on page 5 lists 46. Both can be correct, so we left the wording.
  • "Potluck" appears both with and without a hyphen in quotes from members; quotes were kept as written.

Total: 2,684 words checked, 57 corrections.

Client: Elm Street Community Garden, a volunteer-run association with 80 members Text: the 2,700-word annual report for members and the local council Brief: fix errors only, keep the friendly voice; use British spelling; plot numbers and amounts must stay exactly as given

The client and all details are made up.

About this service

We proofread book manuscripts before publishing or self-publishing on platforms like Amazon KDP: spelling, grammar, punctuation and typos, with your style and dialogue left as they are. Books need consistency over hundreds of pages, so we track character names, place names, hyphenation, capitalization and number style and record them in a style sheet. Dialogue punctuation is checked against the conventions of your language.

What is included

  • What you getThe corrected manuscript, a list of changes and a style sheet with names, spellings and conventions used, which you can reuse for the next books in a series.
  • Typos and errors fixedSpelling, grammar and punctuation
  • Dialogue punctuationQuotes, dashes and tags done right
  • Style sheetNames, places and spelling choices
  • Your voice keptDeliberate style and dialect left alone
  • List of changesEvery correction shown

How it works

  1. 1
    BriefYou send the chapters and style notes
  2. 2
    ProofreadingWe correct and build the style sheet
  3. 3
    DeliveryYou get the manuscript, changes and style sheet

What we need from you

The chapters pasted into the brief, the language variant, the genre and any style choices you have made, such as spelling of invented names. Documents can also be attached as PDF, Word or Excel files.

We will ask you:

  • What genre is the book?
  • British or American English, or another language?
  • Are there invented names or words with a fixed spelling?
  • Is any nonstandard grammar intentional?

Compare packages

BasicUp to 5,000 words$20StandardUp to 12,000 words$39PremiumUp to 25,000 words$75
Deadline2 days3 days5 days
Revisions123
Lengthup to 5,000 wordsup to 12,000 wordsup to 25,000 words
List of changesYesYesYes
Style sheetYesYesYes
OrderOrderOrder

Payment protection

You pay when you order, but the money is released only for accepted work.

  • Fixed priceThe package price does not change after you pay.
  • The money is reservedWhen you pay, the amount is only reserved. It is released to the service once you accept the work.
  • Checked before deliveryEvery result goes through a quality check before it reaches you, and you see it on the order page before accepting it.
  • Free revisionsAsk for changes within your brief as many times as the package allows.
  • Acceptance after 3 daysIf within 3 days of delivery you neither accept the work nor ask for changes, it is accepted automatically. If you write in the order chat after delivery, the order waits; once we answer, we may start the 3 days again and will say so in the chat.
  • Redo or a full refundIf the result does not match your brief and the revisions did not fix it, or the work takes more than twice its deadline, write in the order chat: we will redo the work or refund the payment in full.
How it works →

Questions and answers

My book is longer than 25,000 words. What do I do?

Order it in parts. Send the style sheet from the first part with the next one so everything stays consistent.

Will you edit the plot or style?

No, this is proofreading. For feedback on plot and characters, order a manuscript critique.

Do you format the book for KDP?

No, we work on the text only. Layout and file formatting are not included.

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