What Is "Copyediting" and What Is The Process From a Professional Editor's Perspective?

Surprisingly, the word copyediting is an industry-specific term. If you don't function within this community or have some exposure to it, the word may be simply unfamiliar, or even mysterious, but it's easy enough to demystify.

To answer the question, let's start with a reference from the Chicago Manual of Style. It says copyediting involves both mechanical editing and substantive editing:

"Mechanical copyediting requires a close reading of the manuscript with an eye to such matters as consistency of capitalization, spelling, and hyphenation; agreement of verbs and subjects; punctuation; beginning and ending quotation marks and parentheses; numbers given in numerals or spelled out; and many similar details of style.

Substantive copyediting involves rewriting, reorganizing, or suggesting other ways to present material."

Mechanical copyediting is more of a science because most rules of grammar are absolute. In contrast, substantive copyediting is more of an art based on innate talent, training or a combination of both. A talented copyeditor effortlessly and simultaneously performs both types, unless specifically requested to do otherwise.

So you can see how copyediting actually works behind-the-scenes, below is the step-by-step process, which might be modified from editor to editor based on individual style preferences.

After a thorough review of the content for the degree of copyediting required (light vs. heavy) and a signed Agreement has been received, as well as a project deposit, the copyediting process officially begins. The step-by-step process contains:

1. a full review of the content with no changes. This simply allows a broad understanding of the materials.
2. a second full review with a focus on flow, readability and structure
3. a third full review with an eye for grammar, spelling and punctuation details
4. a fourth and final review of a printed copy of the contents. It is amazing how many "catches" one finds in this final stage of the process. Seeing words on paper vs. a computer monitor ensures proof-perfect copy.

Copyediting is both a skill (mechanical) and an art form (substantive). In the hands of a masterful wordsmith, your copy is clean, succinct and creates a full impact both seen and felt by your customers or clients.

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THE Secret to Hiring a Professional Editor at a Fraction of Industry Rates

Delegating tasks to others is a key to your success in business. You cannot do everything, nor would you want to do everything. By hiring professionals to do what they do best, you focus on what you do best and grow your business at the same time.

As an established business owner, you probably already have existing marketing content: descriptive web copy, effective sales letters or 4-color brochures with matching pens to mail with your thank you notes and promotional campaigns. But there may be a few more pieces to add to your marketing puzzle including an article campaign, a press release to distribute news of your latest product launch, or an auto-responder series for your newsletter sign-ups.

Sticker-shock is common among the clients of copywriters and copyeditors. As word artisans there is a great deal of skill and time involved in creating captivating copy that both meets your expectations and delivers results. You want true professionals on your team and yet although the expense is an investment in your business, sheer economics may mean the difference between being able to hire them or not.

If you know you need the services of a competent editor, but struggle with the hows of paying for it, you are not alone. At the risk of singing the very tired "in these economic times..." song, it is important to find innovative ways to stretch every resource to its max.

This is one insight is the key to maximizing your editing dollars:

Hiring an editor
for the finishing touches
of any marketing piece
is the most cost-effective method
of securing their services

Essentially: give your editor a near-finished document.

So, what does this mean?

1. You (or someone competent and knowledgeable of your company and products or services) write the content.


2. At least two people with an intimate understanding of your business review the materials to ensure the message: 1) speaks directly to the target market, 2) is easy for anyone within that target market to understand, 3) communicates succinctly and effectively, and 4) flows naturally.


3. The document has been reviewed by at least two sets of eyeballs for grammatical, spelling and punctuation accuracy.


4. One final review by someone competent who hasn't seen the document before.

By the time you complete these four simple steps, your document is near-finished. Now it's time for an expert editor to step in and work their magic... at a fraction of the cost of a comprehensive editing job, which may even involve aspects of copywriting depending on the strength of the copy.

As you know, time is money. When you save your editor time (by doing the labor-intensive action steps of getting content into polished form), you save money. And yet you are still able to hire them for the best part of what they do so skillfully: to ensure your message is clear, direct and effective before it is mass-distributed.

Here are a few additional tips for maximizing the expertise of a seasoned editor:

1. Establish a budget based on a real-world assessment of your circumstances and give this figure to your editor. Ask what s/he can do for that amount. You'd be surprised at how much can be accomplished in a mere hour. Let your editor tell you what's possible based on their knowledge, not your assumption.


2. Ask about terms. You never know how flexible your editor might be unless you ask! As a consumer, there has never been a better time to negotiate all aspects of delegating work to other entrepreneurs. However, let fairness for all parties be your approach. What diminishes one, diminishes all, no matter how screaming the deal for the one.


3. Be creative! Black-and-white approaches to life are not only limiting, they're a pure bore! Make the art of delegating and negotiation fun. You'd be amazed to discover the multitude of ways to collaborate with other fabulous entrepreneurs by stepping out of the proverbial box to dance on the top of that box. It starts with the willingness to be creative and explore ALL the possibilities. If you want to work with someone, find a way to make it happen with ongoing, open dialogue until you reach an agreement that leaves everyone smiling.

As the old adage goes, where there's a will, there's a way. Will yourself to enjoy the services of true pros. Not only can it work into your budget, but it makes a colossal difference in the quality of your marketing copy, which is your representation in the world. And you want it to be the most effectual imprint possible.

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How To Maintain Your Article Marketing Campaign With Quick Article Writing Method

Article marketing is an important key to establishing and maintaining your expertise on the Web. It also goes a long way in ensuring your audience keeps coming back because you have interesting, fresh content.

With the daily demands on your time, however, your article marketing campaign often gets relegated to the background. It’s not that you think it’s unimportant, but somehow other tasks continually take precedence, with varying degrees of negative impact to your business.

What if you had an easy, proven system to producing lots of articles? Here’s how, and I promise it works because in less than one hour, this article was written using this very method:

1. Choose a topic that’s easy for you to write about without the need for research
2. Choose key words(s)
3. Choose key points
4. Set your timer for 20 minutes
5. Write or type without thinking, editing, reviewing or proofing. Just get the information out of your head
6. Wait a minimum of 30 minutes (start another article or do something else)
7. Set your timer for 10 minutes
8. Quickly restructure article for organization and logical flow
9. Strategically place or double-check placement of your keyword(s)
10. Wait a minimum of 30 minutes (start another article or do something else)
11. Set your timer for a maximum of 10 minutes.
12. Proofread for grammar and punctuation
13. Set your timer for 5 minutes.
14. Write as many dynamic titles for your article as possible
15. Choose the article title with the most impact
16. Review article one final time for organization, flow, grammar, spelling and punctuation (or delegate a final review to your virtual assistant or editor)
17. Publish or post article on article distribution sites like ezinearticles.com


Using this method is incredibly effective in producing articles in less than an hour, without compromising quality. If you did this daily, or even weekly, you could quickly accumulate 365 or 52 articles (respectively) every year. If you have one hour, you have one article to promote yourself, your products or services. Article writing doesn’t have to be daunting. Just get started with an effective system that delivers… every time.

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Too Many Words Undermine Your Copywriting Efforts

I saw this recently in an article about copywriting:

'However, before you begin your copywriting venture it is essential to know the basics about copywriting so that you can channelize your creative skill in the right direction and open the doorways for millions to flow into your treasure house.'

Channelize? Open the doorways for millions? (Learning copywriting basics will deliver millions? Really?) Your treasure house?

High-impact copywriting is succinct AND avoids the use of colloquialisms (e.g. treasure house). If I were hired to edit this paragraph, this is how it would look:

'However, before beginning your copywriting career, learn the basics. Knowing the essentials is vital to writing captivating content, thereby opening additional channels of revenue.'

Although the first version is colorful, it requires readers to work to understand its meaning.

Too much work = disinterested reader

When your audience has to read and reread your content to gain understanding, their frustration level increases and instead of intriguing them, you lose them... maybe permanently. If you're trying to build your marketing list, establish yourself as an expert or increase sales, obviously losing a reader won't deliver the results you desire.

In copywriting, every word must pull its weight. Words are used strategically and chosen specifically to deliver the most impact. Writing isn't an accidental business activity. Your efforts must be smart, focused and speak effectively to your market... as succinctly as possible.

So, how do you do that?

Here are 7 insider copywriting tips for writing and editing highly-effective, targeted marketing content:

1. Know your target market before writing anything
2. Use fewer words for your first draft (you can always add more later, if necessary)
3. Create an outline. Make each point, provide a brief explanation and move on
4. Avoid words that don't 'pull their own weight'
5. Review content with a keen eye for brevity (and be aggressive with the delete button!)
6. Review content asking yourself how to say something more effectively with fewer words
7. Review content for all words-or strings of words-that aren't widely understood or causes your reader to 'work' to understand the meaning (e.g. colloquialisms, vernacular terms, idioms, or jargon)

Implementing these 7 tools is a solid foundation for copywriting that accomplishes your marketing goals.

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EditCopyProof Launches Design Services

The buzz has begun.

With the latest addition of design services to our lineup of professional copywriting, copyediting and proofreading, clients are already clamoring to be among the first to benefit from high-impact visual marketing materials.

Whether you require a logo, watermark, print or online advertisement, business card, notepad, bookmark or product label, this is the final destination in your search for

• competitive pricing
• quick turnaround on all projects
• direct contact with our talented designer
• unlimited, exclusive rights to your logo/designs

Submit a quote request TODAY. Most quotes are returned to you within 2 hours of receipt. As soon as the Agreement is signed and returned to us via email or FAX, we immediately begin your project.

Here's what one satisfied client said:

"I gave EditCopyProof 's designer a scanned image of an inspired doodle, a color scheme, and a few other thoughts. Within a few days, I had 3 unique comps. They were all so good, it was hard to choose just one! I now have a logo I can use for multiple applications and many years.

What's so powerful is the consulting/copywriting/design combination. Charlon's 1-hour consult on the essential elements of a business card blew my mind. She offered a perspective of the business card being a "mini-billboard" instead of mere contact information. Who knew? My entire view of marketing has broadened, as a direct result.

If you need design services, copywriting, consulting or a highly-impactful combination of all three, there's only one place to go; EditCopyProof Designs! They are my one-stop pro shoppe."

Gina Rafkind
The Aromatherapy Luminary
VedaSun.com

Entrepreneurs Ask... What Is Copyediting?

To answer, let's start with a reference from the Chicago Manual of Style. It says copyediting involves both mechanical editing and substantive editing:

"Mechanical copyediting requires a close reading of the manuscript with an eye to such matters as consistency of capitalization, spelling, and hyphenation; agreement of verbs and subjects; punctuation; beginning and ending quotation marks and parentheses; numbers given in numerals or spelled out; and many similar details of style.

Substantive copyediting involves rewriting, reorganizing, or suggesting other ways to present material."

Mechanical copyediting is more of a science because most rules of grammar are absolute. In contrast, substantive copyediting is more of an art based on innate talent, training or a combination of both. A talented copyeditor effortlessly and simultaneously performs both types of editing unless the client specifically requests one type or the other.

As easy as it sounds to perform either editing task, both are arduous and time-consuming. That's why it's important to hire a pro so you can focus on growing your business!

Don't Let This Happen To You

It seems everywhere I look I see spelling, punctuation and grammatical bloopers. Because it's my business, I am especially attuned, but you must see examples of this as well. Whether it's print advertising, billboards, Web sites or other marketing venues, I always wonder how the boo-boos made it through what should be an arduous process of checking and double-checking for errors.

We all make mistakes, but do your best to prevent embarrassing oversights by having an effective, preventive system in place. At the minimum, perform a spell check using your computer software AND have one other person review the copy before releasing your materials to the world.

Here are some examples that make my point:

1. A huge, professionally-painted sign on the side of an old warehouse: "House's Wanted."
   
   
2. A real estate ad describing the benefits of a remote mountain cabin: "Escape the hussel and bussel of the city."
   
   
3. An advertisement for typing/editing services (I did not make up this! How could I?): "I am a very good typist, and have some time on my hands. If you need papers typed or edited for content or grammaracle errors, Give me a call!"

I won't be calling. Will you?

What Is Copyediting?

To answer, let's start with a reference from the Chicago Manual of Style. It says copyediting involves both mechanical editing and substantive editing:

"Mechanical copyediting requires a close reading of the manuscript with an eye to such matters as consistency of capitalization, spelling, and hyphenation; agreement of verbs and subjects; punctuation; beginning and ending quotation marks and parentheses; numbers given in numerals or spelled out; and many similar details of style.

Substantive copyediting involves rewriting, reorganizing, or suggesting other ways to present material."

Mechanical copyediting is more of a science because most rules of grammar are absolute. In contrast, substantive copyediting is more of an art based on innate talent, training or a combination of both. A talented copyeditor effortlessly and simultaneously performs both types of editing unless the client specifically requests one type or the other.

As easy as it sounds to perform either editing task, both are arduous and time-consuming. That's why it's important to hire a pro so you can focus on growing your business!