The Difference Between Copy Editing vs Proofreading
By Mary Kole
Mary Kole is a former literary agent, freelance editor, writing teacher, author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit, and IP developer for major publishers, with over a decade in the publishing industry.
As a writer, you want to make sure that your content is clear, concise, and free of errors—but there’s a difference between copy editing vs proofreading, and you’ll want to know what you need at each step of the way. Copy editing and proofreading are two key steps in the writing process, but they are distinct, even if they get thrown together or used interchangeably. This article will explain the difference between copy editing vs proofreading and outline what both can do for your writing.
Copy Editing Vs Proofreading: Copy Editing
Once a manuscript is ready for copy editing, it has already been through many rounds of revision, from self-editing to a developmental edit to a line edit. The purpose of big picture editing is looking at changes like structure, organization, clarity of ideas, flow, etc. But then it’s time to get into the nitty gritty, and that’s where line editing and copy editing (sometimes used interchangeably) come in. Once the big moving pieces of story are finalized, the sentence level really comes into play.
Here is where copy editing will look at your grammar, syntax, word choice, spelling, writing voice, clarity, and even factual accuracy. If you are having copy editing done by a publisher, the house will likely have their own style guide to apply. If you’re doing your own copy editing, you should understand that the manuscript will likely be copy edited again if it gets published. In the discussion of copy editing vs proofreading, copy editing is usually the penultimate step before a project goes to print. (This is also especially relevant for writers who are self-publishing, as they are the last set of eyes on something before it is available for sale.)
Copy Editing Vs Proofreading: Proofreading
If copy editing is the second to last step in the editorial flowchart, proofreading is the absolute last. Proofreading involves catching typos, misspellings, errors in punctuation or capitalization, formatting issues (e.g., incorrect spacing), and every last nitpicky detail you can think of. All of those little details that can easily slip through the cracks when you’re still revising, but they’re exactly the things that readers and customers will call out when they write reviews, saying that the project had poor “editing.”
Proofreading is very granular, careful work, and can be exceedingly tough to do for your own manuscript because you’ve been through it so many times before your final polish. You can and should be doing proofreading every time you revise, but you should also do a dedicated proofreading round before submitting or self-publishing.
Professional Copy Editing Vs Proofreading
While it’s important for writers to learn how to properly copy edit and proofread their own work before submitting or self-publishing, you need to know that these services are available for hire as well. There are professional copy editors and proofreaders, many of whom have worked for major publications or publishing houses and now do freelance editing.
Writers are famous for not being objective about their own manuscripts, so sometimes a second set of eyes can be very beneficial, especially when it comes to the tedious work of copy editing vs proofreading. Publishing today is also so competitive that writers might want to invest in copy editing or proofreading before submitting to agents and publishers. There’s a lot of pressure to show up as strong as you can in the slush pile, instead of sending out a loosely edited fixer upper manuscript. Gone are the days when book ideas make it to the book deal stage on their scrappy good intentions. Yes, there are publishing house editors who work on projects after acquisition, but to even get there, writers find themselves working with an editor for hire.
But not everyone is ready for these next steps. Writers need a certain level of craft and maturity to really benefit from rigorous feedback and writing notes, even copy editing vs proofreading, which has more to do with sentences and less with the content of the story itself.
Whether you’re just starting out on your writing journey or are already well established, understanding the differences between copy editing vs proofreading will help you stand out in a competitive marketplace and present the most polished manuscript possible.
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