A copy edit focuses mainly on grammar, with some style notes and focus on consistencies and accuracy. A proofread is the final step in the editing process, and focuses on finding and correcting typos. A line edit, on the other hand, is part of the revision process, when you're working on shaping and smoothing out the prose. When I do a line edit, I'm looking at more than grammar and style. I'm looking at clarity, flow, repetition, clichés, inconsistencies, incorrect information, voice, and anything else that will help polish and fine-tune your story into a professional, publish-ready manuscript.

Absolutely not. Your job is to tell your story—mine is to help you polish it. I will correct typos and grammar mistakes in your document, but I will never rewrite your words. Instead, I'll leave detailed comments in the margins to explain what I see—whether something is confusing and could benefit from rewording, or whether a sentence needs to be rephrased or cut—but I will leave the actual writing to you. I love identifying and analyzing individual voices through narration and character details, and I will help you enhance them, not edit them out.

When I do a line edit, I'm working on each individual line in your story. I'll leave comments there, directly where you need them, with suggestions on what to fix, how to clarify, what can be cut or elaborated on, and anything else I find. Spelling and grammar mistakes will be fixed directly in the document through Track Changes so you can accept or reject them individually or all at once. You will also get a style sheet to help you stay consistent with the details as you revise.

A style sheet is a guide to help you with your revisions. It will note things like language and spelling preferences (alright vs. all right), rules for punctuation (Oxford commas and where you put the spaces around ellipses and em dashes), numbers (seven o'clock vs. 7:00), and other technical details throughout your story. I will also use it to mark repetitious words and phrases so you can target them in your revisions. Like most fiction editors, I use Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster as a base guide, but I will customize your style sheet for your particular project's needs.

No. Not only is generative AI deeply unethical and damaging to the environment, it's also just plain wrong a lot of the time. When I edit your manuscript, I will use trusted resources like the Chicago Manual of Style, Merriam-Webster, and my experience from over 10 years of teaching writing and grammar in the classroom (and the various textbooks and resources I've collected during that time).

A developmental edit is an important part of the revision process, and focuses on the overall picture and structural elements of your story. A line edit zooms in on the story, looking at things at the paragraph, sentence, word, and punctuation level. If a developmental edit is an x-ray, a line edit is a microscope.

For a big-picture developmental edit that will make sure every pillar of your story is rock solid and structurally sound, Bethany is your girl!

You can read more about what she offers here.