Copy Editor vs. Proofreader

All too often, writers will assume copy editors and proofreaders are one and the same. Trust me, they are not. Here I plan on going over exactly what you should expect from a copy editor and the basic things you’ll get from a proofreader by comparing three key categories: Cost, Process, & Time-Table

COST

Copy Editor - $0.02 to $0.03

Proofreader - Typically doesn’t charge per word but may have a flat fee based on your word count. For example (and these numbers should not be taken literally when looking for proofreaders): $500 for a 70k word manuscript.

The cost should be a tip-off that a copy editor and a proofreader are just not the same. But to drive this point home let’s delve into the process next.

PROCESS

A copy editor will do multiple passes of your manuscript. First, to get their own sense for your tone and language. They need this information because their corrections will be based on whatever your voice is throughout and simply making sure it shines the brightest. A copy editor will also be making notes on certain key points about your story that may be factual in nature to make sure those details if mentioned again, are accurate throughout and won’t confuse the reader. A copy editor is a person you wish you could be if you had a master's in English and therefore could find 100% of your own errors. And even then you’ll want to hire a copy editor cause even they might miss something so of course, you will.

A proofreader’s job is very basic and very one-dimensional. They seek out typos, grammatical and punctuation errors. That’s it. They don’t bother with tone and some won’t even bother to make sure the tense of POV is correct! Be wary of those kinds of proofreaders. They will try to pass your manuscript through some program and pass it off as work they did. I’m not saying all proofreaders do this, but too many of them do and it can be concerning. Which is why I urge all writers to put their own manuscript through these programs first before passing it on to anyone else. Make them really work to find errors.

I’ve hired a proofreader or two in my day and every time I’ll intentionally put errors in during the sample phase before I decide if I’m going to hire them. And if they miss that error, one I know Grammarly or Word’s Spell Check won’t find, then I won’t hire them. I suggest you do the same.

TIME-TABLE

A copy editor will probably take a month or two before they will have something back for you. I know this sounds like a long time, but consider what they are doing and how many times they will likely read through your manuscript before they pass it back to make sure they have done their due diligence. Service like that doesn’t happen overnight.

On the other hand, a proofreader might boast their turn-around to be just a few days, at most one week. Again, this is because they aren’t putting in the level of dedication or commitment to your story the way any other editor would. They are just a living, breathing version of a Spell Check that you can likely use for free.

One last thing I want to point out that I feel is the MOST important:

ANYONE can be a proofreader. No, seriously. If you wanted to present yourself as a proofreader you can totally do that and charge money for it and possibly even get paid for it. Provided you’re good, of course.

But NOT anyone can call themselves a copy editor. A real professional will have an accredited degree and have proof of said degree. They will have gone to extensive schooling for it. Gotten a Bachelors or even a Masters in editing. And in that instance, you pay for the education they received more so than the experience.

There are a few editors who will lean heavily on their experience with a laundry list of former editing houses where they once worked and now they are “freelance.” In those instances, I suggest doing a simple Google search of those editing houses where they formerly worked. See if they are still in existence? If so, who works there now? What have they edited? Either the house themselves or the editor in particular. Don’t be afraid to ask them who their clients are. If they are a good editor they will be glad to share that information (possibly even have their books and names already listed on their site) because they welcome you reaching out to their clients to ask about them.

It’s your hard-earned money. Don’t just go with the first editor or proofreader you find. Because I’d be just as pissed wasting a couple of hundred dollars as I would wasting a couple thousand! Wouldn’t you?!