Copy-editing

[Lourdes Fernandez]

Another discussion has gotten me to thinking about something (again). I've been a copy-editor for newspapers for 15 years and have given some thought to doing free-lance work for authors. For those of you who have written books, do you use your own copy-editors or have they been provided by the publishers? And if you use your own, where have you gone to find a copy-editor? I read somewhere that many publishers no longer provide copy-editing services, and wonder how widespread this really is -- and whether there's really a need for free-lance services. Thanks for any help!

[Jordan Dane]

Copy editing is provided by my publisher and is specific to their house preferences. So even though I'm sure you provide an excellent service, they would still wave their wand over the material as part of the process--copy AND proof editing. Since most publishers go through this process, there probably would not be a need for an author to pay for this specific service. My .02

[Dennis Leppanen]

Eye due mey owen kopey eda-ting.

[Jordan Dane]

This explains a lot, D

[Bill Mehlman]

I do quite a bit of copyediting for a couple of publishers. There's definitely a market. It's not an especially easy market to break into, unless you have specialized knowledge of a subject.

There's more proofreading than copyediting available, in my opinion.

PS: I always write "copyeditor" rather than "copy editor," notwithstanding that the latter is more popular. I see no reason it shouldn't be analogous to "proofreader" which no one writes as "proof reader" and, more importantly to me, CMS likes "copyeditor." The hyphenated version runs a distant third, and offends both of the other schools. Similarly, I find neither reason nor support for the hyphen in "free-lance."

[Lourdes Fernandez]

Thanks for the reply. This is all interesting to know.

[I. J. Parker]

Interesting! The matter of hyphenation vs. one word vs. two is frequently a mystery to me. There is no consistency or logic about it. I rely to some extent on the computer spell-check and secondarily on Webster's. I'm equally challenged about the trickier aspects of capitalization. As for a publisher's preferences, other than the fact that they object to all British forms (spelling, diction, grammar), I have not seen any uniformity in copy-editors' preferences. They frequently seem to have their own convictions.

My publishers all use copy-editors. These work extremely hard, covering my mss. page by page with red pencil corrections and objections. This, in turn, makes a good deal of work for me, since I have to check all of them. Copy-editors sometimes make mistakes. Even so, I'm extremely grateful for the attention. Everyone of mine has caught an embarrassing mistake or two after multiple proof-readings by me and my readers!
(I should add that I have a Ph.D. in English and have taught English for many years)

[Lourdes Fernandez]

That's the type of job I'd like!