EDITING
Editing can be very confusing. It's like going into a store and asking for a cake. You could be asking for a 90-cent packaged snack cake or a $20,000 wedding cake. Each has its place, too.

Sometimes you just need someone to take half an hour and look over some copy, or try to squeeze two pages onto one, or just make sure that your document goes out without glaring errors. The following Levels of Edit will help you determine what you want.


PROOFREADING
These days, proofreading usually means a Light Edit. The editorial and printing process is largely electronic, and actual paper proofs are few and far between. So if you say you need proofreading, I will first clarify that it's probably a Light Edit you need.


LIGHT EDIT
A clean-up. Correct typos, run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, incorrect word usage (common ones are switching e.g. and i.e. and misusing 'comprise.'

I will also remove redundancies and perhaps make a few suggestions where re-phrasing would serve the author better.


MEDIUM EDIT
A Medium Edit will begin with the Light Edit, and more aggressively suggest or make changes. Examples may be breaking a paragraph (or even a chapter) in two, smoothing tone and voice (especially important in multi-author works), and deleting fluff. The integrity of the document is also checked here. This means consistency of names, titles, spelling, and typography. I will check the Table of Contents to make sure that pages are where they belong and that illustrations are in sequence.


HEAVY AND SUBSTANTIVE EDIT
A Heavy Edit is best done while the work is in progress. I will make an outline or flowchart to ascertain that your document is going where you want it to. Are there gaps of logic? Would the manuscript benefit from additional examples, quotations, references?  Missing parts may be restored, gaps filled, and inappropriate material deleted. Once the flow is re-directed, the Light and Medium edits are incorporated.


DEVELOPMENTAL EDIT
Let's say you have an idea for a company newsletter or a book about finding your first job after college. I will brainstorm, do research in the markets, and deliver a report with suggestions. Then we will lay out the work, making a mock-up if it's a newsletter or Table of Contents if it's a book. This may also include finding an appropriate writer for the Preface, or guest contributors for individual chapters.