Hello
And welcome! If you’re here, you’re an indie author balancing your life, your family, and your career. You put countless hours into writing your books, and you’re excited to get them into your readers’ hands. You want your fans to experience your babies as you do: flawless. However you don’t necessarily have access to a publishing house’s resources when you’re self-publishing.
Until now.
About Me
My name is Beth and I’m a professional proofreader and copy editor. I have several years of experience working in the publishing industry, with many spent working full-time as a proofreader for Harlequin. I am a quick yet careful editor who has never missed a deadline and is adaptable to any style.
I will turn your book around at a reasonable pace because let’s face it, your readers are waiting! I will save you from any less-than-stellar reviews complaining about that one (delicious) time you wrote scone instead of sconce. I will never overstep, never alter your voice, and never suggest a big change without an explanation.
I’m here to use my rigorous in-house training to provide you with the highest quality work and polish your book until it shines. While I bring a wealth of experience in the romance industry to the table, I’m thrilled to work on any genre you’ve written!
Services
A proofread is a straight read of your book, ideally the final read before publication, doing a sweep for any lingering typographical, grammatical, or punctuation errors as well as any inconsistencies in style or plot details.
A solid proofread is an essential step for any book’s journey from conception to reader. When all your edits and copy edits are complete, and you need a fresh set of eyes to catch anything you might have missed, the proofreader provides the final pass, ensuring your work is as perfect as possible.
I also provide copy editing services if you think your book might need a bit extra love.
A copy edit is a much closer, slower sentence-level read of your book focusing on correcting spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors, sentence structure, repetition, redundancy, and plot discrepancies as well as ensuring your book adheres to a consistent style.
Your completed copy edit would include a cohesive style sheet of your book detailing any decisions made regarding punctuation, hyphenation, capitalization, number treatment, as well as a list of characters, locations, and any nonstandard spellings. You can pass this along as a supplement for your proofreader or use this as a reference for future books.
Rates + Policies
COPY EDITING (regular): $0.00925 USD per word; $0.0115 CAD (+ HST) per word
Turnaround time: 7-14 days
COPY EDITING (heavy): $0.01075 USD per word; $0.013 CAD (+ HST) per word
A heavy copy edit covers all aspects of a regular copy edit as detailed above, but includes more substantive changes, and results in a consistently high number of edits per page (20+). New clients are encouraged to send along a sample to determine what level of edit is required. Turnaround time: 14-21 days
PROOFREADING: $0.00575 USD per word; $0.007 CAD (+ HST) per word
Turnaround time: 7-14 days
CE & PR COMBO: If you need to book both a copy edit and a proofread for your project, I am happy to offer 10% off the proofread.
PAYMENT: Invoices are processed through PayPal and a nonrefundable 50% deposit is required upon scheduling a project of any length.
CHANGES: If you are unable to deliver the full manuscript by the agreed-upon start date, it will be considered a cancellation, and the deposit will be forfeit. If you need to reschedule your start date, please let me know ASAP and I will do my best to accommodate. If I am unavailable, it will be treated as a cancellation. The more notice given, the more likely it is I will be able to reschedule your project.
Spelling & Style
Before starting a project, I will confirm with you what your preference is regarding a dictionary/style guide reference for general spelling and style. It’s completely up to you, but here’s an overview of what I typically use based on audience.
US: Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary & Chicago Manual of Style 17
CAN: Canadian Oxford Dictionary & Chicago Manual of Style 17
UK: Cambridge or Oxford Dictionary & New Hart’s Rules
AUS/NZ: Macquarie Dictionary & New Hart’s Rules
Testimonials
Beth was a joy to work with! She is very communicative and considerate of not only my work but my budget as well. She provided me with very insightful feedback and gets back to you in a timely manner! I could NOT have asked for a better person to edit my book! I will definitely contact her again in the future!
Working with Beth was an excellent experience. She communicated clearly and well, and her corrections to my manuscript were precise and accurate. She improved my product and that’s what counts! I can strongly recommend her proofreading services and expect to use them again.
Contact
Have a question? Think we’d be a good fit? Get in touch!
Beth Attwood 