Copyediting Services
“Copyediting a document or manuscript is a demanding skilled task that literally has no shortcuts. Having the right experience and expertise to provide great-quality copy-editing adds value to the finished content.”
Preparing an article/manuscript for publication, website contents and any contents that are meant for an audience is far from being just a simple process.
Not only do you need to have superb skills in writing, you also need to ensure they are error-free.
Importance and Benefits of Copyediting Services
The benefits of copyediting services are clear in many ways. It can:
- Enhance accuracy and readability for your audience
- Strengthens the outline and structure of your work (for instance, improve focus and sharpen your key points)
- Make content easier to understand
- Remove glaring errors, ugly or inappropriate sentence structures, thus enhances trust between you and the reader
- Eliminates unnecessary or duplicated wordings
- Helps you review for any confusing or ambiguous language/jargon, acronyms, or other unusual terms.
- Updating headings and formatting so that readers can scan and understand the content easily.
Interesting Facts of Copyediting Services
Fact 1
Copyediting is a professional service.
It requires astute phrasing skills beyond knowledge of just a language. Every sentence is actually carefully crafted with creativity to achieve an intended purpose.
Fact 2
Do you know that Copy-editing (or sub-editing as some calls it), is the work which an editor does to improve the style and accuracy of a text/content?
The text/content in question should be more readable and sometimes more interesting after the editing. The act of copy-editing is often carried out by a freelancer who’s actually a professional in editing work.
He or she will review, revise, edit, and rewrite copy and content.
Fact 3
The word ‘Copy’ refers to written or typewritten text in typesetting, printing, or publication.
It can be used to describe any written work including blog articles, websites, journal articles, documents, theses, reports, and other types of written content.
Fact 4
Copy-editing is done before typesetting and proofreading, whereas Proofreading is the last step in the editorial cycle.
Fact 5
A copy-editor will typically read your content several times. They will use their skills to modify it from a draft to a final piece of writing. However, the copy-editor is not a ghost-writer (Copy-editor ≠ Ghost-writer).
As such, they may request for the original author/writer to make substantive changes or major revisions when deem fit.
Job Scope of a Typical Copy-Editor
- To ensure that the intended readers of these contents can understand the text. The text should be, as far as possible, easy to read and interesting. Does it deliver high quality translation on time?
- Ensures that anything checkable is checked.
- To make sure any requirements by clients are met (for instance, length of text and house style).
- Sometimes, the job scope of a copy-editor may extend beyond simply editing grammatical or spelling errors.
- A copy-editor may need to write headlines and proofreading where necessary, to suit the requirements of each job.
What’s Not Included in Copy-Editing?
The following aren’t typically provided in Copy-editing services:
- Arranging content into new formats or designs.
- Though a copy-editor will carry out general, simple formatting within the document, including headings, bullet point lists, and line spacing, they usually do not help to incorporate content into a design template or other style. You will need to engage a freelance designer for these specialised areas.
- Localising content for another language or region (e.g. Traditional Chinese for Hong Kong market to Simplified Chinese for the China market). You will need to engage a localisation editor under such circumstances.
- Fact-check. It is automatically assumed that you’ve already checked the facts in your copy before sending it to us for copy-editing.
- Writing your contents from scratch or assisting you in major development of your work, which requires the skills of a developmental editor. Copy-editing is designed for content that’s already written and needs polishing or enhancing. Although it involves astute writing and rephrasing skills, most editors are not writers to begin with (Editors ≠ article or content writers, vice versa).
If you intend to have your contents written from scratch, a more appropriate person to engage is either a trained copywriter or a writer who specialised in your industry or the topic of your content.
- Checking for copyright and plagiarism. It is automatically assumed that you have not copied content from elsewhere, and you have already checked such contents in your copy before sending it to us for copy-editing.
- Indexing of content. It is automatically assumed that you have already checked such contents in your copy before sending it to us.
Is There A Difference Between Proofreading And Copy-Editing? Whose services do I actually engage?
Yes, there’s a difference between both roles and it all depends on how polished you need your final work to be.Your copy-editor might catch a few mistakes in the midst of editing your content. However, that’s not their main function.
The copy editor’s main responsibility is to ensure that your work is readable. This involves helping you with sentence and paragraph structure, word choice, tonality, style, and consistency.
On the other hand, proofreading generally takes place after editing. Misspellings, grammar mistakes, word choice, punctuation usage, and other errors will be checked word by word. Most often, it is helpful to have a separate proofreader to find and correct any mistakes that your copy-editor may have missed.
Nevertheless, some copy-editors may throw in a complete proofread of your content once they are done editing so it’s perfect for publication.
Who and How Will My Document Be Handled?
With an experience network of copy-editors over the world working with us across several time zones in a wide variety of languages and specialisations, you will definitely be in good hands!Our dedicated team are trained to work with clients to identify the style and tonality required, as well as suggest suitable words.
Your document will be proofread using the ‘track changes’ function of Microsoft Word.
This is a standard function installed in most versions of Microsoft Word.
Besides allowing you to move easily between changes and accept any or all of the modifications proposed by the copy-editor, all the necessary corrections, suggestions and comments are also shown on the right side and are easy to accept into your document.
Thus, be sure to have your source copy in MS Word format before you send them in for copy-editing!
What Kinds Of Languages Can You Edit?
Being a professional translation and copyediting agency that proofreads and edits all outgoing documents to clients, means we always need to have a ready pool of copy-editors.We can edit in many languages including English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Spanish and many more! With more than 16 years of experience, our aim is to meet the growing demand for copy-editing services from academics and business people around the world.
Types of Copy-editing Categories
Copyediting services vary depending on expertise and experience. Copy editors can work across a variety of content, including:
- Education-related Content such as academic editing, theses, dissertations, coursework and essays.
- Business Editing for advertising, blog posts, articles, case studies, press releases, product descriptions, proposals, tenders, social media, training materials, white papers, memos, reports, correspondence, newsletters, plans, profiles, marketing materials, policies, processes, emails, staff handbooks as well as presentations.
- Website and Online Editing for websites including product descriptions, blogs, articles, and other online content.
- Non-fiction Editing for other content like manuscripts, eBooks, white papers, and other writing.
- Fiction Editing for novels, short stories, and other creative writing.
Choosing WhizWordz as your Copyediting Agency
Producing sound and engaging content is one of the many reasons why we offer copy-editing services.
Since 2004, WhizWordz has helped many academics including professors and researchers, institutions, government sectors as well as private businesses proofread/edit their written work before it was accepted for publication or presented before an audience.
Without proper, professional copyediting, most of these works would not have been accepted. Most often, clients approached us to proofread/edit their work as a result of too many spelling, sentence and grammatical errors.
- Our work is to ensure that their documents are error-free, and in an acceptable condition for publication after editing. All our copy-editors are highly qualified native speakers who possess extensive examining experience.
- The higher the examining experience, the better the correction and polishing of unacceptable aspects in your documents. All these factors can significantly increase your chances of successful publication.
- Apart from demonstrating their qualifications and experience, all of our copy-editors also have to pass a tough entry assessment before they can be accepted by WhizWordz. Copyediting skills have to be approved by at least 3 in-house editors.
- We also personally monitor each of their work quality on a regular basis. Copy-editors who does not meet Gold Quality standard mark of maintaining at least 95% error-free are reviewed and given advice on how to improve work quality before they can continue offering services for our clients.
The advantage of using our copyediting services over other unprofessional copy-editing services by untrained individuals is that our copy-editors are fully approved and trusted.
For more information and quote, please email to us at sales@whizwordz.com. We will get back to you within one working day. Alternatively, you may reach us at (+65) 66003798.
Steps in Our Translation Process
1. Get A Quote
WhizWordz receives enquiry from client and send quotation to client for approval.
2. Project Started
Upon confirmation, our Sales Representatives will work closely with Project Manager to start on the project. Upon proofreading, we will submit the translation copy to client.
3. Client Review
Client check through the translation copy for any comments and suggestions.
4. Project Delivery
Make changes and formatting where necessary. Final translation document send to client and project is concluded.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Have a burning question about Copyediting Services in Singapore?
We are here to address your most pressing enquiries!
What is Copyediting and Why is it Essential?
Copyediting is a skilled task that improves written content by ensuring accuracy, clarity, and quality. It enhances readability, eliminates errors, and boosts the professionalism and credibility of the text for effective communication.
What are the Key Benefits of Copyediting Services?
Copyediting services improve accuracy and readability by ensuring error-free, engaging content. They also enhance the structure and focus of written work, making it more impactful and easier to understand, thereby improving written communication.
Is There a Difference Between Proofreading and Copy-Editing? Whose Services Should I Engage?
Yes, there is a distinct difference between proofreading and copy-editing. Proofreading typically involves correcting spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, while copy-editing focuses on improving style, accuracy, and overall quality of the content. Both services are essential in the editing process to ensure high-quality written materials. Depending on your needs, engaging both proofreading and copy-editing services can provide comprehensive editing support.
How Will My Document Be Handled During Copy-Editing?
During the copy-editing process, your document will be meticulously reviewed, revised, edited by experienced copy-editors. In WhizWordz, we use tools such as Microsoft Word’s ‘track changes’ function to show corrections, suggestions, and comments for easy acceptance into the document. This ensures that your content is polished to meet the required standards while preserving your original message and intent.
What Types of Content Can Benefit from Copy-Editing Services?
Copy-editing services cater to a wide range of content categories, including but not limited to education-related content such as academic editing, theses, dissertations, business editing for advertising, blog posts, reports, website and online editing for product descriptions, articles, as well as non-fiction and fiction editing for manuscripts, novels, and other creative writing. Regardless of the content type, professional copy-editing can significantly enhance the overall quality and impact of written materials.
How to Choose a Reliable Copyediting Agency?
When choosing a copyediting agency, consider the qualifications and experience of their copy-editors and their quality assurance processes. Opt for reputable services like WhizWordz for error-free content and polished materials.
Our Translation Language Pairs
Whether it’s a marketing brochure, a website translation or your personal certificates, we are able to provide a quick and complete language solution to help you interact with potential clients seamlessly. Check out these diverse language pairs designed to elevate your engagement strategies!