What’s the Difference Between Copy Editing and Proofreading?

Copy editing and proofreading are both crucial parts of polishing your manuscript and ensuring a smooth reading experience for your audience.

A common mistake when it comes to editing is the conflation between proofreading and copy editing, but it’s important to note that these are two very different processes—and understanding the difference is crucial when you’re in the editing process.

We’ll cover—

• Defining copy editing
• Defining proofreading
• Which type of editing do you need?

---

Defining copy editing

Copy editing refers to editing the “copy,” which is the unformatted text as it exists in a Word document or another word processing software, taking place before proofreading but after substantial editing (like line editing and developmental editing). It’s often thought that this stage is all about the general correctness of language (grammar, spelling, and punctuation), and while that’s definitely part of the work, copy editing is about a lot more:

• attending to tone and style inconsistencies
• smoothing transitions
• clarifying confusing syntax
• simplifying wordiness
• replacing words that are problematic or misused
• correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation usage

Most importantly, copy editing is about maintaining a manuscript’s “style,” which will be defined by the reference materials (style guide, style sheet, and dictionary). The key word here is consistency: Every bit of the style is consistent with the author’s voice and the surrounding text.

Defining proofreading

Where copy editing focuses on element consistency (spelling, style, punctuation), proofreading has a few different concerns: Namely, the final formatted file is complete, consistent in design, and the design and formatted elements are readable.

Proofreading refers to the editing of the “proof,” which is the formatted manuscript text. At this point, the manuscript is in a PDF format that’s been converted from a word processing document or a formatting program like InDesign: The page sizes are consistent with the final printed book, the margins are set, the headers and footers are set, etc. While copy editing is used to look for missed errors in consistency with the reference materials and will also dabble to ensure voice, tone, and readability are considered, proofreading’s main goal is to look for mechanical errors that may have slipped past the copy editor, and formatting errors that appeared when the formatting process took place. This includes any odd formatting that will influence the reader’s experience negatively:

• pointing out word/hyphen stacks and ladders, as well as orphans and widows
• making sure every page has the same number of lines
• checking that paragraphs are all formatted the way they should be
• looking for consistent header text/formatting
• ensuring formatting across the manuscript is consistent
• correcting placement/formatting of items like tables of content and footnotes

Proofreading is the final polish for mechanics (catching any missed errors from the copy edit, which are not unusual), but it also ensures that the reader has a pleasant experience with the overall composition of the designed text.

Which type of editing do you need?

Copy editing comes right after developmental editing and line editing: Your big picture is settled and you’re done with rewriting.

Proofreading comes after the copy edit, and after your novel has been formatted into its “final” file.

---

In a perfect world, every author publishing their work would be able to get every level of editing. But this isn’t a perfect world, and editing is expensive! This means that many self-published authors opt out of hiring an editor for proofreading, whereas traditional publishing teams typically have the budget for that extra layer.

If you’re a self-publishing author on a budget, opt for the copy edit. Copy edits are designed to get the manuscript as polished as possible before the final formatting, and it’s in this stage that the majority of errors can be caught, resulting in a smooth read for your audience. If this is your boat, check out my proofreading checklist to help guide you once your copy edit is complete.

Get the Proofreading Checklist

---