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Enhance Clarity, Consistency, and Precision with Copy Editing

We perfect every sentence to enhance clarity, consistency, and impact.

Our copy editing service refines your manuscript, ensuring a seamless and immersive reading experience from start to finish.

The Wicked Ink Editing Approach:

Polished Prose, Perfected Results

At Wicked Ink, our copy editing service is dedicated to transforming your manuscript into a polished masterpiece. We go beyond basic corrections, carefully refining your language, style, and overall narrative to ensure your work stands out. Our team focuses on perfecting grammar, punctuation, consistency, and readability. Whether it's smoothing transitions, fixing typographical errors, or tightening up your prose, we work tirelessly to elevate your writing and keep your readers immersed in your story.

Tailored Copy Editing

Every manuscript has its own voice, and we customize our copy editing process to suit your unique style and objectives. Our goal is to preserve the essence of your voice while enhancing clarity, coherence, and flow. From correcting grammatical mistakes to eliminating redundancies, we ensure that your work reads smoothly, captivating the reader with every sentence.

Collaborative Follow-up

Our editing process goes beyond just marking up your manuscript. Once the copy editing is complete, we offer a 30-minute virtual call to walk you through the feedback. This collaborative discussion allows you to review our edits, ask questions, and ensure your manuscript remains aligned with your vision while benefiting from our professional refinements.

Transparent Pricing

At Wicked Ink, we believe in full transparency when it comes to pricing. We offer clear, upfront rates with no hidden fees. Our commitment is to provide you with peace of mind throughout the editing process, so you can focus on your writing while we focus on fine-tuning your work. With our straightforward pricing, you’ll know exactly what to expect as we work together to perfect your manuscript. (Priced at $0.0175 / per word)

How We Polish Your Manuscript:

Detailed Sentence-Level Edits

Our copy editing service focuses on refining every sentence for clarity, precision, and correctness. We correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and typographical errors, ensuring that your prose is error-free and professionally polished. Every edit is made with your voice in mind, carefully preserving your narrative while improving the overall readability and consistency of your writing. Our editors also enhance sentence flow, making sure each idea transitions smoothly to the next for a more engaging reading experience.

Thorough Consistency Checks

Consistency is key in maintaining a seamless reading experience. Our editors meticulously check for consistent language usage, formatting, and style throughout your manuscript. From ensuring the same spelling of character names to confirming the consistency of terminology and formatting, we leave no stone unturned to make sure your manuscript is cohesive.

Tone and Voice Preservation

Your narrative's tone and voice are essential to its authenticity. In copy editing, we ensure that your tone remains consistent and your voice is preserved across your manuscript. Whether adjusting word choice for clarity or reworking awkward phrasing, we help to strengthen the overall narrative while maintaining the emotional impact and integrity of your story.

Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling Perfection

One of the main focuses of copy editing is correcting all grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors. We ensure that your manuscript adheres to the highest standards of language mechanics. Our attention to detail covers everything from fixing comma splices to ensuring correct subject-verb agreement, so your manuscript is flawless and ready for publication.

Key Areas of Focus in Line Editing

We fine-tune grammar, punctuation, and sentence flow to enhance clarity and improve the overall coherence of your narrative.

Grammar, Punctuation & Syntax:

Our copy editing service ensures your manuscript is grammatically correct and free from punctuation errors. We focus on refining sentence structure and syntax to improve clarity and readability. We correct errors related to verb tense, subject-verb agreement, articles, and other essential grammar components while preserving your voice.

Fact-Checking and Accuracy:

We focus on ensuring internal consistency and accuracy within your story. Our editors verify character details, plot points, and world-building elements to maintain a coherent and believable narrative, ensuring your readers stay immersed in your world. We also check for any contradictions or inconsistencies that may disrupt the flow of your story.

Consistency and Style:

We maintain consistency throughout your manuscript, ensuring uniformity in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and formatting. Our editors follow a specific style guide, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, ensuring that your manuscript adheres to a clear, consistent set of rules throughout.

Clarity and Precision:

We focus on sharpening the clarity of your writing, ensuring each sentence conveys its intended meaning with precision. We eliminate redundancies, unclear expressions, and ambiguous phrasing to ensure your message is straightforward and easy to understand. We refine sentences to ensure your ideas are clear and concise.

Consistency and Voice:

Our editors work to enhance the overall flow of your sentences, making sure they are clear and easy to follow. We address awkward phrasing, unclear passages, or convoluted sentence structures, improving readability and ensuring that the meaning is easy to grasp at first read. We ensure each sentence flows clearly and smoothly for easy readability.

Consistent Tone and Voice:

We ensure that your manuscript maintains a consistent tone and voice throughout, aligning with the style and mood you intend for your work. Our editors help maintain a seamless narrative flow while ensuring character voices remain authentic and true to your original vision.

When Should You Consider Copy Editing?

After Line Editing:

Once your story is written, it’s important to step back and refine your work before moving to the next stage. Copy editing at this point sharpens the clarity, flow, and style of your writing, ensuring that every sentence is working toward its purpose before proofreading.

After Revising the Story and Structure:

Revisions often involve major changes to plot and character development, which can leave the language feeling disjointed. Copy editing after this phase refines the mechanics of your writing, focusing on sentence structure, grammar, and flow, and ensuring that your narrative reads smoothly from start to finish.

To Ensure Consistency in Tone and Voice:

A strong and consistent voice is vital for keeping readers immersed in your world. Copy editing ensures that tone, character voices, and narrative style are aligned throughout the manuscript, allowing your unique storytelling voice to shine without any awkward shifts or inconsistencies.

To Eliminate Redundancies and Repetitive Phrasing:

Overused words, repetitive phrases, and redundant sentences can pull readers out of the story. Copy editing helps to identify and remove these, making sure every word earns its place and the writing feels crisp, engaging, and easy to follow.

When Transitioning between Drafts or Rewrites:

Significant changes during rewrites can leave inconsistencies or unintended errors in your manuscript. Copy editing helps ensure that new content blends seamlessly with existing material, maintaining a cohesive and polished narrative throughout.

Preparing for Publication:

When you’re preparing to submit your manuscript for consideration, first impressions are everything. Copy editing ensures that your manuscript is polished, free from distracting errors, and professionally formatted, increasing your chances of standing out in the competitive submission process.

Aligning with Genre Expectations:

If your story targets a particular audience or adheres to specific genre conventions, copy editing ensures that language, tone, and style meet those expectations. This helps your manuscript resonate with your intended readers while adhering to industry norms for your genre.

Our Copy Editing Service: What You’ll Receive

Make your manuscript stand out with copy editing that focuses on flawless grammar, punctuation, and readability, giving you confidence in every word.

🔍 Thorough Manuscript Refinement

Our copy editing process involves multiple thorough read-throughs to meticulously refine your manuscript:

  • First Pass: Enhances language, sentence structure, and flow for a clear and consistent narrative.

  • Second Pass: Focuses on correcting grammar, punctuation, and mechanical errors to ensure precision and professionalism.

🖋️ Detailed Editing Markup

Our editing process is crystal clear and organized. Using Microsoft Word's Track Changes feature, we provide a fully annotated Word file that highlights every suggestion, revision, and comment, making it easy for you to review our edits and decide which changes best serve your vision.

Our editors focus on refining:

  • Grammar and Punctuation: Correcting errors to ensure accuracy throughout your manuscript.

  • Mechanics and Style: Refining sentence structure, capitalization, and word usage for consistency and readability.

  • Consistency: Standardizing language, spelling, and formatting to create a polished and cohesive narrative.

  • Punctuation Clarity: Adjusting commas, quotation marks, and other punctuation to enhance the flow and meaning of your text.

  • Dialogue Mechanics: Reviewing dialogue punctuation and formatting to ensure it adheres to standard conventions.

  • Continuity of Details: Checking for consistent character names, timelines, and geographical references to avoid confusion.

📝 Editorial Letter & Style Sheet

Alongside your edited manuscript, you'll receive a comprehensive editorial letter (typically 7–10 pages, depending on your manuscript’s length) & a custom style sheet (typically 3-5 pages).

The editorial letter includes:

  • Actionable Feedback:

    • Offering you suggestions, key observations and recommendations to take your manuscript to the next level.

  • Personalized Insights & Key Points:

    • General observations about writing style, tone, and consistency.

    • Notable patterns of errors or areas for improvement (e.g., recurring grammar issues, awkward phrasing).

    • Suggestions for maintaining clarity and readability.

    • Feedback on the manuscript's adherence to its intended audience and genre.

The style sheet includes:

  • To maintain consistency across your work, we create a custom style sheet.

    • Character names and key details

    • Timeline and geographical references

    • Vocabulary and spelling preferences

    • Other crucial elements to align your narrative

📞 Collaborative Follow-Up

We include a 30-minute virtual call to discuss your Editorial Letter and overall feedback. This one-on-one session is your opportunity to:

  • Ask questions about the feedback.

  • Clarify specific points or suggestions.

  • Develop a clear action plan for the next stage of your manuscript.

💰 Cost: $0.0175 / per word

📆 Delivery Time: 20 business days

Our copy editing service goes beyond surface corrections—it refines, clarifies, and polishes your manuscript while maintaining your unique voice.

From detailed revisions to personalized feedback, we empower you to create a professional, captivating final product that connects with your readers.

How to Book Our Copy Editing Service

From inquiry to delivery: With our simple 6-step booking process.

  • Submit your Copy Editing Quote to get started. An editor will contact you within one business day with a personalized quote. This form allows us to gather key information about your manuscript, including:

    • Genre

    • Word count

    • Your preferred completion date

  • Once you accept the quote, we’ll send you a detailed service agreement outlining:

    • Terms and conditions

    • Agreed-upon timeline

    • Deliverables & scope of work

    • Payment schedule

    Once the service agreement is accepted, we’ll send you a deposit invoice to confirm your booking. A $150 deposit is required, this deposit secures your spot on our editorial calendar and ensures we can begin work on your manuscript as planned.

  • To officially start the editing process, 50% of the total project cost must be paid by the agreed-upon start date.

    Once the payment is processed:

    Submit your manuscript to us the day prior to when your service is to officially begin. The required manuscript file can be submitted via email and is due by 11:59pm MST, prior to the project start date.

    Follow the submission guidelines below:

    • Full Manuscript

    • 1.5 or 2.0 Line Spacing

    • 12 point font - Times New Roman

    • File Type: .docx

    • File Name: “yourname_title”

  • With your manuscript in hand, our experienced editors will:

    • Thoroughly review your work.

    • Provide suggestions, revisions, and detailed feedback on grammar, punctuation, mechanics, overused words, etc.

    • Deliver a tracked document with clear edits, comments, and actionable suggestions.

  • As the editing process nears completion, we will send the final invoice balance. The remaining balance must be paid in full before the project’s delivery date to ensure we can provide all agreed-upon deliverables.

  • After receiving your final payment, we will:

    • Deliver the fully edited manuscript.

    • Provide all additional project deliverables, ready for the next phase of your writing journey.

    • Booking link for your follow-up call.

    • Also a link to fill out a feedback (testimonial) form if you wish.

Still Unsure? Let's Talk Editing!

Book a Discovery Call now to make sure a Copy Edit is the "write" choice for you.

Not ready to commit? Submit a Sample Edit and experience our editing expertise firsthand before making your decision!

Learn More About Copy Editing

We specialize in the following genres for Copy Editing

Action & Adventure | Contemporary | Contemporary Romance | Cozy Mystery | Cozy Romance | Crime | Dark Fantasy | Dark Romance

Dystopian | Fantasy | Historical Fiction | Horror | Literary Fiction | Mystery | New Adult | Paranormal | Psychological | Romance

Science Fiction | Serial Killer | Slasher | Supernatural | Suspense | Thriller | Women’s Fiction | Young Adult

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Our Copy Editing service is priced at $0.0175 per word, with delivery within 20 business days.

  • Below is an example of a Copy Editing Quote price breakdown:

    Booking Date: March 1

    Word Count: 75,000

    Project Start: April 1

    Project Due: May 15

    For a 75,000-word manuscript at $0.0175 per word, the total cost is $1,312.50. Here’s an example breakdown:

    • Deposit: A $150 deposit is due upon booking, on March 1 to secure your spot.

    • 50% of the remaining balance ($581.25): Due at the project start, on April 1.

    • Final balance ($581.25): Due before receiving the completed deliverables, on May 15.

  • Our copy editing service provides a comprehensive and detailed refinement of your manuscript:

    • Thorough Manuscript Refinement:

      • First Pass: Enhances language, sentence structure, and narrative flow for clarity and consistency.

      • Second Pass: Focuses on grammar, punctuation, and mechanical errors for precision and professionalism.

    • Detailed Editing Markup: We use Microsoft Word's Track Changes to provide an annotated document, highlighting every revision, suggestion, and comment, so you can easily review and approve changes. Key areas include:

      • Grammar and Punctuation

      • Mechanics and Style

      • Consistency in language, spelling, and formatting

      • Dialogue mechanics and punctuation

      • Continuity of details like character names and timelines

    • Editorial Letter & Style Sheet:

      • Editorial Letter (7-10 pages): Provides actionable feedback, insights on writing style, and suggestions for improving clarity, tone, and consistency.

      • Custom Style Sheet (3-5 pages): Ensures consistency in character names, timeline, geographical references, vocabulary, and spelling preferences.

    • Collaborative Follow-Up: A 30-minute virtual call to discuss feedback, clarify points, and plan the next steps for your manuscript.

  • The right time to consider copy editing is after your manuscript has undergone developmental and line editing. Once the structure, flow, and tone are set, copy editing focuses on refining the language, correcting grammar, punctuation, and style inconsistencies, and ensuring clarity and precision. It’s the final polish before proofreading and is essential to prepare your manuscript for submission or publication.

  • To ensure availability, it’s recommended to book your Copy Editing service on average 1–3 months in advance. However, timelines may vary based on our editorial schedule. If you have a specific deadline, contact us early and we can help secure a spot and plan for any additional editing services.

  • Yes! We love working on all fiction genres. If you’re unsure on what we might bring to your work (genre), feel free to contact us to discuss your project or submit for a Sample Edit.

  • After you receive your edited manuscript and deliverables, we suggest reviewing the feedback and then scheduling your included 30-minute virtual call where you can:

    • Ask questions about the feedback.

    • Clarify specific points or suggestions.

    • Develop a clear action plan for your next draft.

  • Yes, of course! We encourage open communication and are happy to answer any questions. This is why we include the 30-minute virtual call. This is your opportunity with us to answer any questions you may have and go over the feedback!

  • Yes, confidentiality is a top priority. Your manuscript will remain secure and private throughout the editing process. If you decide to move forward with us and book a full editing service, part of our service agreement includes a non-disclosure clause. So your work is fully protected.

  • Yes! We offer a Sample Edit, so you can experience how our feedback works and decide if it aligns with your vision before committing to the full editing service.

    You can also download our Copy Editing Booklet (Link download) which has more information and a sample of a Copy Edit.

  • Yes! Absolutely! We provide a free, no-obligation discovery call where we can answer any questions you may have regarding our services. We’ll go over your goals, answer your questions, provide clarity, and recommend the best editing service for your story.

    You can Book your Discovery Call now.

  • Absolutely! After we send you the deliverables and complete the follow-up call, we'll provide you with a link to a feedback form. We truly value your feedback, as it helps future writers who may want to work with us. As a token of our thanks, we offer a discount code for your next editing service after completing the feedback form. While it's entirely up to you, we encourage you to share your thoughts to help us improve and continue offering the best service possible.

  • You can always reach out to us through our Contact Form and we would be happy to answer your questions.