EDITING & PROOF READING

Have you ever read an article, web page or advertisement and noticed spelling or grammatical errors? It’s not a good look. You almost certainly formed a negative impression of the business involved, and may even have decided not to buy from them because of it.

If you haven’t noticed errors before, and you’re preparing marketing material, you might think seriously about making use of a copy editor and/or proofreader before you put it out there.

Copy editing is all about making sure the copy follows grammatical convention, the syntax is smooth, and that it’s free of punctuation and spelling errors. A good copy editor will for example, check the wording to highlight any glaring misuse of words, ensure consistency in the use of idiosyncratic words (e.g. business’ or businesses), and that nouns are capitalized correctly and appropriately.

Proofreading is slightly different. Proofreading is about checking the presentation of the final product. Any new elements that may have been added in the production stage that may not have been edited, or elements that may have been re-located and inadvertently repeated, will be noticed at the proofreading stage. A proofreader will confirm; captions attached to diagrams are in the right place; sequential numbers are on the right pages, words aren’t cut in half at the end of a column; widows (a short line from the end of a paragraph at the top of a new column) will be highlighted. A proofreader generally won’t edit the copy, because of potential problems with graphic design, but will pass it back to the editors to make the changes. That is unless your copy editor and proofreader are the same person.

Which it can be if you use us.

In addition to copywriting, we can also help you with revision of material you, or another copywriter, have already developed. Whether you’re unhappy with the copy, the layout, or if you can’t put a finger on what doesn’t feel right, let us take a look at it and make the changes. Marketing material is our thing, so if you use:

  • Direct mail
  • Web pages, blogs, social media posts
  • Newsletters, e-newsletters or advertorials 
  • Catalogues or bookalogs
  • Flyers or brochures
  • Magazines or e-zines

We can make sure it doesn’t go public with glaring errors your customers will cringe at. For a professional result, or to discuss your editorial questions, please contact us here and we’ll get back to you asap.