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What’s the difference between editing and proofreading?

2 pairs of glasses to show the difference between editing and proofreading

What’s the difference between editing and proofreading? Ask a few freelance editors and proofreaders to answer this question and they’ll likely give you different definitions of editing and proofreading. That’s because there’s no global standard that regulates and defines editing and proofreading services.

In this article I’ll use various reliable sources (including reference books and professional organizations) to answer the question, What’s the difference between editing and proofreading? In addition, I’ll clarify what editors and proofreaders do and don’t do so you have a better idea of what freelancer you may need to hire for your writing project.

What’s the difference between editing and proofreading in traditional vs. independent publishing?

In the world of traditional publishing, there are editors (called copy-editors or copyeditors in the United States, or subeditors in the UK), proofreaders (proof-readers), acquisition editors, managing editors, and other editorial functions with clearly defined responsibilities.

But in the internet era, the difference between editing and proofreading is blurry.

With the advent of blogging, e-books, and digital content marketing, many people and most businesses self-publish. Also, many private and public organizations have their own in-house publishing departments. But the editor job description is rarely the same from one publishing department to another. The proofreader job description varies as well.

Also, some organizations have editors or proofreaders in house. However, many other organizations, as well as authors who self-publish, work with independent editors and proofreaders. The roles of these language professionals tend to overlap.

For example, I’ve seen authors who hire freelance proofreaders to edit their documents. And I’ve seen authors who expect proofreading to be part of editing—a task sometimes called proof-edit.

No wonder people are confused about what freelance editors and proofreaders do. But strictly speaking, editing and proofreading should be separate tasks.

Examining the difference between editing and proofreading in traditional publishing is beyond the scope of this article. If you’re here, you’re likely interested in how freelance editing is different from freelance proofreading. So, for the rest of this article, I’ll discuss the difference between freelance editing and proofreading, and the typical roles of a freelance editor vs. freelance proofreader.

The differences between editing and proofreading

The main difference between editing and proofreading is the description of each service, which determines its cost. Let’s examine freelance editing vs. freelance proofreading in detail. I’ll first define each service, describe what it comprises, and list its types. Then, I’ll discuss the cost of nonfiction editing and the cost of nonfiction proofreading.

Freelance editing

There’s more than one definition of editing.

Professional associations such as The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) in the UK, the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) in the U.S., and Editors Canada have their own standards and definitions. But every freelance editor will define their job in a different way.

In general, the term editing is loosely applied to all kinds of manuscript editing levels and editorial tasks.

What is editing?

Editing is also called copyediting, copy-editing, subediting, or line editing. The definition of editing that I give my clients is the following.

Editing refers to marking a document for errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation and ensuring its adherence to the publisher’s style guide. In addition to editing, the freelance editor may also do some fact-checking. This includes verifying names, years, formulas, and more. But the author, not the editor, is ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the content.

The goal of editing is to make a text not only correct but also consistent and logical. It should also be right for its target audience, free of inconsistencies and ambiguities, and fit for purpose. It shouldn’t bore the readers or waste their time.

I like how the authors of Butcher’s Copy-editing define the goal of editing:

“The main aims of copy-editing are to remove any obstacles between the reader and what the author wants to convey and to find and solve any problems before the book goes to the typesetter.” —Butcher, C. Drake, and M. Leach in Butcher’s Copy-editing 

While there are no universal standards, here is a common description of professional editing services. This is also the description I use for my services.

What English editing includes
  • Correcting grammatical, word usage, and punctuation errors
  • Improving sentence structure
  • Improving syntax and flow
  • Eliminating biased language
  • Ensuring consistent use of hyphenation, capitalization, and typography
  • Formatting the document according a specific editorial style (for example, Chicago, APA, or AP)
What English editing doesn’t include
  • Doing research
  • Adding content
  • Revising
  • Fixing layout
  • Rewriting entire paragraphs or the entire document
  • Ghostwriting
  • Designing illustrations and tables
  • Indexing
  • Fact-checking
  • Checking the text for plagiarism
  • Proofreading
  • Translating

Types of editing

There are two main types of editing based on writing genre: fiction editing and nonfiction editing.

Some freelance editors have equal expertise in fiction and nonfiction. They can edit any kind of document: children’s novels, scholarly papers, memoirs, and more. But many experienced editors specialize in either fiction or nonfiction editing, according to their professional background or interests.

Nonfiction editing is an umbrella term for nonfiction book editing, technical editing, business editing, web content editing, academic (or scientific) editing, and more.

As well as based on writing genre, editing can be classified based on document type into hardcopy (paper) and electronic.

Some freelance editors may prefer to work on paper documents; however, every freelance editor I know works with electronic files. On-screen editing has several advantages: It is speedier and more cost-effective than hardcopy editing. Also, modern software makes it easy for the author to compare two versions of a document, and to either accept or reject the changes suggested by the freelance editor.

Levels of editing

There are several levels of editing: developmental editing, substantive editing, stylistic editing, and copyediting. Again, the definition of each level may vary, depending on whom you ask. Here are the definitions I use for the different levels of editing:

Developmental editing

This level of editing is called developmental editing because it happens in this early stage of a writing project, when the editor and author need to work together to develop a document from the initial concept onward.

You are more likely to need developmental editors for a major writing project, such as a book or course materials, than for a blog post or white paper.

During developmental editing the manuscript is in very rough form. Hence, it needs major improvement in the way the material is presented. Or, it may require more content and research.

Thus, the developmental editor needs to have a good knowledge of the subject matter to be able to assist the author. It wouldn’t be effective to hire a developmental editor without any knowledge of data science for a book on big data, or a developmental editor with expertise in children’s books for an economics course.

Substantive editing (or structural editing)

The aim of substantive editing is to improve the overall organization and content of a document so it’s right for the target reader. At the structural editing stage, the freelance editor will suggest high-level improvements to the manuscript. For example, the editor may suggest rewriting or reorganizing the content in a chapter, choosing different illustrations, or eliminating ambiguity in presentation.

It’s not essential to hire a structural editor with expertise in the subject matter of your manuscript, but it helps if the editor has some familiarity with the topic.

Stylistic editing

Stylistic editing involves clarifying meaning, eliminating biased language and jargon, improving rhythm and diction, and ensuring the writing fits the target audience in terms of reading level, vocabulary, and more. Stylistic editing may be part of copyediting.

In general, a stylistic editor doesn’t need specific knowledge of the topic of the manuscript to do a good job. However, for editing technical or academic manuscripts, a professional who has edited similar texts before can work more efficiently than an inexperienced editor.

Copyediting

Copyediting (also spelled copy-editing) is also called line editing or manuscript editing. Copyediting means checking and correcting a document’s grammar, spelling, usage, and punctuation—some people call this language editing; ensuring consistency of capitalization and typography; and ensuring that a document conforms to the style guide. In addition, copyediting includes basic fact-checking.

This level of editing is called copyediting because publishers refer to the raw manuscript as the copy. The copy will become a book, article, web page, or any other publication.

A professional editor who does copyediting or language editing doesn’t need to be familiar with the topic of the copy to do a good job. An interest in the topic, or experience in editing similar manuscripts, is sufficient. However, a freelance editor with extensive experience in editing fiction wouldn’t be ideal for a nonfiction project, and vice versa. That’s because the set of skills the freelancer needs to edit fiction vs. nonfiction at a professional level are very different. For example, I don’t edit fiction, because it requires expert knowledge of plot, characters, and dialog that I don’t have. I edit only nonfiction documents, so I’m a nonfiction editor.

What’s the main difference between beginner and expert freelance editors?

Some authors don’t like the idea of hiring a freelance editor, because they’re afraid the manuscript will change too much. What they don’t know is,

“Good copy-editing is invisible: it aims to present the book the author would have written if he or she had more time or experience – not, as some new copy-editors think, their own improved version.” —Butcher’s Copy-editing

In fact, perhaps the biggest difference between inexperienced and experienced freelance editors is that seasoned editors tend to have a lighter hand when editing.

That is, experienced editors make only changes that are necessary, knowing that heavy editing can lead to Schlimmbesserung (worsening by improvement). In contrast, new freelance editors tend to edit a document heavily. They may even alter the author’s writing style, or add to the cost of editing services if the editor charges per hour.

So, if you’re looking for a freelance editor and have a lower budget, consider hiring an experienced editor and finding ways to minimize the cost of editing.

Freelance editing cost

As of June 2022, CIEP suggests a minimum hourly rate of £31 (€36) for copyediting and at least £36 (€42) for developmental editing or substantial editing. Cost is a main difference between editing and proofreading, with editing being more expensive than proofreading.

EFA recommends the following hourly rates for nonfiction documents:

  • $41–45 (€39–43) for copyediting
  • $51–60 (€48–57) for developmental editing
  • $61–70 (€58–66) for STEM/medical developmental editing

The cost of freelance editing will vary depending on many factors. These include the editor’s experience, the cost of living and taxes in their country, the client’s desired turnaround time, as well as the document’s length, complexity, and level of editorial intervention needed.

Before you hire a freelance editor, ask what their service includes, to ensure you get the most value for your money. If your editor offers both editing and proofreading services, at different prices, ask them to highlight the difference between editing and proofreading so you can choose the right service. For example, my editing service includes copyediting and stylistic editing, as well as substantive editing if needed, but it does not include developmental editing.

Freelance proofreading

Outside traditional publishing, the term proofreading (also spelled proof-reading) is loosely applied to a range of editorial tasks, from substantive editing to reference formatting.

Most commonly, though, proofreading means correcting the final version of a manuscript to ensure it is ready for publication. Proofreading does not comprise complex editorial interventions. This is the main difference between editing and proofreading.

For clarity’s sake, proofreading shouldn’t be used as a synonym for heavy editing, rewriting, or ghostwriting. However, some use the term proofreading to mean editing, or proof-editing, especially in the context of academic proofreading.

What is proofreading?

There’s a big difference between what proofreading means in traditional vs. indie publishing.

On the one hand, in traditional publishing, proofreading is defined as the process of reading the proof, either against the edited copy or on its own.

In publishing jargon, the proof is the version of the manuscript that is almost ready for publication. The proof is produced after the material has been edited and typeset.

The proofreader’s job is to mark up any discrepancies and to query any errors the editor might have missed or were introduced during typesetting. Proofreaders don’t make changes to a manuscript. They mark the mistakes for correction by the editor or author. This is an important difference between editing and proofreading.

On the other hand, in indie publishing, proofreading means checking the final draft of a document before publishing it to ensure nothing is amiss. Some call this process light copyediting or final check-through.

At this stage, the proofreader should make only the necessary changes, because major editorial interventions are costly. This is because major changes at this stage result in rework (for example, a new round of copyediting, designing, and formatting) and delay to publication. So, it is a wise decision to have your document professionally edited before you hire a freelance proofreader. There’s a difference between editing and proofreading services, and both have a role in professional publishing.

Again, what proofreading comprises will differ between freelance proofreaders. Here’s the detailed description of my proofreading service. To understand the difference between editing and proofreading, compare this list against the description of editing services above.

What English proofreading includes
  • Checking the entire document, page numbers, running heads, table of contents, references, illustrations and tables, etc.
  • Querying or correcting any errors of grammar, syntax, and word usage, and any mechanical errors (hyphenation, capitalization, punctuation, use of italic and bold font, format of endnotes and footnotes, etc.)
  • Checking word breaks
  • Ensuring the document conforms to the style guide (house style)
  • Cross-checking the table of contents and the text
  • Cross-checking the text and illustrations
  • Querying any layout or typography inconsistency
  • Checking web links
What English proofreading doesn’t include
  • Rewriting
  • Editing
  • Translating

Types of proofreading

There are two main types of proofreading: proofreading against copy and blind proofreading. This is another difference between editing and proofreading: There is no such thing as editing against copy.

When proofreading against copy, the proofreader compares the proof against the typeset copy and marks up errors for correction. This is what Distributed Proofreaders volunteers do, for example.

Blind proofreading, or cold proofreading, means reading the proof on its own—proofreading for sense—and querying anything that should be checked against the typescript.

Often, clients want freelance proofreaders to not only mark errors but also correct them. So, most of the time, freelance proofreaders working on electronic documents are expected to copyedit the text using the software’s markup tool. One example is MS Word’s “track changes” tool. This makes the difference between editing and proofreading less clear than it should be.

In traditional publishing, proofreaders use proof-correction marks (also called proofreading marks or proofreader’s marks) whether they proofread on screen or on paper.

But in independent publishing, freelance proofreaders working on electronic documents use “track changes” in word processors. Or, they use PDF comment tools in Adobe Reader.

Before using any tool, the proofreader and the client should agree on the method for marking up the document. So, when you hire a freelance proofreader, take the time to discuss the logistics, including type of word processor, how to mark corrections, how to insert comments, and what changes may be done silently. Make sure the difference between editing and proofreading is clear to both of you, especially if you’re planning to hire a freelance editor as well as a freelance proofreader for the same project.

Freelance proofreading cost

CIEP suggests a minimum hourly rate for proofreading of £27 (€31). The proofreading rate that EFA recommends for nonfiction documents is slightly higher, at $36–40 (€34–38) per hour. The hourly rate is an important difference between editing and proofreading. Proofreading tends to be cheaper than editing.

Freelance proofreaders may charge per hour, or they may charge a flat rate per page or per project. Regardless, the cost of proofreading English documents depends on many things, including the proofreading pace of the freelancer. This is the number of words a proofreader can check in an hour. Of course, experienced proofreaders work faster compared to beginners.

When proofreaders charge a fixed price per word, per page, or per project, they will take into account other things in addition to their proofreading pace. These things include the deadline, quality of text, and more. There is no difference between editing and proofreading when it comes to what a page means. The industry standard is 250 words.

Not sure whether you should pay per hour or per project for proofreading? Ask your freelance proofreader to give you an estimate of their proofreading speed in words per hour. Knowing the cost per word will help you set a budget for your project.

Freelance editors vs. freelance proofreaders: How do you know which one you need?

Now that you know the answer to the question, What’s the difference between editing and proofreading? you should have a better idea if you need a freelance editor or a proofreader for your project.

In summary, freelance editors check and correct a document’s spelling, grammar, word usage, and punctuation. They also ensure consistency and accuracy of spelling, punctuation, and so on. Proofreading comes after editing. Proofreaders check the edited document for any remaining errors.

In traditional publishing, the various editorial roles are, or at least used to be, clear cut. But in independent publishing, the freelance editor vs. freelance proofreader responsibilities are loosely defined. How do you know whether your document needs proofreading or editing?

A professional editor or proofreader will tell you upfront what their services include. They’ll also work with you to tailor their editorial services to your needs. Knowing the difference between editing and proofreading will help you choose the right service for your project.

Do you need to hire a freelance English editor or proofreader? Send me a message at editor@languageediting.com.

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Last revised on 27 June 2022

Cristina N.

A freelance editor and writer with a keen interest in science, nature, and communication, I love to craft articles that help and inspire people.