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Proofreading means careful checking of a printer's proof against the original, to get it ready for final submission.  Copy editing is the careful checking of the ORIGINAL document, for errors  in spelling, grammar or style. grammar

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 		copycomp Bizwrite also offers professional
proofreading and editing for all your jobs.  From your novel to your student essay, from your e-book to your article, I will make sure it is absolutely perfect!

So if you prefer to write your own stuff but aren't very confident, here we are to help!  We can work on a document at any stage, from writing up a rough draft, right though to a final double-check of a finished piece of work.  IT IS NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT TO SPOT MISTAKES IN YOUR OWN WORK.

Maybe English isn't your first language?  If you are worried about  making mistakes in grammar,  or you're  just  not  sure  whether it sounds right, you can use our grammar correction service.  (Of course you can use this even if English IS your first language!)

What's more, we can offer you a tuition service to improve your basic English.  Sign up HERE for more information about these courses.

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I have had 13 years' professional experience in proofreading and copy editing, working with major publishers in the academic field (believe me, these publishers are the most pernickety when it comes to absolute accuracy).  See the about us page for more information including firms I have worked for.

I charge £16.00 (GBP) or $30.00 (USD) per hour.  I will quote the full price for a job before commencing any work - obviously the price will depend on length, amount of alteration required, etc.   I can do online editing, work on-screen in a Word document, or work with hard copy (customer pays the postage - obviously the hard copy option would not really be suitable for customers outside the UK).

Contact me  now with details of the job you would like doing.  Submit the document as an attachment for an exact quote.   (Please do not ask me how to get work as a proof-reader as that is outside the scope of this service!)
    I aim for the quickest possible turn-round - exactly how quick would obviously depend on the size of the job.    The aim is 24 hours after approval for jobs of 2,000 words or less - if the document requires so much work that this would not be possible, this will be discussed with you. Longer jobs will be given a firm timing commitment at the point of agreement.

Proof-reading and Copy Editing

As I look through various proof-reading sites I notice a lot of confusion about the difference between proof-reading and copy editing.  (N.B. I prefer to follow the Oxford English Dictionary in giving "proof-reading" a hyphen, although Google doesn't like the hyphen so for that reason I sometimes use the unhyphenated version as well!)
     Proof-reading means checking PROOFS!  A "proof" is the printer's initial impression of the document, and "proof-reading" is checking this against the author's original copy, in order to eliminate printer's errors.  So proof-reading should be more concerned with the differences between the printer's proofs and the original, than with spelling and grammatical errors, though obviously if such errors are found they need to be corrected.  In old-fashioned "hard copy" proof-reading, different coloured pens are used for printer's errors (usually red) and mistakes in the original (usually blue).
   Copy editing means correcting errors in spelling, grammar etc. in the author's original document.   If this is done properly, there really should not be any "blue" corrections at the proof-reading stage! (or at least very few - we are all human!) 
   In an online business there is not likely to be very much proof-reading work in the accurate sense as defined above (though I notice some sites define it differently, as meaning checking your document for basic errors as distinct from stylistic problems - this is not what "proof-reading" means, in my view).   Of course, if you DO have a set of printer's proofs that need checking, I shall be only too happy to take it on!
   Most online work is actually editing, but it can be at many different levels.   You can actually just submit a collection of rough notes and ask for it to be written up into a report or article.  You can submit a document you have written (it can be anything: an essay, a term paper, a thesis, a report, a book, an academic article, etc., etc.) for it to be checked for typos, spelling and grammatical errors.  Or you can request a more in-depth critique, or rewriting, to ensure clarity and pleasing style.  If you are not confident about the quality of your English, or in particular if English is not your first language, you can have your document checked to ensure it communicates what you want it to communicate.
    I love English!  I love accurate language!  Nothing gives me greater enjoyment than turning any piece of writing into the best it can be.
    So go on, make my day!  Give me your editing to do.   Nobody will give you a better finished product than Bizwrite.