The Editfast Four Step Editing Plan

At EditFast our goal is to help you achieve your goal. We understand that communication between the author and the editor is the key to this process and our Four Step Editing Plan facilitates this interaction.

This is your writing and you have worked hard to get it to this stage. Our job is to make it shine so that publishers and the public will be happy to accept it as a clean submission and be immediately impressed with the professionalism shown in your writing.

The following is a general outline of what happens to your documents after being submitted to EditFast for editing. The difference between a simple proofread and a substantial edit/rewrite is in the details. A substantial edit/rewrite would include steps one through four. A simple proofread would require only step four.

STEP ONE: Discussion

We discuss the type of editing you want and come to an agreement on the needs of the document and your needs as well. Our initial correspondence will be part of this process. We will discuss the style of writing you would like as well as the market for which your writing is destined. The answer to these and other questions will determine the general course of the project as well as help me choose which of my editors will be the best suited for your needs.

STEP TWO: Initial Edit

You submit the work to us, give us the Go Ahead. Very soon after this we may send you a few questions. Your answers will determine the direction we go with that particular passage or section and the rest of the document. Depending on your needs and the needs of the document, the initial edit may include the following:

• Spelling check (American? British?)
• Grammar check
• Punctuation check
• Word usage
• Sentence structure
• Paragraph structure
• Logical sentence and paragraph
flow
• Consistency of terminology and facts (Your input may be necessary here and depending on the scope of the research needed this may take extra time. If needed, this is calculated for and included in our initial free estimate.)
• Organizational consistency and logic
• Miscellaneous items concerning professional manuscripts
• Revision of the above to present a polished, ready to publish, professional document.

Throughout this initial edit there will be continuous communication (only if you wish and only if necessary) between the editor and the author to make sure there is no misunderstanding and no discrepancy between your intent or meaning and our understanding of the document.

Once the Initial Edit is finished we will send you the manuscript with all changes recorded through the "Track Changes" Function of MS Word. (Or in any other format if you so desire) There will also be numerous questions and comments interspersed throughout the document. Your option at that time will be to check the entire document and make notes about our changes, questions and comments. The more detailed the notes are, the easier it will be for the editors in the third step.

Specifics are needed here and specific passages/errors/changes to be made, must be pointed out and highlighted by you. However, if there are general concerns about the overall direction then we must be made aware of them as well. We must be made aware of any conflicts with your original intent at all stages.

STEP THREE: Second Edit

This is the Second Edit and will incorporate your answers to the questions posed in the Initial Edit as well as any further changes you feel are necessary. At this stage, we may have some questions about your questions and comments about your comments. This is the critical stage where detailed communication between the editor and the author may be necessary with opinions and ideas being exchanged freely.

As you can see, our preliminary discussion in Step One is rather important. We want what you want, but we must understand what that is to begin with. The more we can discuss what your intentions are, what it is you wish to convey to the audience, and what style you wish to use to convey your ideas, the better the final result will be.

STEP FOUR: Final Proofread

We always give the document one last proofread because of the changes that may have been necessary in the previous steps. A final proofread includes the following:

• Spelling check (American? British?)
• Grammar check
• Word usage
• Sentence structure
• Paragraph structure
• Logical sentence and paragraph
flow
• Punctuation check

I would truly love to help you with your editing needs and I hope the above information will convince you of the expertise and professionalism of all the editors at EditFast. I hope we can be of service to you in the near future.


Click here to contact me now!

Robert Kidd
Director, EditFast