Smiling Eyes Press Services
I became an editor, proofreader, and copywriter because of my love for language and my 25 years as a journalist and editor, which allowed me to work with language professionals, editors, fellow journalists, authors, academics, and book publishers.
Micro-Manuscript Assessment
This micro-assessment is a focused, supportive editorial read of one or two chapters from your manuscript. It’s designed to help you understand what’s working, what may need attention, and what’s not yet clear—before you invest in a developmental edit or copyedit.
The micro-assessment looks at how the chapter stands on its own—and what it promises (or fails to promise) about the manuscript as a whole. What’s working, what isn’t yet, and where to put your effort next.
Choose a Micro Manuscript Assessment (1–2 chapters) if you:
- Are early in the process and want professional guidance before going further
- Want to test whether your voice, structure, or approach is landing
- Feel unsure about the direction of the manuscript and want clarity
Are you working on a memoir or sensitive material, and want early risk awareness - Prefer a smaller, lower-commitment first step
What You’ll Receive (In a 3-5 page report)
A careful, attentive read of one or two chapters, with focus on:
- The core idea and whether it arrives intact
- Chapter structure, pacing, and internal logic
- Voice, tone, and consistency on the page
- Audience fit and genre alignment
Emotional weight and thematic coherence - Grammar, spelling, style and cadence.
Developmental Edit
As your developmental editor, I will read your manuscript. I will step into the shoes of a reader of your target audience and then share thoughts about your most significant structural issues. For example, I may recommend changing some of your chapter orders, writing a new one if necessary, or suggesting a balance between active and passive voice to improve the overall flow.
I may also recommend eliminating some sections that are redundant or simply outside your book’s scope. Your role as an author is to implement recommendations in your manuscript before they’re ready for a second editing pass.
Once I receive your revised manuscript, I’ll re-read it while making notes on the margins of each page in Google Docs. These will be high-level notes related to your ideas’ structure without focusing on spelling, grammar, or punctuation. I will tell you paragraph by paragraph if your information appears out of place. Are you covering too many ideas in a single paragraph? Are you confusing your readers? We may suggest swapping sections within a chapter or moving a section to a different chapter. Once these edits are completed, it’s time to go deeper into content editing.
Content/Copy Editing
Copy editing is the most fundamental and critical preparation before proofreading. A copy editor checks your manuscript for accuracy, consistency, word usage, style, grammar and readability. With your copy editor, you can confidently assess your writing, make all necessary corrections, and move forward in the publishing process.
- Correcting spelling, grammar, and punctuation
- Ensuring consistency in your writing, word choices, style and spacing
- Run-on sentences and sentence length
- Overuse of adjectives and adverbs
- Language unfit for your audience
- Confusing text (reader fatigue, illogical transitions, cadence, concrete verb overuse, etc.)
- Eliminating jargon, repetition and hidden redundancies.
- Revising inappropriate verb tenses
- Checking for subject-verb agreement
- Correcting sentence structure
- Transitional phrasing.
Proofreading
Proofreaders are responsible for detecting and correcting errors in written documents. Before publishing, our job description entails checking written text for misspellings and inaccuracies. Proofreaders read manuscripts before they are typeset to find and correct missed mistakes.
- Read and evaluate written text for grammatical and typographical errors
- Evaluate the dimensions of page elements such as images, text spacing and positioning to ensure they conform to set specifications
- Ensure page numbers are in the proper order and not repeated or omitted
- Analyze documents to ensure chapter titles match the list of contents
- Mark corrections highlighted by editors/authors and ensure they reflect on the master
- Set proof
- Rephrase written text to ensure document structure and content are consistent
- Ensure illustrations are suitably captioned and referenced
- Contact authors directly to clarify grammatical inconsistencies related to style and text choice
- Forward proofread materials for approval and publication
- Ensure the project is completed within set time constraints.
Your proofreader improves the continuity and flow of your writing and supports statements. Your corrections are supported by additional remarks and feedback throughout your manuscript.
Page Layout and Interior Design
Your book’s presentation is your calling card! Like the book cover is the point of contact with your prospective reader, the book’s interior is a vital ingredient to satisfy the reader. Reading flow, a balanced layout and proper font usage are critical and should never be underestimated in creating a lasting impression.
Interior design includes: margins, trim size, white space, line width, typography, widows and orphans, page breaks, line breaks, odd pages, table of contents, and images.
- Non-fiction and fiction book editing
- Academic editing (dissertation, thesis, research paper, journal article, or other academic writing).
- Business editing (presentations and speeches to memorandums and annual reports).
- Personal editing (Resume, cover letter, CV, admission letter, or any other personal document).
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Plagiarism check (get your document checked for plagiarism).