Bent Wing Communications offers the following services:

Proofreading (comparison and solo)

Copyediting

Editing

Limited writing

Sundry

Broadly speaking, proofreading is the comparison of a current draft against a prior, marked up draft to ensure that all the approved corrections have been incorporated in the new draft. It is the final or next to final (multiple rounds of proofreading might be required) quality control check before a work is sent to the publisher or made live online. When the proofreading check is made on a current draft without a previous draft, it is called a cold or solo proofread. Common types of mistakes found in a proofreading pass include: typos—missing or extra words/letters, transposed letters; missing, extra or incorrect punctuation marks; misspellings, mechanical issues such as broken fonts, excessive or inappropriate white space, “ladders”; spacing or formatting problems, missing, misaligned or incorrectly captioned illustrations and figures. (Hourly rates range from $20-$45/hour)[1]

 Copyediting is the “nuts and bolts” level of editing. In a copyediting pass, the work is checked to ensure it adheres to a house or established style guide and dictionary. The work is also checked for mistakes in grammar, spelling, punctuation, hyphenation/compounding, and abbreviation. Other checked elements include egregious errors in language use and unusual terms or jargon. For the sake of clarity, copyediting can be divided into levels, light, medium and heavy with the distinction being which categories of error the editor is allowed to correct, to mark for correction, or to query. (Hourly rates range from $40-$55/hour)

 Substantive editing focuses on the works overall organization and structure. In a substantive edit, the editor makes suggestions for improving readability, consistency, and language use. The line separating a heavy copyedit from a substantive edit is permeable. The categories of errors typically addressed, and their remedies depend on whether the work is fiction or nonfiction and should be discussed per project. (Hourly rates range from $55-$65/hour)

 Developmental editing focuses on the overall structure of a work and its suitability for its intended audience. The developmental editor may work with an author from the idea and research stage or serve as a strategic-level check on a finished or almost finished manuscript. (Hourly rates range from $55-$65/hour)

 Limited writing—the range of possible writing projects precludes a more detailed description here; however, at this time, Bent Wing Communications does not offer copy or resume writing services.

  Sundry—you tell me! Do you have an atypical, or seasonal task that you don’t want to assign to a regular employee? Some pet project that either doesn’t fit your established workflow, or is more personal than professional? Let me know, I might be able to help. Some past examples of sundry work include research for a law firm and building a display model for a gift.