What is copyediting and why is it important?

When you put all your time and effort in writing an important article or paper or website content, the last thing you need is for your reader to be immediately put off or be distracted by a typo in the second line. Some people think that errors related to grammar, punctuation or spelling are minor issues, but in reality, the credibility of any publication decreases when these kinds of mistakes are present. This is why copyediting is a crucial part and essential stage of the writing process. Copyediting ensures that a piece of writing is accurate, clear and correct. It is the process of reviewing a paper to make sure it is 100% error-free. But the services of a copywriter go beyond those of a proof-reader: a copyediting services company also needs to ensure the readability of the material and the general flow and clarity of the text.

What exactly does copyediting entail? This may vary according to who is carrying out the task. When you ask your friend to check your essay for English class, they will most likely look at punctuation and spelling mistakes. This is known as proofreading. However, when you contact a copyediting services company, they will look at the mechanics (punctuation, spelling and grammar) but will also make sentence-level interventions: specifically, they will look at the lexical choices, clarity, style and consistency, fact-checking, flow between ideas, technical accuracy and formatting. Copyediting is a very slow and meticulous process that guarantees that a document is the best version of itself, and engaging to the reader. It is an in-depth process by which the copyeditor submerges deeply and thoroughly into a document while considering who is writing it, who will read it and what the core message is. The copyediting services company will often liaise frequently with the client to understand their needs, the message they intend to convey, the target audience they have in mind, and the style they wish to follow. If you are looking for a copyediting services company in Malta, you need to ensure the above is catered for.

In the context of print or web publication, when making use of copyediting services in Malta or abroad, you will be asked on which platform your article will be published; it is likely the publication platform has its own requirements and style guide to adhere to. The client may also make use of the copyediting services to ask the copyeditor to focus on specific aspects of a given article. Let’s say that you are not very good at grammar; in this case you can always ask your copyeditor to dedicate special attention to that, by honing sentences or polishing the text. Or perhaps you are an excellent writer but struggle with formatting – a copyeditor would help you with that too. Instead, you might be looking for a Copyediting Services Company in Malta simply because you wish to invest your time otherwise and assign the copywriting exercise to a trustworthy company. All you need is to provide your copyeditor with an editable version of the document and clear instructions and information. Euris Consult is a copyediting services company in Malta which you can contact to take care of your content, be it website-based or intended for printed press. Most companies that provide copyediting services will deliver your document showing the changes made and including any relevant comments. At this point, it will be up to you to decide which changes to accept or reject; you might wish to ask the copyeditor to further improve upon certain aspects if what you have in mind has not been met. The copyeditor will be able to identify any unclear passages, repetitions, or flat content. Therefore, before presenting the content to your readers, it may sometimes require more than one round of editing to ultimately achieve the quality you are looking for. Our copywriting services company in Malta will ensure just that, no matter the subject matter or audience.

Please email us on translations@eurisconsult.com if you require our copyediting services and we will provide you with a free quote.