Copy-edit & Proofing of a Poetry Book

This seasoned poet came to me with their poetry book manuscript in its final stages before sending it off to their publishing house. He has published many books but relies on me as an editor to make sure everything is clean, polished, and formatted to poetry industry standards before sending it over to his press.

Click to download and open the document itself in Microsoft Word! There, you will see all of my edits and suggestions in the track changes and commenting features. The author's name has been removed for anonymity.

I use my knowledge of the poetry world as well as my experience as an editor and editorial assistant for poetry journals and presses to read through the book with industry standard formatting in mind. The final polish of a book requires an extremely detail-oriented eye and tons of precision.

COPY EDITS & PROOFREADING: I provided small copy edits and proofing edits for grammar, spelling, fonts and the like catching each and every small mistake.

FORMATTING: I provided suggestions and edits for formatting the book for the publishing house in terms of fonts, page breaks, title page, front matter, etc.

INDUSTRY STANDARDIZING: I read the book through the lens of the industry's standards, which are very unique in the poetry world. I ensured that everything aligned with the appropriate style guide.

The author chose to work with me for a number of reasons:

I am personally a published, award-winning poet, so he trusted me with his poetry manuscript.

I have experience as an editor and editorial assistant for publishing houses and literary journals, so I know what editors are looking for.

I am extremely detail oriented and able to catch the tiny little mistakes with my sharp eye.

I am familiar with the appropriate style guides to ensure everything is aligned with industry standards.

The author was extremely happy with the result and even mentioned that his publisher was impressed by how clean the draft he turned in was.