The Differences Between a Proofreader and a Copy Editor

Every book manuscript should go through many different stages and layers of review, including research editing, developmental editing, line editing, and content editing. Two important steps in the process are copy editing and proofreading. Copy editing is more comprehensive, explains author and editor Elaine Ash. A copy editor deals with sentence and paragraph structure, along with word choice and grammar. He or she will pay special attention to each character’s unique voice and style. A proofreader has a more technical approach. He or she will catch typos and punctuation errors, but won’t correct grammar or structural issues.