Why Is Editing Important?
I often marvel at the degree to which businesses and individuals concern
themselves with the paper, the graphics, and the design of a document,
while giving short shrift to the content. Too often, writers overlook
the fundamental question: what am I trying to say, and am I saying
it clearly?
That's where an editor comes in. (And believe me, everyone needs an editor!) Some people need their grammar and spelling scrubbed. Others know pronoun-antecedent agreement, but tend to repeat themselves. Perhaps one writer has good grammar skills and knows how to write a spare, clear prose, but can't manage to organize the material. Another might use too many adjectives and adverbs, resulting in a bloated prose style.
A further problem for writers is that, when reading over their own work, they sometimes see what isn't there. More precisely, they fail to see what's missing. Since they know what they're trying to say, it slips right past them that their ideas are not, in fact, on the page.
The good news is that all of these problems can be overcome.
When writing letters, business reports, ads, articles, newsletters, a thesis, or your family memoirs, you may decide you'd benefit from professional editing. Let us provide it.
Read more about some of the books we have edited.
On editing projects, I'll refer to the Chicago Manual of Style, 5th Edition (copyright 2003, University of Chicago), unless you have a different preference. I'm also familiar with MLA, Little-Brown, Troyka, AP, and Prentice-Hall's Words Into Type.
Those who work with words know how dramatically publishing has changed in the past decade, with technology now informing and influencing every stage of the writing and publishing process.
From The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition