What we fix when we proofread and edit

jargon
countable quantifiers
clichés
misplaced modifiers
colon use
incorrect prepositions
verb tense
missing punctuation
noun strings
misuse of quantifiers
misspellings
capitalization issues
possessives
infinitives without "to"
punctuation
modal verb use errors
use of articles
gerund / infinitive use
comma splices
misplaced punctuation
verb form use
uncountable quantifiers
passive issues

incomplete comparisons
number issues
misuse of "like" and "as"
semicolon use
subject-verb agreement
shifting tenses
unbalanced punctuation
colloquialisms
bullet point punctuation
misused words
commas after interrupters
countable nouns
redundant pair of words
run-on sentences
misuse of "much"
parallel structure
pronoun case agreement
double negatives
adjective and adverb use
sequence of tense
vague pronoun references
faulty parallelisms
commas before interrupters

uncountable nouns
use of "other" and "another"
limiting modifiers
comma-introductory clauses
use of subjunctive
misused subordinate clauses
duplicate pronouns
end-of-sentence prepositions
dangling modifiers
end-of-sentence punctuation
sentence fragments
misuse of "these" and "those"
active voice issues
unnecessary infinitive clauses
sequence of words
comma-essential information
squinting modifiers
pronoun-antecedent agreement
hyphenation issues
absolute adjectives comparison
typographical errors
comma-nonessential information
comma-coordinating conjunctions

Hyphenation/Dashes
hyphenation of phrases
en dash versus space
en dash versus hyphen
compound words
hyphenation of words

Spelling Consistency
phrases to avoid or consider
preferred spellings
numbers in sentences
common typos
accents
spelling variations
contractions

Abbreviations
used before definition
used only once
defined in two ways
defined twice
without definitions
in two forms
not used

Miscellaneous
parentheses & quotes left open
Oxford comma
comments left in the text
style points
superscript/subscript
italics

Tables, Boxes, and Figures
missing table, box, figure, or title
capitals in tables
order of tables, boxes, figures, and titles
punctuation in tables
consistency of tables, boxes, figures, titles

Capitalization
headings in capitals
phrases in capitals

Bullets/Lists
Bullet punctuation
list capitals
list punctuation
bullet capitals

EDITING IN GENERAL
flow
lexical register
clarity
anthropomorphic language
colloquialisms
levels of diction
theme
proper word choice
rhythm
phrasing ambiguities
structure
rhetorical consistency
audience appropriateness
organization

EDITING NOVELS

For novels, we consider the following as we pore over your manuscript.

• dialogue
• pace and tone
• the strength of your characters
• sentence construction and precision
• redundancies, inconsistencies, wordiness and other prose issues
• We construct your table of contents and all other "front matter" pages (e.g., title page, copyright page, dedication and more).

At no charge, when asked, we also can evaluate your book’s content. In a brief document, we can make evaluative comments and explain corrections and suggestions covering the following questions.

• How can the marketability of your manuscript be improved?
• Does the book's content have any major structural or organizational problems?
• Have you missed any essential elements or underdeveloped any topics or scenes?
• Is your book too brief or too protracted and, if so, why?
• Are there stereotypes or clichés that render the manuscript weaker?
• Are the characters imaginative and developed fully?
• Is there too much interior monologue or description and exposition at the expense of dialogue and/or action?
• Is there the proper amount of suspense, believability, tension, conflict and action?
• Are there other things that you, the author, can do to improve the book's content?