Before Publication
Copywriting: is the act of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.
Copywriters help create billboards, brochures, catalogs, jingle lyrics, magazine and newspaper advertisements, sales letters and other direct mail, scripts for television or radio commercials, taglines, white papers, social media posts, and other marketing communications.
Content Writer: Content writers’ work appears on the internet. A content writer helps create online advertisements, web pages, email newsletters, blog posts and social media posts.
Cross discipline copywriters who look at the wider context of their work are called digital copywriters. The distinction is that these individuals consider the mechanics of the user journey, the external links that are included in the copy for search engine optimization and are highly focused towards creating online sales and dealing with technical issues such as bounce rate.
Ghostwriter: is hired to write memoirs, essays, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person. Executives and seniors often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies and memoirs. CEOs hire ghostwriters to write a book about their leadership style, entrepreneurs hire them to write books that spread their message, and grandparents hire ghostwriters to pass the family legacy on to the next generation. Ghostwriting requires many hours of interviewing before writing begins. The client gets final approval, and all statements and claims must be true.
Copyediting: is the process of checking the manuscript (ms) for mistakes, inconsistencies, and repetition. During this process, your manuscript is polished for publication. The copyeditor focuses on both the small details and the big picture. She must be meticulous and highly technical, while still aware of the overarching themes at work within your manuscript. A copyeditor will:
- Check for and corrects errors in grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation.
- Check for technical consistency in spelling, capitalization, font usage, numerals, hyphenation. For example, is it e-mail on page 26 and email on page 143? Or do you use both British and American English spelling variations interchangeably, such as favourite vs. favorite?
- Check for continuity errors and makes sure that all loose ends are tied.
- Check for factually incorrect statements. This is a necessary part of the copyediting process for nonfiction manuscripts, such as historical pieces and memoirs. The copyeditor must check if the facts in your manuscript are accurate and if the names and dates are correct.
- Check for potential legal liability. The copyeditor verifies that your manuscript does not libel others.
- Check for inconsistency within the story. This includes character description, plot points, and setting. Does each character stay true to his own description throughout the story? Are there conflicting descriptions of the house? For example, have you described the setting as “a yellow brick home” on one page but “a weathered wooden home” on another page?
After You Receive a Proof of Your Manuscript
Proofreading: In publishing, proofreading happens after the manuscript has been printed. A final copy of the manuscript, or proof, is then examined by a professional proofreader.
The proofreader’s job is to check for quality before the book goes into mass production. She takes the original edited copy and compares it to the proof, making sure that there are no omissions or missing pages. The proofreader corrects awkward word or page breaks.
While she may do light editing (such as correcting inconsistent spelling or hyphenations), the professional proofreader is not a copyeditor. If too many errors are cited, she may return the proof for further copyediting.
Professional proofreading is required by traditional publishers as a quality assurance measure before printing off a mass quantity of books. Many self-publishing authors who have had their manuscript professionally copyedited skip the proofread. If you’re on a budget, you might try to proofread your own work, since there won’t be as many errors to contend with at that stage.