No editor is perfect… but I sure try. That’s why I give every manuscript that comes my way three passes before I’m comfortable sending it back to my client.
The first pass is just to digest the story and characters. I don’t do any research or make any style decisions here. I only correct the most obvious of errors.
The second is where I do the bulk of the editing and style sheet building. This is the slowest pass.
The third is basically a final proofread where I check all my work and look for anything that previously slipped through. I’ve never regretted doing this third pass.
Additionally, I always encourage clients to send their manuscript back to me after they’ve gone through all the Tracked Changes and comments. In my experience it’s very common for authors to miss some of these edits, which is why I check the manuscript again in order to ensure none of my work was accidentally missed. Of course this is after I’ve gone through all of their changes they’ve made in response to my comments, for example some rewriting or expounding on certain things.
Even after all of this, I would still never assure someone that my work is perfect and has no errors. I believe it’s wrong for any editor to promise such because we are all human and humans make mistakes and miss things.
However, my goal is to always try to get each manuscript as close to perfect as possible.
I’m Timothy, a copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in fiction. The rest of my year is pretty packed with manuscripts, but if you’ve got something you’d like worked on in 2025, feel free to reach out to me so we can start a conversation. I provide free sample edits so we can see if we’re a good fit for each other and so you can see where your money is going.
Timothy