Has subpar copyediting hurt your ability to please authors and readers?

Today publishers can purchase production services for considerably less than they could ten years ago, and the savings enjoyed in the last decade have been of great benefit. But often, savings in the area of copyediting have been overshadowed by an unacceptable erosion in quality, readability, and author confidence.

In recent years, a major publisher decided to award copyediting services to the lowest-priced vendor, making the assumption that the quality would be acceptable. The impact of this decision wasn’t immediately apparent. At first, it seemed that a well-written manuscript could be successfully handled by the vendor’s copy editors. It turned out, however, that most manuscripts—even those that were well written—posed challenges that were too difficult for the editors. When authors started to notice copyediting errors, they were quick to complain. One source of concern was that the copy editors were making mistakes with regard to grammar. A second source of concern was that the copy editors were misinterpreting style rules, often causing them to change items that were already correct. Authors did not mince words. One author wrote, “The copy editor massacred our manuscript.” Another author wrote, “I’m afraid my book will be excoriated by readers on amazon.com.”

When the publisher saw that a number of authors were having bad experiences, the director of production made a decision to pull the copyediting from the lowest-priced vendor. She was able to place the work with a source whose high-quality copyediting service cost only 15% more than the lowest-cost service. The publisher subsequently stopped receiving complaints from authors.

Imagine using copyediting that is a better combination of quality and price—a better value—than the low-priced copyediting that is currently available to you. Imagine your authors discovering that the copyediting you are providing exceeds their expectations. Imagine your authors being genuinely excited by the value added to their manuscripts.
BeaconPMG has been an innovator in providing high-quality copyediting at affordable prices. Contact us as your first step in moving out ahead of your competitors. Copyediting quality is a great differentiator.

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