Clients rarely know the difference, and they are not being difficult: the words are used loosely everywhere, including by people who should know better. But the difference decides how long a job takes and therefore what it is worth, so it is your job to draw the line and put it in writing.

The short version

  • Proofreading is the final quality check. Errors and inconsistencies: spelling, punctuation, grammar, hyphenation, capitalisation, numbering, cross-references, layout problems. You are correcting what is wrong, not improving what is fine.
  • Copyediting improves the writing. Sentence structure, word choice, repetition, clarity, flow, tone. You are changing things that are not errors.
  • Developmental editing works on the thing underneath: structure, argument, pacing, what belongs in the document at all.

They are three different jobs at three different prices, and the gap between the first two is where the money goes.

Why the line matters commercially

A proofread of a clean document might run at 2,500 words an hour. A copyedit of the same document might run at 800. If you quoted the first and delivered the second, you have just worked for a third of your rate, and you did it to be helpful.

Worse, you have set an expectation. The client now believes that is what your proofreading includes, and the next job starts from there.

The awkward case, and how to handle it

You are proofreading, and the writing is poor. Not wrong, just clumsy. Do you fix it?

The honest answer is that it is not what you were paid for, and doing it anyway is a decision you should make deliberately rather than drift into. Three options, in order of preference:

  1. Query it. Flag the sentence, say what is unclear, and let the author decide. This is almost always right, and it is the professional move on academic work in particular, where you may be limited in what you are permitted to change.
  2. Mention it in the delivery note. "You may want to look again at the second half of chapter four" is useful, costs you nothing, and often leads to a paid copyedit.
  3. Offer to quote for a copyedit. Sometimes the document genuinely needs one, and saying so plainly is a service rather than an upsell.

Hold the line in writing

Put a scope sentence in your agreement and your quote that names what you will change and what you will not. It takes one line, it prevents most disputes before they start, and it is the difference between a professional who has thought about this and somebody who will be finding out the hard way.