Mechanical Editing

 

A professionally edited book—or a poorly edited one—can and does mean the difference between a good review and a bad one. In modern publishing, where the reviews of readers are readily available, this alone can make or break the success of a book.

 

For most publishers, the problem is the funding of high-level Chicago Manual of Style-based editing, as it can equal the cost of page design, book cover design, and ebook conversion combined. Strong and thorough mechanical editing—from tense consistency all the way to simple punctuation—is time-consuming, requires expertise, and doesn’t come cheap. “Have to have it” and “cannot even touch being able to afford it” is truly the catch-22 of prepress production. This can mean serious expense saving, a new and significant profit center.

 

Accurance took more than a year to develop a system that turns that problem on its ear, and, as far as we know, our system is the only one worldwide that has the combination of volume capability and these attributes:

 

1. Multiple editors on every book.
2. A very rigorous interpretation of Chicago Manual of Style editing across 18 different categories of content.
3. Proprietary software that flags virtually all candidates for editor review (but doesn’t change anything in and of itself), creating a thoroughness-per-editor pass far higher than is otherwise possible.
4. A price-point that for well-done editing of this type and competence means a 75,000-word manuscript can be edited for under $500. This includes, if the client's author needs it, a 5,000-word trial with 100% money-back guarantee.

 

Turnaround time averages 5 to 7 business days. TA can also vary according to volume given by the client or with the client’s assignment patterns.