We respect your
unique and creative vision
It is your book. Our job is to make it the best version of what you intended, not what we would have written.
Line Editing That Sharpens Every Sentence Without Flattening Your Voice
A sentence-by-sentence edit of the whole manuscript by a named editor: rhythm, clarity, word choice, repetition and dialogue, delivered as tracked changes with the reasoning in the margin. We edit the prose, not the person who wrote it — and every change stays yours to accept or reject.
- A sentence-level edit of the complete manuscript
- Tracked changes with the reasoning beside each one
- A style sheet recording every choice we made
- Scope, rounds and exclusions agreed before work begins
How we work with you
How a Line Edit Is Agreed and Delivered
Five stages, completed in order. We do not start a line edit until we have seen your prose, agreed that sentence-level work is the right level for this draft, and put the scope in writing.
You see the editor's hand before you commit to it
Line editing is a matter of taste as much as technique, so we edit a sample of your own pages before quoting. You see exactly how heavily this editor works, what they change and what they leave alone. If the sample reads as though someone has written over you rather than under you, that is the moment to say so, and it costs you nothing.
Sentence work belongs after the shape is fixed
A line edit polishes the paragraphs you are keeping. If the chapter order is still moving, or a subplot may yet come out, the sentences we perfect this month may be the ones you delete next month. We read enough of the manuscript to tell you honestly whether it is ready, and we will recommend a developmental edit or another draft of your own if that is the truthful answer.
Define the voice the edit is protecting
Before the edit begins we agree what your prose is meant to sound like: how formal, how long the sentences run, whether fragments and dialect are deliberate, which authors you are writing towards. Those decisions go on a style sheet, and they are the reference the editor works against for the whole manuscript, so nothing is corrected simply for being unusual.
Fix the wordcount, the rounds and the exclusions
You receive a written scope naming the wordcount included, the form the edit takes, how many rounds you have, whether a second pass over the revised chapters is included, the schedule and the fee. Fact-checking, permissions clearance and formatting are named as exclusions rather than assumed, and quoted separately if you want them.
Every change arrives with its reason attached
The edit comes back as tracked changes with margin comments explaining anything that is a judgement rather than a correction. You accept or reject each one individually. When you have worked through them we hand over the final style sheet, which the copy editor and proofreader then work from, so the same decisions hold to the last page.
Our commitments
What we promise every author.
Six commitments that appear in the scope document rather than the brochure. They matter most in a line edit, where an editor is inside your sentences and the temptation to rewrite them in their own voice is at its strongest.
We respect your
We communicate clearly, including when it is awkward
A named coordinator, timely milestone updates and bad news delivered early rather than discovered late.
We hold to professional production standards
Real typesetting, original design and files built to the specification your printer and retailers actually require.
We support you across the whole journey
From the first honest assessment to long after launch including the parts that are not billable.
You own your work, permanently and completely
Copyright, royalties and every production file. We produce and distribute; we never acquire.
We give you a scope
you can hold us to
Deliverables, allowances, revision rounds and exclusions written down before you commit a penny.
Ready when you are
Your publishing journey starts here.
Take your draft to the next chapter with Winfrey Publishing. Whether the structure is settled and the prose is not, or you simply cannot hear your own sentences any more after four drafts, an editorial director is ready to read it. You will get a sample edit before you commit, a written scope before any work begins, and support you can actually reach on the telephone.
Get Free Consultation
or call +1 877 275 5624
How the work begins
A Clear Path From Rough Prose to a Finished Line Edit
Four straightforward steps take you from a first conversation to a manuscript that reads the way you meant it to.
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Book a discovery call
A straightforward conversation about the book, how many drafts it has been through and what you think the prose is not yet doing. We explain what a line edit covers, what it deliberately does not, and where it sits against the other levels.
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Sample edit and scope
We edit a sample of your pages and send it back with the quote, so you are judging an actual edit rather than a promise. If it is the right fit, the written scope confirms the wordcount, the rounds and the exclusions before anything is invoiced.
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We edit and query
A named editor works through the manuscript sentence by sentence in tracked changes, with margin queries wherever a change is a judgement call. You get the style sheet with the edit, so you can see the rules being applied rather than guess at them.
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You review, we settle it
You accept, adapt or reject each change, with your editor available for the ones you want to argue about. Where the scope includes a second pass, we read the chapters you reworked and confirm the manuscript is ready for a copy edit.
The Independent Author's Guide to Line Editing
A practical guide to editing costs, editorial stages, ISBNs, royalties, distribution, cover briefs and the timelines authors usually encounter on the way to publication.
Editing is expensive when it is bought in the wrong order. The guide explains developmental editing, line editing, copy editing and proofreading, what each stage is for, and why sentence work should wait until the structure is stable. It also gives you a clearer basis for comparing quotes.
The guide is written to be useful whether or not you hire us. Some sections may tell you to wait, revise on your own or ask a different question before spending money. That is part of the point.
Our commitment
Why authors trust us with their line editing
A sample edit tells you what an editor can hear in your prose. The written agreement tells you who is responsible, what you will receive, and what stays your decision once the tracked changes arrive.
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01
A named editor, not a queue
One editor edits your book from the first page to the last, so the voice stays consistent and you know whose judgement is in the margin. One coordinator owns the schedule and answers the telephone.
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02
A sample before you commit
You see this editor working on your own pages, at their real weight, before any money changes hands. If the hand is too heavy or too light, you find out at the sample rather than at delivery.
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03
Queries, not silent rewrites
Anything that is a judgement rather than a correction arrives as a question in the margin. Each change can be accepted, adapted or rejected individually, and rejecting one costs you nothing.
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04
A style sheet you keep
Every spelling, hyphenation and voice decision is recorded as we go and handed to you with the edit, so your copy editor and proofreader enforce your choices rather than reopening them.
The editing family
The Other Levels of Editing
A line edit is one level of several, and it is only worth buying once the level above it has settled. These are the other editing services we offer, in case one of them is what your manuscript needs first.
Questions
Questions About Line Editing
Line editing is a sentence-level edit of the whole manuscript. It works on rhythm, clarity, word choice, repetition, transitions, dialogue and the places where a sentence says less than you meant it to. It assumes the structure is broadly settled and concentrates on how the book reads line by line.
A line edit is about how the prose sounds and how clearly it lands; a copy edit is about whether it is correct and consistent. Copy editing fixes grammar, spelling, hyphenation, tense and continuity against a style guide. The two overlap in places, which is why the scope names which one you are buying rather than leaving you to guess.
If the chapter order, the argument or a major subplot may still change, then yes. A line edit polishes the sentences you are keeping, so it is money spent twice if half of them come out in the next revision. We read enough of the manuscript to tell you which level you need, and we say so before quoting.
No. Before the edit begins we agree what your prose is meant to sound like and record it on a style sheet, and the editor works against that rather than their own preferences. Anything that is taste rather than error arrives as a query you can decline. The sample edit exists so you can check this for yourself first.
The manuscript with tracked changes throughout, margin queries explaining the judgement calls, a style sheet recording the decisions made, and a short covering note on the patterns worth watching in your next book. Your scope confirms which of those apply and how long you have to come back with questions.
Yes, and we prefer to. We edit a portion of your own pages before quoting so you can see this editor at their real weight. It is the fastest way to find out whether the fit is right, and it is the reason very few of our line edits end in an argument about heaviness.
It is priced against wordcount, genre and the condition of the prose rather than a flat per-word rate, because a clean fourth draft and a rough first draft are not the same job. We edit a sample, then issue a written quote before anything is due.
A full-length manuscript usually takes two to four weeks for the edit itself, longer for a long book or a heavily worked draft. The schedule is confirmed in writing with the scope, and you are told early if it moves rather than on the day it was due.
Every one of them, individually, and without explaining yourself. Tracked changes exist precisely so the decision stays with you. If you reject a pattern rather than a single instance, tell your editor and they will apply your preference across the rest of the manuscript.
Yes. Editing at any level introduces new text, and new text carries new errors. A proofread is the last check on the typeset pages, after the copy edit, and it is the one stage we would never advise skipping before print.
Talk to a publishing consultant
Your manuscript is ready for its next chapter
Thirty minutes, no obligation, and an honest answer about what your manuscript needs. If the answer is that the structure has to settle before anyone touches your sentences, that is what you will hear.