Get a FREE Editorial Review of your Manuscript.

Book Editing & Proofreading Services

Professional Book Editing Services for Authors

Great writing begins with an idea — but endures through editing.

Even the most celebrated bestsellers go through multiple rounds of rigorous editing before reaching their final form. Behind every polished page is a professional editorial eye

At Black Stone Publishers, our book editing and proofreading services help authors polish their final draft, revise a developmental structure, or fine-tune for tone.Our editorial team ensures that their books meet both literary and market standards.

From emerging writers to established voices, we provide comprehensive editing support across fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and business books.

Request a Free Editorial Assessment Talk to a Consultant
Professional Editing Services

Editorial Excellence

Every manuscript receives a customized editorial approach depending on its genre, stage, and publishing intent. Our multi-layered editing solutions are tailored for where you are in the process:

  • Developmental Editing: Structural feedback, story pacing, content depth, and logic.
  • Line Editing: Sentence flow, tone, voice consistency, and stylistic refinement.
  • Copy editing: Grammar, syntax, clarity, and adherence to style guides.
  • Proofreading: Final-pass correction of spelling, punctuation, and formatting.

Our Professional Book Editing Process

Every stage of our book editing service refines and avoids diluting your unique tone — ensuring the final book sounds like you, only sharper, stronger, and ready for publishing.

  • Manuscript Review & Editorial Mapping

    We begin with a strategic read and editorial review of your full manuscript. Based on genre, tone, and publishing goals, we create a custom editing blueprint that outlines what’s needed — whether that’s structure shaping, style polishing, or a pre-publishing clean-up.

  • Editor Assignment & Feedback Round

    For manuscripts needing structural work, we focus on story architecture, character development, pacing, and thematic consistency. This big-picture editing strengthens the foundation of your work.

  • Revisions & Refinement

    Our editors work in structured passes, depending on your selected editing level. We revise your manuscript in layers, ensuring consistent tone, improved readability, and narrative strength, while keeping your unique style intact.

  • Final Proofreading & Pre-Publication Check

    Before your book is print ready or eBook formatted, our proofreading team conducts a final proofreading check correcting typographical errors, formatting inconsistencies, and layout issues. This ensures your manuscript meets professional publishing standards across all platforms.

Get a Line-by-Line Sample Edit
Professional Editing Services

Which Type of Editing Does Your Manuscript Need?

Authors often ask us where to start. Is a proofread enough? Or does the manuscript need structural revision? Here's what you should know:

  • Developmental Editing is for early-stage drafts. It helps shape your structure, pacing, chapter order, and clarity of message or plot.
  • Line Editing focuses on sentence-level polish — tightening flow, enhancing tone, and making your voice more precise.
  • Copy editing ensures technical accuracy: grammar, consistency, style guide alignment, and factual checks.
  • Proofreading is the final step before publication — the last polish to eliminate lingering typos, punctuation errors, or layout issues.

If you’re unsure, don’t worry. We offer complimentary manuscript assessments to recommend the right level of editing based on your goals and current draft.

Pro tip: It’s better to do one round of the right editing than to overpay for the wrong service.

Our Editorial Service Areas

At Black Stone Publishers, we treat book editing as a creative alliance. We don’t just review your manuscript, we engage with it. Our editors serve as thought partners, helping authors sharpen their message, strengthen narrative cohesion, and prepare the manuscript for real-world readers and publishers.

Whether you're working through a second draft or preparing for a professional book release, our goal is to elevate and not rewrite your work. We bring a balance of critical insight and editorial care, ensuring your book becomes the most refined version of itself without compromising what makes it yours.

Professional Editing Services

Editing & Proofreading FAQ

Everything you need to know about our comprehensive editorial services.

Developmental editing focuses on the big-picture structure of your book — story flow, chapter order, pacing, logic, and character or argument development. Copyediting, on the other hand, is more technical and corrects grammar, punctuation, syntax, and consistency based on publishing style guides. Think of developmental editing as architectural work, and copyediting as fine detailing.

Most manuscripts benefit from two rounds: an initial deep edit (developmental or line editing), followed by a final copyedit or proofreading pass. However, if your manuscript is still in a rough draft, we may recommend an additional revision round after developmental editing for best results.

No. Our editors are trained to preserve your unique tone while improving clarity, structure, and coherence. We refine your writing without erasing what makes it yours. Your voice remains central to the final manuscript — only sharper and more consistent.

Timelines depend on word count and the level of editing required. On average:

  • Developmental editing takes 3–5 weeks
  • Line editing or copyediting takes 2–3 weeks
  • Proofreading typically takes 1–2 weeks

Rush timelines are available for shorter projects or publication deadlines.

Yes. We use tracked changes in Word and leave editorial comments explaining suggestions, structure shifts, or content concerns. Our goal is not just to fix, but to help you understand how to grow as an author through transparent, constructive feedback.

We prefer Microsoft Word documents (.doc or .docx) to preserve formatting and enable tracked changes. If your manuscript is in Google Docs, PDF, or Scrivener, we can convert or work with your format as needed.

Yes. If you’re writing nonfiction, memoir, or business content, we offer optional fact-checking and research support as part of your editing package. This includes verifying names, dates, citations, case studies, and other factual claims.

Absolutely. Our editing services are collaborative. You’ll be able to review every suggestion and can request additional changes during the revision phase. We also offer optional follow-up review sessions once you’ve implemented your edits.

Yes — we offer free sample edits (up to 1,000 words) so you can assess our editing style, feedback quality, and tone alignment before moving forward.

We provide expert editing for memoirs, fiction, self-help, nonfiction, and business books. Each manuscript is matched with an editor experienced in your genre’s tone, structure, and market expectations.

Yes. All editing work is protected under strict confidentiality agreements. Your manuscript, ideas, and intellectual property remain fully secure and private throughout the editing process.

Yes. After editing, we can help format and prepare your manuscript for Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, or traditional publishing submission — including agent-ready versions, synopses, and query letter guidance if needed.

Yes, we work with many authors looking to re-edit and professionally relaunch their earlier works — improving everything from narrative clarity to formatting and language tone for re-release success.

While formatting is not included in our base editing packages, we offer add-on publishing and formatting services to prepare your manuscript for Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, and other self-publishing platforms.

Yes. For fiction authors, our line and developmental editing services focus heavily on dialogue naturalness, pacing consistency, character depth, and narrative immersion.

No problem. Editing is a collaborative process, you have full control to accept, reject, or revise our suggestions. We’re here to support your creative direction, not override it.

Yes. We offer professional editing for short fiction, novellas, eBooks, whitepapers, and other non-book-length projects. We’ll tailor the scope to match your goals and word count.

Yes. For authors pursuing traditional publishing, we offer editing for book proposals, query letters, and agent submissions, in addition to manuscript editing.