Founded in 2013

services

Copy editing and proofreading is a dying art. The TQM Team includes grammarians and proud "word nerds" who are diehard sticklers for ensuring grammar, punctuation, and clarity are spot-on. These professionals have been vetted by TQM and have long-term working relationships. Their subject matter expertise includes ALL industries and ALL style preferences (AP, Chicago, etc.).

Copy editing for advertising and marketing often combines multiple stages of editing into one step, from content editing through to proofreading. Depending on the type of project, a typical workflow might entail:

• Correcting for grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
• Fact checking and making corrections of names, places, organizations, facts, dates, and statistics.
• Revising for effectiveness—eliminating redundancy, clarifying/streamlining convoluted sentences, reordering for flow, completing fragmented thoughts, etc.
• Adjusting copy to adhere to the style guide where available, making recommendations/confirming preference with the client for anything not covered (new terms, variable usage), and adding to or creating the client-specific style guide.
• Adjusting voice, style, and visuals for consistency and, if made available and as necessary, to reflect brand guidelines and the strategic statement.

Copy editing may also extend to:

• Conducting topical research to confirm the subject matter is correctly conveyed and to enable accurate, thorough revisions.
• Confirming all graphic and textual elements are correctly laid out, effective, and in adherence with brand guidelines.
• Checking footnotes and any legally binding copy against linked or referenced content, checking citations and legal disclaimers for completeness, and correcting or noting problems in both.
• For digital collateral, a QA of any interactive content.

​We also have a team of copywriters who are subject matter experts and generalists. Contact us to learn more.

​​​​​​Book Proposal Evaluations
A book proposal advocates why your book is a salable, marketable product—one that is needed in the world and will find an audience. It needs to persuade a publisher to make an investment in you and your work. If you are looking for representation from a literary agent or approaching a book publisher directly, you need to have a polished and complete book proposal. If your proposal needs work, you need to know before you invest time looking for representation and potentially costly book production. 

Nonfiction book proposals contain standard information. Using a proven successful nonfiction book proposal template, TQM Communications reviews your proposal to give an assessment of these key areas and to determine the extent of revisions needed. The Book Proposal Evaluation provides feedback and recommendations in these main areas common to all proposals (such as the overview, about the author, market analysis, marketing and promotion, competition, and more). The Evaluation ensures your proposal contains all the necessary elements and makes overall recommendations on how to improve it. It also looks at the sample chapter included in your proposal and evaluates its content and quality.

​Reader Reports for Book Manuscripts
Before you send your manuscript to a publisher for publication or an agent for representation, you need to have a professional editor take a close look at it. You spent a long time writing your book, and your heart and soul are reflected in the effort. Now you want to know if it’s any good or how to make it better. If your manuscript needs work, you need to know now—before you invest in time looking for representation and potentially costly book production. Professional editing will make your book as polished and marketable to your target audience as possible. TQM Communications reviews your manuscript to give a general assessment of the key areas of your book and to determine the extent of editing needed to conform to today’s standard publishing guidelines. The Reader Report provides feedback and recommendations in the main areas common to all books, including characters, setting, plot, writing, and more. It provides a clear analysis of the book’s quality as it’s currently written and what can be done to improve it. The report includes a 10-point scale scoring the manuscript in these areas. 

It concludes with a recommendation for next steps, such as working with TQM Communications, LLC for a developmental edit, working with a co-author or ghostwriter, or greenlighting the manuscript to submit to agents and/or publishers.

The fee for a reader report is a flat rate based on word count. Any other requests (like book title suggestions, etc.) cost an additional fee. 

Developmental Copy Editing (also called content editing, structural editing, or substantive editing)
A developmental copy edit is the first step in the editing process. It involves working with a developmental editor or writing coach to improve your book’s content. This step often starts with a Reader Report (see above). A developmental copy edit is recommended when a manuscript has issues with structure, style, grammar, plot, character development, etc. The editor reads the manuscript and makes comments on the book’s organization and structure. At this point, no corrections to the text are done. The manuscript goes back to the author to make the suggested content changes to their manuscript. Once the author has completed this task, the manuscript goes back to the editor for a heavy copy edit. It goes back to author for review, then back to the editor again for editing of new material, then back to the author again for final review. 

Copy Editing
Copy editing prepares your book to enter the design/production process after the content is finalized. Copy editors focus on grammar, spelling, punctuation, word usage, and flow. Copy editing also ensures style guide compliance and addresses formatting issues so that headers, subheads, etc., are consistent throughout the manuscript. A professional copy editor is a vital part of the publishing process and helps your book compete with those from traditional publishers. 

Medium copy edit: This service is recommended when there are some sentence rephrasing and grammar, style, consistency, and word choice issues but not to the level of the heavy copy edit ​or developmental copy edit. 

Heavy copy edit: This is recommended when there are numerous grammatical, structural, and style issues but not so much that a developmental edit is needed. The manuscript generally needs rewording and sentence rephrasing but does not need to have whole sections of the book reorganized, for instance, which a developmental edit would entail.

NOTE: All levels of copy editing include the creation of a style sheet to ensure consistent spelling, punctuation, etc.

Proofreading
Proofreading is the last editing step and is done after the book has been designed. This service checks written text after it has been copy edited and before it is printed or published. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation are checked and any awkward copy is corrected to read smoothly. Proofreading also involves checking production issues like confirming page numbers, headings, and captions are correct and photos and illustrations are correctly captioned. Proofreading adheres to in-house style preferences as well as preferred styles based on the type of publication; for books, copy should adhere to The Chicago Manual of Style​.

Back Cover Copywriting

​The back cover copy (or dust jacket) is one of the best ways to market your book. It needs to include a compelling summary of your book’s contents as well as copy that entices your target audience to purchase your book. It is used not only on the physical hard copy of your book but also online in places such as Amazon. TQM Communications, LLC has 25 years of experience writing back cover copy and helping authors sell their books!