What is copyediting?

At all levels of copyediting — light, medium, and heavy — the copyeditor corrects errors, queries the author about conflicting statements, requests advice when the means of resolving a problem is unclear, and prepares a style sheet.

The copyeditor may also incorporate the author’s replies to queries; this work is known as cleanup editing. Before work begins, freelance editors should determine if the copyediting fee will cover cleanup editing or if cleanup editing will be performed for an additional fee.