LuluPublishing Services

Line Editing

Line editing that sharpens every sentence and keeps your voice

Line editing is where good prose becomes confident prose. We work through your manuscript paragraph by paragraph, improving rhythm, clarity and word choice while keeping the voice that makes the book yours.

  • Sentence-level edits with tracked changes
  • Clarity, flow, tone and word choice
  • Style sheet so your choices stay consistent
  • Comments explaining the reasoning behind bigger changes

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The difference between "fine" and "I could not put it down"

Once the structure of your book works, the next question is how it reads. Line editing focuses on that: where a sentence trips the reader, where a paragraph repeats itself, where a metaphor distracts, where dialogue sounds stiff or where an explanation could be half as long and twice as clear.

Our line editors work directly in your document with tracked changes, so every suggestion is visible and reversible. Where an edit is more than cosmetic, we leave a short comment explaining why, so you learn as you review and can disagree with confidence. The goal is never to make every author sound the same. It is to make you sound like the best version of yourself.

We also keep a style sheet as we work, recording spellings, hyphenation, capitalisation, character names and timeline details. That sheet travels with your manuscript to the proofreader and the designer, so decisions made once stay made. It is a small thing that prevents a surprising number of inconsistencies in the final book.

Why authors choose our line editing service

  • Prose that moves

    We smooth awkward rhythm, trim repetition and tighten loose phrasing so readers glide through your pages.

  • Voice preserved

    We edit toward your intended tone, whether that is warm, formal, wry or lyrical, instead of toward a generic standard.

  • Visible, reversible changes

    Every edit is tracked in your document. Accept what works, reject what does not and ask us about anything you are unsure of.

  • Consistency across the book

    A running style sheet keeps spelling, names, numbers and terminology the same from the first chapter to the last.

  • Dialogue that sounds spoken

    We help dialogue sound like real people while keeping each character distinct.

  • Preparation for the final stages

    A clean, consistent manuscript makes copy-editing and proofreading faster and more effective.

What is included

  • Sentence-by-sentence line edit with tracked changes
  • Comments explaining significant changes
  • Attention to clarity, flow, tone and word choice
  • Review of dialogue and point-of-view consistency
  • Style sheet recording your spelling and usage decisions
  • One round of questions about our edits
  • Summary note on patterns worth watching in future writing
  • Written scope and timeline before work begins

Who it is for

  • Authors whose structure is settled and who want their prose to shine
  • Writers who feel their manuscript is good but not yet polished
  • Non-native English writers who want natural, idiomatic phrasing
  • Business authors turning expertise into clear, readable chapters
  • Fiction writers who want sharper dialogue and smoother scenes

How it works, step by step

  1. Sample edit

    We edit a short extract so you can judge the style of editing and confirm it suits your book.

  2. Agree scope

    We confirm word count, level of editing and timeline in writing before the full edit starts.

  3. Line edit

    Your editor works through the manuscript with tracked changes and comments, building a style sheet as they go.

  4. Review together

    You review the changes at your own pace. We answer questions about any edit you want to discuss.

  5. Hand off

    The clean manuscript and style sheet move on to proofreading and layout, so nothing decided is lost.

Ready to start with line editing?

Share a few details about your book and we will send a clear, written quote within one working day.

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Questions about line editing

What is the difference between line editing, copy-editing and proofreading?

Line editing improves style and flow. Copy-editing corrects grammar, usage and consistency. Proofreading is the final check for typos and formatting errors in the laid-out pages. Many books benefit from all three, in that order.

Will you change my writing style?

We edit toward the tone you want, not away from it. If a suggestion changes your meaning or voice, you can reject it, and we will explain our reasoning.

Should I do line editing before or after developmental editing?

After. Line editing polishes sentences, and a developmental edit may cut or restructure whole chapters. Doing them in the right order avoids paying to polish text you later remove.

Can you edit in British or American English?

Yes. Tell us which spelling and usage conventions you want and we apply them consistently across the book.

Do I need a sample first?

We recommend one. A short sample edit lets you see our approach and gives us both a realistic view of how much work the manuscript needs.

Looking for background reading? Visit the publishing blog or our platform guides.

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Tell us about your book. We reply within one working day.