When you need to improve your writing style to connect to readers.
Line editing services focus on the art and style of your writing. While developmental editing addresses the big picture—structure, argument, and flow—line editing refines your work at the sentence level. This process, sometimes called sentence-level editing, ensures that your ideas are communicated with clarity, precision, and impact.
A line editor reviews your text carefully, line by line, to strengthen expression. This includes tightening word choice, improving rhythm and pacing, and making sure every sentence is free of redundancy or distraction. Unlike proofreading, which corrects errors, or copyediting, which checks consistency, line editing is about making prose engaging and effective for your audience.
Our nonfiction line editing services are especially valuable for writers who want their manuscripts to be both authoritative and readable. Academics benefit from academic line editing when adapting dissertations, revising articles, or preparing books for scholarly or crossover audiences. Nonfiction authors use line editing to ensure their narratives flow smoothly, arguments remain clear, and explanations are compelling.
This service is also popular with multilingual authors or writers working with machine-generated translation. In these cases, line editing helps refine phrasing, smooth out awkward constructions, and ensure the text reads naturally to a target audience without losing the author’s original meaning or voice.
Outside of publishing, line editing is widely used in professional contexts. In the business and nonprofit world, this type of review is often called content editing. The goal is the same: to make reports, websites, and communication materials more persuasive, accessible, and reader-friendly.
Line editing also ensures consistency in tone and style. Your editor will make sure your voice fits your readership—whether scholarly, professional, or general—and that your text reflects your goals.
By investing in line editing services, you’re giving your writing the advantage of polish and engagement. It’s the stage that transforms a draft into clear, confident, and compelling prose, ready to connect with readers and move seamlessly toward publication.
Line editors can help you with:
Improving word choice
Improving word choice so that each word conveys maximal meaning
Correcting sentence structure
Correcting the syntax of sentences so that they flow easily and naturally, as a primary-language English author might write
Improving logical flow
Improving the overall pacing and logical flow of a piece
Using the right tone and voice
Ensuring that you’re using the right tone and voice for the type of publication you’re aiming for
Addressing transitions
Addressing transitions between paragraphs and sentences
Cutting down word count
Dramatically pruning/cutting down word count at the paragraph and sentence level
“Smoothing” rough translations
“Smoothing” rough translations to English from another language or texts translated using software (e.g., Google Translate, DeepL)
Line Editing Services
What are the typical projects for line editing?
Line editing is valuable for a wide range of nonfiction projects. Authors use it to prepare books and essays for publication. Academics turn to academic line editing when adapting dissertations into books, refining journal articles, or clarifying arguments in manuscripts. Professionals in the business and nonprofit world rely on content editing to improve reports, websites, and communication materials. Journalists and thought leaders use line editing to make long-form pieces more engaging. It’s also popular with multilingual authors or those refining machine-generated translations, ensuring their text reads naturally to native audiences while preserving meaning.
How much does line editing cost?
The cost of line editing depends on the length and complexity of your manuscript as well as the level of support you need. Some projects require only a single pass to tighten sentences and improve flow. Others benefit from a deeper round of feedback, especially when major revisions are involved. We’ll provide a transparent estimate based on word count and goals. Whether you’re preparing an academic book, a nonfiction manuscript, or organizational content, we’ll match you with the right editor and scope. This flexibility ensures that you get high-quality results within your budget. Our services range from $0.04 to $0.06 per word.
What does a line edit include?
Line editing services focus on how your ideas are expressed at the sentence level. Your editor will refine word choice, improve rhythm, and eliminate repetition so your writing flows smoothly. Expect feedback on clarity, pacing, and readability, as well as suggestions to make your voice more consistent and effective. We also address tone, helping you align your language with your audience—whether scholarly, professional, or general. Unlike proofreading or copyediting, which correct surface issues, line editing enhances style and engagement, giving your text polish and persuasive power.
Our professional services include one full editorial “pass” to the manuscript using MS Word’s Track Changes and commenting functions and one shorter second pass once the author has responded to queries (must be completed within one month of first pass). Any subsequent passes must be performed within a reasonable timeframe and will be based on the editor’s availability. For graduate student edits, we offer only one editorial pass.
When should I get a line edit?
Line editing is most useful after developmental editing but before copyediting or proofreading. If your structure and argument are already in place, and you’re ready to polish style, tone, and readability, line editing is the right step. Writers often choose this service after major revisions, when they want to ensure their sentences are clear, concise, and compelling. It’s also the right choice if you’re struggling to engage readers or if your manuscript feels flat at the sentence level. By investing in line editing at this stage, you ensure your next draft communicates smoothly and persuasively.
It should also happen before you need someone to help you correct the mechanics of your text, including grammar and punctuation, and apply a style guide. In other words, before a copyedit. (You can learn about the difference between line and copy editing here.)
What’s the expected turnaround for a line edit?
Turnaround time for line editing varies by project length and package selection. Shorter works such as journal articles or reports may be returned within a week, while full-length nonfiction book manuscripts generally require several weeks. We recommend building in time for revision after receiving editorial feedback, so you can thoughtfully apply suggestions. If you’re on a deadline, we’ll work with you to set a schedule that balances speed with quality. By planning ahead and choosing the right level of service, you’ll get polished, sentence-level edits that elevate your work without slowing your publication timeline. A general rule of thumb is 25–35k words per week.
Sample
Sample Line Edits
Line editing involves heavy editing to your text, including tracked changes and comments.
In this sample blog post, our editor provided feedback on the content and structure so the author could engage a wider audience.
In this academic essay, the editor was tasked with smoothing the language to connect with scholarly readers.
The editor of this sample edit on an academic essay was required to dramatically reduce the word count.
An academic author needed help weaving together the distinct threads of research in his academic book manuscript, which had already undergone peer review at a university press. After a long writing process, he sought outside line editing services to tighten the text and make it intelligible for scholars in different disciplines.
An academic writer in the field of music needed to significantly cut down the word count of her textbook manuscript to fit her publisher’s requirements. Our line editor helped her seamlessly reduce the length while retaining the argumentative crux of the text.
New York University’s School of Law engaged Flatpage to provide ongoing content and copy editing for the articles posted on their Open Global Rights platform, which posts articles written by multilingual authors on a range of topics related to human rights.
