I am seeking one experienced professional to complete the final proofreading, light copy editing, and professional interior formatting of a completed crime novel for publication and commercial printing.

The manuscript has already been edited. I am not looking for developmental editing, major rewriting, plot changes, or a complete line edit. The author’s voice, narration style, character personalities, dialogue, slang, and intentionally imperfect speech must be preserved.

The work must be completed in two stages.

STAGE 1: FINAL PROOFREADING AND LIGHT COPY EDITING

• Correct remaining spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and typographical errors

• Check for missing, duplicated, or incorrectly used words

• Identify excessive repetition of words, phrases, descriptions, dialogue tags, character actions, and sentence structures

• Correct awkward or unclear sentences only when necessary, without changing the author’s voice

• Check character names, ages, physical descriptions, locations, timeline details, and story facts for consistency

• Check dialogue punctuation and formatting throughout the manuscript

• Preserve intentional slang, broken grammar in character dialogue, and differences between each character’s voice

• Check chapter numbers, chapter titles, scene breaks, and transitions for consistency

• Flag confusing passages, continuity problems, or questionable changes for the author’s approval instead of making major changes independently

• Use Microsoft Word Track Changes so every correction can be reviewed

• Provide a clean final Word document after all corrections are approved

STAGE 2: PROFESSIONAL BOOK FORMATTING

After the proofreading and corrections are approved, professionally format the final manuscript for physical printing, Amazon KDP paperback, and Kindle EPUB.

PRINT BOOK AND FONT REQUIREMENTS

• Format the manuscript as a professional physical book, not only for Amazon

• Help select an appropriate trim size for a crime novel

• Create a platform-neutral, commercial print-ready interior that can be used by a traditional book printer or another print-on-demand distributor

• Provide a separate PDF adjusted specifically for Amazon KDP if its requirements differ

• Format the interior so it can be adapted for IngramSpark or another professional printer without rebuilding the entire book

• Use consistent fonts throughout the complete manuscript

• Use one consistent body font and coordinated font treatments for chapter titles, headings, page numbers, running headers, and front and back matter

• Correct all mismatched fonts, font sizes, spacing, bolding, italics, and inconsistent styling

• Use only professional fonts that are legally permitted for commercial book publishing

• Properly embed all fonts in every print-ready PDF

• Make sure font substitutions do not occur when the files are opened or printed

• Format chapter-opening pages consistently

• Format body text, paragraph indents, margins, gutters, line spacing, scene breaks, and page breaks professionally

• Add appropriate page numbers, running headers, and blank pages where required

• Properly format all front matter and back matter provided by the author

• Prevent widows, orphans, isolated headings, awkward page breaks, and incorrectly positioned chapter openings

• Ensure the print interior meets current Amazon KDP requirements

• Provide a high-resolution, press-ready PDF suitable for commercial printing

• Provide an editable formatted source file in addition to the final print-ready PDFs

• Confirm whether the finished interior can also be used for a hardcover edition or explain what adjustments would be required

KINDLE EPUB REQUIREMENTS

• Create a properly functioning reflowable EPUB for Kindle

• Include a clickable table of contents

• Format chapter navigation, chapter headings, paragraphs, italics, and scene breaks correctly

• Make sure the book displays properly on phones, tablets, computers, and Kindle devices

• Ensure the EPUB passes validation and meets current Amazon KDP requirements

• Check the EPUB for formatting errors before final delivery

FINAL DELIVERABLES

• Microsoft Word document showing all tracked proofreading and editing changes

• Clean, corrected final Microsoft Word manuscript

• Professionally formatted editable print interior source file

• Platform-neutral, high-resolution commercial print-ready PDF

• Amazon KDP-ready paperback PDF with properly embedded fonts

• Validated Amazon KDP-ready EPUB file for Kindle

• Any style sheet created for spelling, capitalization, character names, fonts, and consistency

• At least one reasonable revision round for corrections to the final proofreading and formatting

Please include the following with your proposal:

1. Examples of fiction books you have proofread and formatted

2. Examples of professional print interiors, KDP paperback interiors, and EPUB files you have produced

3. Confirmation that you personally perform both proofreading and book formatting

4. Your estimated completion time

5. Confirmation that your quoted price includes all listed deliverables

6. A brief explanation of how you check for repetition and consistency

7. Confirmation that you will preserve the author’s voice and intentional character dialogue

8. Confirmation that all fonts used will be consistent, commercially permitted, and properly embedded

9. Confirmation that the final print file can be used outside Amazon with a traditional printer or another distribution platform

Applicants who only run manuscripts through Grammarly or another automated program without performing a careful human review will not be considered.