We’ll start with an initial evaluation of a sample that includes the first chapters of your manuscript. We’ll follow this with feedback and a quote. The quote will propose a selection of services from the ones indicated in our Publishing Roadmap.

Which services you require will depend entirely on the quality of your manuscript and how developed it is when you get in touch. A well-written and well-developed manuscript with a strong setting, a moving plot, and dynamic characters may go straight to copy editing. On the other hand, if the initial evaluation reveals a weak introduction, multiple inconsistencies, plot issues, and stilted dialogue, we’ll recommend a full manuscript evaluation and critique that pinpoints areas for improvement and provides constructive feedback before the manuscript is edited. Our services also depend on whether you opt for traditional publishing or self-publishing.

All manuscripts submitted to us undergo a meticulous selection process. In cases where a manuscript does not align with our ethics or values, we may respectfully decline the opportunity to work on it. Additionally, we may decline manuscripts that we feel would not fare well in the market. This discerning approach enables us to uphold our commitment to excellence by investing our time and expertise in manuscripts we wholeheartedly believe in.

Our services are fully customisable according to your needs and the needs of the manuscript. Author services may be engaged separately or as a package. We only endorse publications that receive our green light for publication and printing.

Most writers tend to ask for proofreading when they actually need editing. Proofreading is often used as a catch-all phrase for all services that improve writing. For the record, proofreading relates to the final checks a manuscript undergoes just before printing, so a manuscript is proofread after it has been designed, typeset, and saved in PDF format. In other words, when clients get in touch with their first draft, proofreading is not the service they need. That is why the initial evaluation of your sample draft is necessary for a language expert to help establish which services your manuscript needs. We don’t mind if you keep calling it proofreading as long as we understand each other.

For writers interested in self-publishing a high-quality book, we offer premium services that uphold industry standards. We believe that self-published books should be on par with traditionally published works. To achieve this, we provide a comprehensive range of professional in-house and third-party author services. These services include manuscript editing and proofreading, cover design, typesetting, formatting, and assistance with marketing and distribution. In this manner, we help writers increase their chances of success in the competitive publishing market. We also provide editorial project management for clients who prefer additional support overseeing the steps towards publication.
 
While self-publishing can be a suitable choice for certain manuscripts, it is not the optimal option for all books. Some manuscripts require the exposure and support of traditional publishing to stand out in the crowded publishing landscape. In such cases, we help writers refine their work and assist them in preparing a query package to pitch their manuscript to a publishing house or agent. For exceptional books, we can even provide a letter of recommendation and liaise with the publishing house on the writer’s behalf.


After an initial manuscript evaluation, we can advise you on which route to publishing best suits your manuscript.

Bookmark Editors operates as a sub-brand under Proofreading Malta Limited, and it’s important to note that neither Bookmark Editors nor Proofreading Malta Limited maintains affiliations with any publishing house.
 
That said, over the years, we have established a strong track record of collaboration with local and international publishing houses. Our editorial services for publishing houses, including book editing, proofreading, and quality control, are designed to complement and bolster the efforts of a publishing house’s in-house team.
 
We take pride in the fact that books we have recommended for publishing have successfully secured agreements with renowned local publishing houses, a testament to the quality of our editorial services and discernment of our editorial recommendations.

We are a team of editors with different specialisations. You will be assisted by an editor whose skill set best matches your genre and requirements. We’ve worked on a wide range of genres, so it is likely that we already have a track record working on your genre. During the initial evaluation, we establish whether we are the right fit for your manuscript. We only take on manuscripts we are convinced we can contribute to and which we feel passionately about. If the idea of working on your manuscript excites us, we’ll propose a way forward and offer a quote. On the other hand, if we feel that we’re not the right people for the job or that your manuscript is of a genre that does not align with our portfolio, we will respectfully decline the opportunity to work on it.

Of course! Please review our editorial portfolio.

Confidentiality is the foundation stone of our profession. Whilst we understand that reviewing examples of work we’ve edited would help you understand whether we’re the right people for the job, we cannot share excerpts from our past work, even from books that have already been published. Sharing our work would mean exposing the errors found in our past clients’ manuscripts, and this would be a breach of confidentiality. When a client sends us their manuscript, the draft is used for editing purposes only, and the edited text or parts thereof are never shared with third parties. If you send us your manuscript, you will also benefit from this same confidentiality. If you would like to understand how our editing would look on your draft, please ask for a short sample, and we’ll gladly oblige. In the meantime, you may examine our portfolio here for a general idea of our track record.

If you would like to review our work, please let us know, and we’ll work on a short sample that showcases different levels of editing according to the needs of your manuscript.

We are capable of working both in UK English and US English. Please inform us of your preference.

The majority of the first-time writers who contact us feel this way. They have an overwhelming sense of pride in how far their manuscript has come, mixed with a fear that it isn’t any good. It’s only natural to feel a sense of dread before sharing your work for the first time, but we’re here to help you, not judge you. So, yes, we can definitely check it out for you. The point of the initial evaluation is to give a rough indication of both the potential of your draft as well as what needs to be done to improve it. We want you to know that your manuscript is safe with us. We’ll approach it with great openness and respect, and the feedback we will give you will be constructive, honest, and direct. We won’t tell you your manuscript is good if it’s not. Our feedback will give you a clear idea of our professional opinion on your manuscript. If it’s a brilliant draft, we’ll help you refine it, and if it’s still in a very raw stage, don’t worry, we’re here to help.

All the documents we receive are treated as strictly confidential. Sample chapters and manuscripts are never shared with third parties. Your work is in safe hands, and you can rest assured that we do not intend to steal your ideas or pass them on to third parties. At Bookmark Editors, we work with confidential documents on a daily basis. Remember that we have a professional reputation to uphold, and it is in our interest to safeguard our longstanding reputation. If you would like to review our track record, please visit the Review section of our Facebook page. You may also wish to read our testimonials. The sample we request will be used for evaluation purposes only. Only a short sample is required, so you don’t need to send your entire manuscript right away. This way, you can assess our feedback before deciding whether to share more.

This is not possible. The needs of each manuscript vary so widely that it’s impossible to generalise. It is also not helpful to assume that your manuscript simply needs a light spellcheck and can be printed very quickly. The truth is that we’ve never come across a manuscript that did not benefit from copy editing. In the best-case scenario, your manuscript will need light copy editing. Perhaps it will need more than that, and this can only be established after reviewing a sample. Our quotes reflect our assessment of the hours required to develop your manuscript and are thus issued on a case-by-case basis. Please send us a sample of your work, and we’ll issue a quote after an initial evaluation.

Simply send us an email at elizabeth@proofreadingmalta.com. Tell us about your manuscript, your target audience, and your dream, and we’ll take it from there. We’ll request a sample of your work for evaluation purposes. Based on this, we’ll let you know which services suit your manuscript. All documents are treated as strictly confidential and used only for evaluation purposes.