Introduction to Editorial Skills: Copy-Editing and Proofreading

How the course is delivered

The course consists of six x 2.25-hour sessions including breaks, each a mixture of delivery and interaction using Zoom breakout rooms and other online tools. There will be a 45-minute exercise set to complete between the sessions, and a 45-minute break. The course will run on from 9.30am to 2.00pm on each day.

You will need access to a computer or laptop with a camera and microphone and with Microsoft Word and either Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (which is free) or Adobe Acrobat Professional installed. To join the course, you  will need to activate a Zoom account. This takes two minutes and does not require any payment. It is purely for administrative purposes.

Any information to be completed beforehand will be sent via email.

Accessibility

Please contact us at with any accessibility or special requirements, for example having in-session captions or the learning materials sent to you in advance.

If you have any concerns about technical requirements or access please contact us on or telephone (+44) 020 8874 2718.

In-house training

This course is also available for in-company training, either virtually or in person at your office. Course content is tailored to suit your requirements. Group sizes range from five to twelve attendees. To find out more, email or telephone +44 (0)20 8874 2718.

Delegate feedback

“I enjoyed the course very much. Caroline Drake was wonderful, very cooperative and engaging. The group brought a lot to the table, too, as they came from different backgrounds.” Mauzoun Writing & Publishing delegate

“The course leader was highly knowledgeable and engaging, giving all delegates equal time to ask questions and share their own insights. I have a deeper understanding of copy-editing, proofreading, formatting and marking up editorial projects.” Geographical Association delegate

“Caroline Knight was an excellent tutor. I learned a lot from her and the other delegates. I've gained so much knowledge which will help as I progress with my tasks, experience and skills and continue in my career. Learning about the relationship between the publisher and author will be beneficial moving forwards, in thinking about both sides and how we can work together. I have even more respect for editors and the job that they do.” Garnet Education delegate

“Caroline Knight is brilliant! She was engaging, fun and supportive at every stage. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and it was a privilege to be taught by someone who shared it so generously. This course was an excellent introduction to copy-editing and proofreading. It was super helpful to learn how texts are edited and typeset before they reach the production stage, and how complex the book publishing process can be. I’ve gained knowledge and skills to apply immediately in my current role.” Production Assistant, Bloomsbury Publishing

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course! Sarah was engaging and the content cemented the knowledge I've been acquiring in my new role. I now have the ability to organise proofreading tasks efficiently, an understanding of the different requirements of proofreaders and copy-editors, and confidence in PDF mark-up.” Assistant Editor, Bloomsbury Publishing

"The course was well-organised, useful and lively. The teacher was extremely competent and clear, and addressed all the questions. I gained a great overview on the main tasks of copy-editors, an understanding of consistency rules editorial conventions, and many useful aspects of Word formatting and PDF mark-up.” Federation of European Biochemical Societies delegate

“A brilliant and very engaging course. I now have a clear process for copy-editing and proofreading, a reminder of grammatical rules and knowledge of the BSI marks.” Faber delegate

“The course was informative and I learned a lot. Caroline Drake explained the concepts clearly, providing helpful examples when necessary. The exercises were useful and I especially liked that we learned both practical editorial skills and the more subtle skills, such as how to best phrase author queries." Editorial Assistant, Walker Books

“Caroline Drake was a great presenter. We covered many topics, but I did not feel left behind at any point. Though proofreading is part of my job, I gained additional tips and ideas to implement in future and clarity on stylistic practices.” Production Editor, Yale University Press

About the tutor(s)

The tutors devised and fully updated the course in 2020. One tutor will deliver all three morning sessions of a course. 

In an in-house career that took her to Berlin, London, Oxford and Cambridge, Caroline Drake worked on a wide range of academic books, journals and illustrated trade titles. She was trained at Blackwell and Cambridge University Press, where, as senior subeditor then copy-editorial manager, she in turn trained copy-editors and proofreaders for fifteen years. She updated Butcher’s Copy-editing, with a colleague, for the fourth edition.

Now freelance, Caroline enjoys helping authors to get things right, first time. She has created and taught courses for a variety of clients, including publishers, educational organisations, the CIEP (formerly the SfEP), the reporters of the Scottish Parliament and the Parliamentary Research Service at the House of Commons.

Since 1999, Sarah Sodhi has proofed, tagged, bound, corrected, edited, managed, commissioned, subbed, scheduled, estimated and produced a great deal of content – from interactive, multi-media resources to marketing leaflets, from monthly magazines to 900-page medical tomes.

Starting her career at a small medical publisher in Oxford, Sarah produced medical textbooks, journals and a bi-monthly magazine. She then moved into the public sector to work for an adult education charity, introducing formal scheduling procedures, progress-chasing systems and detailed budgets. After this, she immersed herself in the education sector, editing and managing digital and print resources for primary, secondary and adult education publishers.

Caroline Knight began her career in publishing at Penguin Books in 1989, when she joined Editorial 2, the department dedicated to copy-editing. She has been a PTC tutor since 1996 and a freelancer since 2010.

Caroline became managing editor of Allen Lane The Penguin Press in 1995 before moving to Weidenfeld & Nicolson Illustrated in 1997. She lived in Greece, working freelance and tutoring at the PTC, from 2000 to 2003, when she became managing editorial director at William Heinemann, an imprint of the Random House group. Five years later, she moved to Atlantic Books, where she stayed until 2010 when she moved to rural Kent and rejoined the freelance community.

She has worked with Alastair Campbell, Vince Cable, David Willetts, Margaret Drabble and the late Herman Leonard, as well as a wide variety of others less famous. She enjoys editing both fiction and non-fiction, with a leaning towards history and politics. She lives on the edge of the North Downs with her husband, three children, a dog, six hens and tens of thousands of bees.

Related courses

The PTC offers virtual classroom courses, self-study distance-learning courses, and a range of e-learning modules. See below for those that complement or build on this course.  

Virtual classroom courses

• Copyright - the basics
• Editorial Project Management
• The Fundamentals of Public Speaking
• How to mark up PDFs with Adobe Acrobat
• Grammar and punctuation - the basics
• Line-editing workshop
• Progress in Editorial Skills
• Working with Authors

Distance-learning courses

• Essential Copy-editing  
• Essential Proofreading
• Essential Grammar

e-Learning modules

• A comprehensive guide to copy-editing
• A copy-editor’s guide to working with authors
• A copy-editor’s guide to working with typesetters
• An editor's guide to author queries
• An editor's guide to editing fiction
• An editor's guide to editing illustrations
• An editor's guide to editing references
• An editor's guide to editorial style
• An introduction to proofreading
• An introduction to publishing
• Essential copyright for publishers
• Essential editorial project management
• Proofreading PDFs: A complete guide for editors