This half-day course is designed for editors working on fiction or non-fiction who have to undertake a stylistic line edit of a manuscript or text. It is an interactive workshop, with examples and group discussion to reinforce your skills. You will learn what a line edit is, and how to undertake one, including best practice and advice on interacting and working with an author to produce the best results possible.
Please note that the course has two separate outings, one for non-fiction and one for fiction. It is also available for in-company training for either fiction or non-fiction, or a combination of both.
About the tutor(s)
Heather Rawlin began her career in publishing by training with the PTC to become a proofreader and copy-editor. She worked for six years as an editorial project manager for a firm of typesetters, taking academic publications from manuscript through to print-ready and digital formats, and liaising closely with freelance copy editors, proofreaders and indexers, as well as with the in-house production team of typesetters and quality-assurance readers. Heather started her editorial freelance business in 2015 and began tutoring the PTC distance-learning courses Essential Copy Editing and Essential Proofreading in 2018. She has degrees in the History of Art and experience of editorial work in medical and scientific publishing, as well as the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
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Please read our Terms & Conditions
Course format
- Virtual classroom
- 9.30am to 12.30pm
- 2 x 1½-hour sessions inc. break
Date information for future sessions
December 2025 – Fiction
- Date: 9 December 2025
- Times: 9.30am to 12.30pm
June 2026 – Non-Fiction
- Date: 9 June 2026
- Times: 9.30am to 12.30pm
December 2026 – Fiction
- Date: 9 December 2026
- Times: 9.30am to 12.30pm
What you will need
To join the course, you will need access to a computer, tablet or laptop with a camera and microphone. You will need to activate a free Zoom account to join the course. This takes 2 minutes and does not require any payment. It is purely for administrative purposes.