Copyediting vs. Copywriting: What’s the Difference?

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While copyediting and copywriting may appear similar, they serve distinct purposes.

Copyediting involves improving writing by correcting minor errors and making it clear, concise, and consistent. Copywriting entails writing engaging copy, typically to convince people to take a specific action (e.g., buy a good or service, become a subscriber, donate money).

Let’s see what each process entails. We’ll also examine the qualities of a good copy editor versus a good copywriter and see the earning potential in both professions.

Table of Contents

Copyediting vs. Copywriting: How Are They Different?

Here’s an overview of the differences.

Copyediting vs. Copywriting

	Copyediting	Copywriting
What Is It?	correcting text	creating text
Primary Purpose	makes the copy easier to read	creates gripping and convincing copy
Level of Creativity Required	low	high
Relevant Voice	typically an author’s voice	usually a company’s brand voice
Follows a Style Guide?	yes	ideally, yes (but not always)

To remember the meaning of the words copyediting and copywriting, take the word copy from the beginning of each and put it at the end. (The word copy refers to written content.)

Copyediting = editing copy

Copy editors find and fix errors to enhance a text’s readability.

Copywriting = writing copy

Copywriters create persuasive prose to grab and keep people’s attention.

Now, let’s dive deeper into copyediting.

What Is Copyediting?

When people talk about copyediting, they often mention the five c’s: correctness, clarity, concision, consistency, and comprehensiveness.

Since copyediting is a multifaceted process, these five c words help us remember what copy editors do.

A critical aspect of copyediting that isn’t always discussed is that copy editors need to use sound judgment. As they work on the five c’s, they need to focus on keeping the author’s voice intact.

The copy editor’s goal is to improve the writing, but they want to ensure the author’s personality shines through.

**Explaining the 5 C’s of Copyediting**

These five c’s are somewhat self-explanatory, but here’s a brief description of each.

1) Correctness means fixing punctuation, grammar, capitalization, spelling, and formatting errors. This also involves correcting improper word choices (bare vs. bear) and looking for omitted or repeated words.

2) Clarity involves removing ambiguities or awkward wording so the writing is easy to understand.

3) Concision means eliminating wordiness. As authors Strunk and White say in their brilliant book, The Elements of Style, “Make every word tell.”

4) Consistency ensures that the writing follows the appropriate style guide. These guides set parameters for numerous elements (e.g., hyphenation, punctuation, spelling, spacing) to ensure consistency throughout a text.

5) Comprehensiveness means ensuring the author hasn’t omitted any critical details that would lead to misunderstandings.

Examples of Documents a Copy Editor Works On

book manuscripts
blog posts
magazine articles
emails
business documents
user manuals
product descriptions
dissertations
theses
essays
résumés and cover letters
newsletters

Now let’s dive into the world of copywriting.

What Is Copywriting?

Copywriting is the art of creating copy that’s usually intended to make someone do something (buy a product, subscribe to a service, donate money or time, etc.).

Copywriting is most often used to sell something.

Businesses and entrepreneurs hire copywriters to increase the chances that someone will spring for what they offer.

An adept copywriter will convince you that you need a certain something—like really, really need it. 😉 Your life will be easier, happier, more exciting, (you name it) if you purchase that specific something.

The message "Words Have Power" written on slips of paper.

And what if you end up forking over your cash? Well, that copywriter did a great job! They did an especially fine job if this was a good or service you weren’t even considering in the first place.

Whew! The power of persuasion!

We know that a copy editor needs to allow the writer’s voice to come through.

But what about a copywriter? They want a company’s brand voice to be evident.

Copywriters aim to accurately represent the unique voice of the business whose products and services they promote.

Examples of Documents a Copywriter Works On

billboards
flyers
brochures
scripts for commercials
service descriptions
product descriptions
sales letters
landing pages
tag lines
catalogs
marketing emails
newspaper and magazine ads

Now let’s uncover the characteristics that make competent copy editors and copywriters.

The Qualities of a Good Copy Editor vs. Copywriter

What qualities are needed to be a successful copy editor or copywriter?

The lists below show that many of the same qualities are needed for either job. The last seven bullet points in both lists are identical.

What Are the Qualities of a Competent Copy Editor?

knowledge of major style guides
expert in grammar and mechanics
meticulous
good collaborator
capacity to concentrate for long periods
solid written communication
broad general knowledge
extensive vocabulary
strong researcher
ability to work independently
computer savvy
excellent time management

What Are the Qualities of a Capable Copywriter?

knowledge of marketing
good grasp of grammar and mechanics
capacity to write persuasive and engaging copy
great listener
creative
solid written communication
broad general knowledge
extensive vocabulary
strong researcher
ability to work independently
computer savvy
excellent time management

Copy Editor vs. Copywriter Salary

Dollar bills underneath a calculator that has the word "Salary" on the screen.

So how much do people doing these jobs typically earn? I checked several reputable sources.

Average Salaries of Copy Editors and Copywriters (based in the US)

	Copy Editors	Copywriters
Indeed	$67,986	$66,211
Payscale	$55,415	$59,165
Zippia	$62,599	$65,162
ZipRecruiter	$59,809	$76,412

Can You Be a Copywriter and a Copy Editor?

Yes, you can be a copywriter and a copy editor. Although copywriting and copy editing require different skills, we’ve seen how the skill sets overlap. If you want to be a copy editor and a copywriter, you’ll need to devote time and effort to learning both.

However, if you create a piece of writing as a copywriter, it’s always best to have someone else do the copyediting, even if you’re qualified.

Why? It’s because we’re notoriously bad at copyediting our own writing.

When we try to find mistakes in our writing, we tend to see what we intended to write instead of what we actually wrote.

Our mind knows what we’re trying to communicate, so it automatically fills in gaps and overlooks blunders that may have ended up on paper or on the screen.

You’re probably aware of this peculiar phenomenon if you’ve ever proofread or copyedited your work, only to have someone point out the multitude of mistakes you missed.

Editing vs. Copyediting vs. Proofreading

The words editing, copyediting, and proofreading commonly cause confusion because they’re related but not synonymous. Each is a distinct and vital stage in the editorial process.

Note: The term editing typically refers to developmental editing—the first step in the editorial procedure.

To better understand these concepts, let’s see when each stage is performed.

The Editorial Process

The editorial process consists of four stages:

Developmental editing
Line editing
Copyediting
Proofreading

Developmental editing considers the piece of writing as a whole and improves the content and overall structure. It involves adding, deleting, and reorganizing large sections of text.

Line editing seeks to refine a document to boost readability and flow. It makes sure the language is effective and suits the target audience.

We don’t hear about line editing as much as the other editorial steps because it’s sometimes performed with developmental editing or copyediting.

Copyediting deals with the five c’s—correctness, clarity, concision, consistency, and comprehensiveness—as we know. 😊 It also deals with everything proofreaders take into account.

Proofreading is the last stage in the editorial process. Proofreaders aim to catch and correct any remaining mistakes with grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and formatting.

Both proofreaders and copy editors focus on the finer elements in a document and ensure the writing follows the proper style guide (e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style).

However, copyediting has a broader scope.

I wrote a post about copyediting vs. proofreading if you’d like an in-depth comparison of these two editorial steps.

What’s the Difference between Copywriting and Content Writing?

Many people wonder how copywriting is different from content writing. With writing in the name, they can’t be too dissimilar, right?

The main difference between the two is their primary goal.

The overriding objective of copywriting is to engage and persuade.

And the principal purpose of content writing is to educate or entertain.

Copywriting wants someone to act; content writing wants someone to learn.

Another difference is that copywriting usually involves short-form content, while content writing leans toward long-form content.

However, as you may suspect, these two forms of writing overlap.

For example, copywriting also educates and entertains. It’s meant to inform readers about products or services so they understand the benefits obtained from buying them. It also needs to be entertaining to keep people’s attention.

And content writing is meant to be engaging; however, it generally isn’t persuasive.

How Do Copywriting and Proofreading Differ?

Copywriting involves crafting persuasive and gripping prose, usually designed to encourage readers to take a particular action (e.g., buy something, subscribe, donate). Proofreading entails correcting a text for mistakes to make it more polished and professional.

The main difference between copywriting and proofreading is that copywriting is writing copy, whereas proofreading is correcting it.

Furthermore, copywriting is a bit more nuanced and subjective than proofreading.

Here’s a quote from Goodreads that will give you a better understanding of a copywriter’s goals as they craft content:

“The 4 E’s of Copywriting. Engaging: Is the content compelling and of interest to the reader? Educational: Is the content teaching the reader something relevant to your product or service? Entertaining: Would the reader enjoy reading your content? Emotional: Would your content stir up emotions inside your reader?”
– Raymond Fong, author of Growth Hacking

Proofreading is relatively straightforward.

Proofreaders find and fix punctuation, spelling, grammar, capitalization, and formatting errors. They also look for omitted, repeated, and misused words.

Finally, like copy editors, proofreaders ensure their corrections conform to the right style guide.

If you’d like to learn more about how these topics differ, please read my article about proofreading vs. copywriting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does copyediting pay well?

Whether copyediting pays well is subjective. Let’s look at a rates chart published by the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). Please note that these rates are not suggestions from the EFA; they are based on data from a survey given to EFA members.

2024 Median Copyediting Rates from the EFA

Type of Text	Per Word	Per Hour	Per Page	Pages/ Hr
Academic, humanities (student)	3.0¢–5.0¢	$40.00–$50.00	$7.50–$12.50	4.0–8.0
Academic, humanities (faculty, publication)	3.5¢–5.0¢	$45.00–$60.00	$8.75–$12.50	4.0–8.0
Academic, STEM (student)	3.6¢–5.5¢	$45.00–$60.00	$8.88–$13.75	4.0–7.3
Academic, STEM (faculty, publication)	3.8¢–6.0¢	$50.00–$60.00	$9.50–$15.00	4.0–7.0
Academic, other	3.5¢–5.0¢	$50.00–$60.00	$8.75–$12.50	4.0–8.0
Business/ marketing	3.0¢–5.0¢	$50.00–$60.00	$7.50–$12.50	5.0–10.0
Fiction	2.0¢–3.0¢	$40.00–$50.00	$5.00–$7.50	5.0–10.0
Graphic novels	3.0¢–3.5¢	$38.00–$55.00	$7.50–$8.75	9.5–15.0
Legal	4.0¢–14.8¢	$50.00–$65.00	$10.00–$36.88	5.0–7.0
Medical	4.9¢–5.0¢	$50.00–$65.00	$12.33–$12.50	3.0–6.0
Medicolegal	6.0¢–8.0¢	$40.00–$50.00	$15.00–$20.00	5.0–10.0
Memoirs	2.5¢–3.5¢	$45.00–$55.00	$6.25–$8.75	5.0–10.0
Nonfiction	3.0¢–4.0¢	$45.00–$60.00	$7.50–$10.00	5.0–8.0
Technical	4.0¢–6.0¢	$50.00–$60.00	$10.00–$15.00	4.0–7.8
Other	4.0¢–6.0¢	$50.00–$62.50	$10.00–$15.00	5.0–7.0

Source: The EFA

Is copywriting better than proofreading?

Neither copywriting nor proofreading is better than the other. They’re simply two different processes. Concerning pay, copywriters typically earn more than proofreaders.

Whether copywriting or proofreading would be a better job for you depends on your skill set, interests, and financial requirements.

I hope this article has cleared up any confusion and given you new insights into what copyediting and copywriting entail.

Best wishes to you!

“Shine your light and make a positive impact on the world; there is nothing so honorable as helping improve the lives of others.”
– Roy T. Bennett