Publishing services

I offer services in publishing, including proofreading, copyediting, editing, copywriting and content writing, and can do some basic design work as well. I have over 30 years’ experience in the field, with expertise in business and finance, science, the arts and academic writing. I also have experience in working with ESOL clients as well as Americanising and Anglicising text, and ensuring that the article or book complies with the house style of your publisher or journal.

A little background…

I started in publishing many, many years ago. My first real job was in the production department at the Auto Trader in the US, where I was on the team putting together the magazine flats. This was in the days where ‘cut and paste’ literally was that – cutting images and text and sticking them onto cardboard rectangles with wax for the printers. Quark Xpress and Photoshop 1 came in towards the end of my tenure there, software that revolutionised the industry. What was the first thing we scanned? A side of beef. Yeah…

Anyway.

When I moved to the UK, no one was using Apple Macs or Quark, so my skill set seemed useless. After a few months of temp admin jobs, I finally landed a contract position at Glaxo Wellcome (later GSK) as a proofreader in the product packaging department. We proofed documents for doctors and patients as well as medicine packaging. This was a high-stress position, where a tiny mistake could lead to life-threatening situations. Sometimes though, the typos were kinda funny I have to admit. My favourite? ‘Swallow the table whole with water’. Erm. OK.

I then moved onto the production department at the Antiques Trade Gazette. A whole different sector, less life and death, more about very old things, some of which were very expensive. My main duties were proofreading auction adverts, making corrections in Quark, some designing, deputising for the manager, and writing the odd article on the NY sales. On the side, I was working as a music journalist for a small Camden-based rag, going to shows, interviewing bands, basically having a bit of fun for very little money.

Eventually, I decided two things. One was to go freelance and the other was to get a degree in archaeology. I started freelancing in 1996, mainly business and finance proofreading and editing because these were the clients who responded to my letters (yes, actual paper letters sent in the mail). The archaeology degree ended up turning into a PhD in palaeoecology. So I had two careers: freelance publishing services and working as a research scientist on projects that took me to Sicily, Sardinia, Morocco, Qatar and Iraqi Kurdistan. I also worked as a lecturer at Birkbeck, teaching a course on environmental archaeology.

More recently, due to being a single parent and having been afflicted with Long Covid, I have scaled back the fieldwork and palaeoecological work to concentrate on the freelance publishing side of things and writing, including a book. And that’s why I am adding this page now. It is time to advertise my wares as it were.

Rates

My rates vary depending on a number of factors. Is it proofreading or editing or something else? How much time will it take? Best thing is to email me to discuss your project, what you want me to do, and we can take it from there. If you are a publishing house, I am very happy to talk with you about your standard freelance rates.

AI / genAI / slop machines

I do not use AI in my work, whether it’s editing, proofing or writing. Nor in my photography or any other creative endeavour. What you see here is pure, unadulterated me. I also do not work with clients whose output has come out of a slop machine.

If English isn’t your first language, or even if it is but you feel insecure for any reason about your writing, please chat with me first before running anything you’ve written through the theft machine. I have worked with many writers of all skill levels and there are two things that always come through. 1. Their writing is a whole lot better than they think it is. And 2. They have a writer’s voice. That voice is distinctive, That voice is theirs and theirs alone. Running your text through an earth-scorching machine ‘blandises’ your writing. It makes your writing boring and sound the same as everyone else using the garbage machine. I will help you to make your voice shine through your writing. So please email me and let’s chat about how I can help you.