A professional edit offers so much more than eliminating verbiage, interpreting ambiguous phrases and weeding out superfluous commas. Place a virgin paragraph alongside one that’s been on the receiving end of a professional editor’s touch and you’ll not only taste the difference, but you’ll see it, too. Lola Bailey trained as a proofreader and editor with the College of Media and Publishing and graduated with a distinction. She abides by the code of practice of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders to ensure that all clients receive a highly professional service. She’ll edit your text creatively, but sensitively. If you don’t have a style sheet, she’ll adopt one or create one that’s internally consistent and in line with current best practice, in consultation with you. And, she’ll edit in a way that suits you. Whether you provide her with a Word document, a pdf or a web-bound file, she’ll edit your text in a way that allows you to see the changes made so that you can decide whether to keep those changes or stick to your original text.Write-Up Communications offers proofreading, copyediting and substantive editing. Scroll down to find out more.

RATES

All editing work is charged at £25 per hour.

SPECIALISMS

Clients are, typically, from the following areas of work:

Business and finance
Human resources management
Pharmaceuticals
Medical communications
Academia

WORK

Annual reports
Booklets, brochures and marketing material
Videos and animations
Dissertations
Training manuals
Websites

COPYEDITING

Copyediting will improve the accuracy, clarity and consistency of your text. It does not involve significant rewriting. For that, scroll down to substantive editing.

Language use:

Clarity of expression
Grammar
Punctuation
Spelling
Syntax

Language consistency:

Abbreviations and acronyms
Capitalisation
Language and structural parallelism
Quantitative data
References
Spelling
Terminology

Visual consistency

Figures
Hierarchy of headings
Page layout
Tables and their captions
Typography

Accuracy

Dates
Links
Model numbers
Quotations

References

Accuracy of cross-references, eg between text and figures
Accuracy in textual and bibliographical references
Conformity with copyright laws
Acknowledgments of sources used

SUBSTANTIVE EDITING

Substantive editing will help you get your message across with greater clarity and punch. The focus here is on the structure, language, style and content of your text, ensuring that it is appropriate for its intended readership.
Substantive editing comprises a review of structure, language and style and presentation. Here’s what each component focuses on.

Structural review:

Completeness of information supplied
Need for rearranging, expanding or condensing sections to improve the structure of the text
Effectiveness of navigation aids, for example, headers and links

Language and style:

Appropriateness of lexis and diction
Clarity of language
Effectiveness of sentence structure, syntax and paragraph structure
Appropriateness of weightings given to elements of discussion
Absence of verbiage, triteness, unnecessary repetition and jargon
Consistency of tone and style

Presentation

Effectiveness of text presentation and formatting
Suitability of titles and headings in respect of their contents
Placement and clarity of illustrative material
Correctness and consistency of referencing
Accuracy of cross-references, for example, between a table of contents and the body of the document

Have a project that needs editing?