ServicesHow I can help youWhen you’re creating a business document, some marketing content, a book or anything else with writing that matters, it’s important that the writing is clear, consistent and easy for your readers to follow.
|
|
You can’t rely on yourself to check your writing, however good your English is. You’ll be too familiar with it, and you’ll ‘see’ what you expect to see – which might not be what’s actually there! The meaning will be clear to you, because you wrote it. But will it be just as clear to your readers? Will your writing keep them engaged and interested? Will it make you look good?
To get your written material checked reliably, you need a trained professional: someone with a fresh pair of eyes, and a knack for spotting flaws and knowing what to do about them. This is where I can make a difference.
I take a reader-first approach to editing. My first priority is to make things easy for the reader, keeping ‘bumps in the road’ – anything that would confuse or distract the reader – to a minimum. This will also be good for you, as it’ll help you to get your message across smoothly and make a good impression.
Here are the main services I offer. If you’re not sure that any of them is a good match for you, please tell me what you need and I’ll see whether I can help you.
To get your written material checked reliably, you need a trained professional: someone with a fresh pair of eyes, and a knack for spotting flaws and knowing what to do about them. This is where I can make a difference.
I take a reader-first approach to editing. My first priority is to make things easy for the reader, keeping ‘bumps in the road’ – anything that would confuse or distract the reader – to a minimum. This will also be good for you, as it’ll help you to get your message across smoothly and make a good impression.
Here are the main services I offer. If you’re not sure that any of them is a good match for you, please tell me what you need and I’ll see whether I can help you.
As well as business clients and publishers, I can help other types of customers – for example, public-sector and non-governmental organisations, researchers, independent authors and bloggers. (Students, please note: I don’t normally work on student papers.)
Subjects
I can work with most subjects, but these are my main areas of knowledge:
- Technology and its use in business (much of my editing work has been on material about project management, system development, service management and related subjects)
- Sport and its history, particularly football and cricket
- Music: rock, pop and related genres
Can’t AI do that?
|
You may be wondering whether AI could do all of this for you. You wouldn’t be alone in thinking that way.
It’s true that AI can help to tidy up spelling, grammar and punctuation. It might even help to improve your phrasing. A human editor or proofreader can do so much more than that, though, and is more reliable in many ways. AI tools can’t distinguish between correct and incorrect information. Some of the ‘facts’ that are fed into them have themselves been generated by AI, so it can end up repeating its own mistakes. AI has no moral compass, and no understanding of sensitivity. It can’t handle nuances of meaning, or understand how words and expressions can be interpreted differently in different contexts. It just might be a good idea to use generative AI at some stage when creating your written material, but it can only be effective if human expertise is involved. Everything needs to be checked by a human professional in the end. |
‘Graham is exceptionally good at what he does, and the standard of his copy-editing services is outstanding and beyond my expectations; he is professional, reliable and an extremely efficient editor. He takes charge of the project and manages the whole process from start to finish, interacting well with both publisher and author, ensuring every aspect of the copy-editing process is well sewn together and delivered to the typesetter in a well-structured way.’ Tracey Dobby, Publishing Director, Eclipse Publishing & Media |
What I don’t do
In case of any doubt, here are some things that aren’t normally included in my work:
Please note: I do not use AI tools in my editing and proofreading work.
- Writing or full-scale rewriting
- Comprehensive fact-checking (although I will highlight or check anything that I suspect to be wrong, based on my existing knowledge)
Please note: I do not use AI tools in my editing and proofreading work.
Samples
I generally can’t provide samples of my previous work, as this would almost certainly be a breach of copyright and/or client confidentiality. In any case, details of work that I’ve done for other clients might not be a good indicator of what I would do for you, as the work varies so much between different types of content and different clients’ needs.
Instead, I can consider doing a sample edit or proofread of your material, using a small extract from it (possibly for free, if the extract is small enough). This would give you some idea of what to expect, and help us to agree on the kind of service you need. Please feel free to ask me about this.
Instead, I can consider doing a sample edit or proofread of your material, using a small extract from it (possibly for free, if the extract is small enough). This would give you some idea of what to expect, and help us to agree on the kind of service you need. Please feel free to ask me about this.
Protecting your data
I’m well aware of the importance of safeguarding your data, and of the legislation about this. The Data protection page outlines my approach. For website privacy and security issues, I also have a Cookie policy.
▶️Looking for a quote? Please take a look at the Get a quote page.
