Services
Editing
What will the editor do?
The days of the ‘blue pencil’ are long gone. Your text is edited on screen in the format you have used to write it, such as Microsoft Word, using the ‘Tracked Changes’ facility. This allows you to see everything the editor has done at a glance so if you do not want to accept any change it is easy for you to reject it. Of course, if you prefer to have paper (‘hard’) copy marked up with amendments, it isn’t a problem – it just isn’t very common now.
The editor will also raise queries, for instance if a sentence or passage is ambiguous, or there seems to be something missing so that the sense is hard to follow, or if something said in one place is apparently contradicted elsewhere. These are common problems. The copy editor is looking at the text with a fresh, objective eye, detecting problems that may not be apparent to those who wrote or commissioned the text, because they are so close to the subject and know what is meant. When you expect to see something, that tends to be what you see – the copy editor sees what is actually there.
Possibly the text is too long but you can’t see how to cut it without removing valuable information. This is a familiar problem that careful editing can solve.
You may have a text written by someone whose first language is not English. They are often very pleased to be able to work with an experienced native-English editor to shape their text so that it reads more naturally than can be the case with non-native writers.
The editor will also look at the structure of the writing – perhaps copy that is near the end would be more useful moved nearer to the beginning, for instance, or there may be too much of a ‘jump’ from one statement to another. Perhaps additional explanation is needed, or there is repetition or over-labouring of a particular point.
Editing can be the start of a dialogue with the author or person who commissioned the writing, working together to sort out problems and ensure that the right message is conveyed in the right way.
All organisations producing publications – whether websites, reports, manuals or whatever – should have a style guide to ensure consistent use of terms and preferred spellings. If you do not have one, we can produce one for you.
Copy editing/proofreading
Do you need copy editing or proofreading?
Both these terms are used a lot. What is the difference?
Copy editing is done as described in ‘What will the editor do?’, straight after text has been written, before it is typeset.
Proofreading is done after typesetting. The purpose is to check that all the copy editor’s changes, as agreed with you, have been made, that the correct heading styles have been imposed, that no errors have crept in during the typesetting process and that the text generally looks good. Any errors missed by the copy editor, or that have crept in when the author was attending to the copy editor’s queries, should be corrected at this stage.
How long will it take?
That will depend on the job – but we understand that deadlines are important and that schedules often need to fit with a variety of personnel and circumstances.
What will it cost?
What is the cost of getting it wrong? The cost of getting it right is modest by comparison. We can supply estimates that are based on what you need.
In-house assistance
Do you already have an in-house publications team?
A substantial organisation that produces a lot of published materials will have a team to deal with this. They may, however, be overloaded at times, so what happens when there is a tight deadline, and no one is available internally? Stressed staff may not be able to give every job the attention it needs, yet a short-term problem does not justify taking on additional personnel.
Illness, maternity leave, a sudden requirement for more work than usual, urgent tasks and tight deadlines can all result in extra pressure, but the need for high quality is not diminished by a lack of people to ensure it. We can help you to get through a difficult patch, working with your in-house team to relieve them of that extra pressure.
Perhaps there is a short-term or ‘one-off’ need for a particular skill – a foreign language, maths checking, specialist technical knowledge. With a range of contacts and suppliers, we can often help to fill these gaps.
Open learning or distance learning materials
Do you need to produce open learning or distance learning materials for staff training?
This is a specialised area in which we have been engaged for many years. Learning independently, without going to workshops or classes, is demanding and yet it is often the only option where learners are spread out around the country or even the planet. For some, English may be a second language, so that clarity becomes even more important than for native English speakers.
Open and distance learners need to be guided carefully through a text. (While distance learners may have some contact with a tutor, perhaps attending occasional workshops, open learners are working completely on their own on supplied learning materials.) They also need to be fully engaged – not simply reading and absorbing facts, but actively undertaking tasks that relate to their work experience, as part of the learning process. Training is not just about gaining knowledge – it is about acquiring skills applicable in the workplace.
Learners need to feel sure that they have mastered each topic before they go on to the next. Text must be written to ensure that they can test themselves and know when they have ‘got it right’.
We can help with the writing, editing and design of open and distance learning materials, particularly in relation to financial and business subjects.
Final presentation
How will you get your message out there – on a website, as a downloadable PDF, as a printed publication?
Once the words are right, presentation becomes crucial. How your text is laid out, on the screen or page, will determine how inviting it looks to the intended reader. Badly designed text can put people off before they have had a chance to read it properly.
If you have your own preferred designers, we can work with them to ensure that the finished text does the job you want. If not, we can provide the services of experienced designers who can make your text look interesting and readable from the first glance. Good design doesn’t shout about itself – it is the almost invisible hand that guides the reader through the text.
If you are producing publications, we can project manage these through all stages of production through to delivery of reports, webpages, corporate blogs, presentations, books, booklets, loose-leaf texts in ring binders - whatever you require.
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