Editorial help

If you’re writing anything that’s going to be read by other people, you’re probably going to need editorial help. It’s very difficult to see the stumbling blocks in something you’ve written yourself, and your readers will thank you for clearing their path to understanding.

What sort of editorial help you need will depend on what your text is, what stage it is at, what you intend to do with it and what needs to be done before it’s published.

My free infographic will help you work out what stage of the publishing process you’re at and who can help.

Or read on for more information about Daisy Editorial’s services: copyediting, proofreading, and design and layout.

SHOW ME THE PUBLISHING PROCESS

Who I work with

I work with anyone who uses words in a non-fiction text, but especially:

Small businesses and freelancers

Help with content marketing and business writing

You don’t have the heft of a marketing department behind you, so you need reliable people to work with you on boosting your business content.

I'D LIKE TO DISCUSS MY PROJECT

You want help to produce a believable publication that’s the best you can make it, and to save you from looking like an amateur.
You’re good at what you do, but your marketing attempts are just not getting the results you want. Your messages could do with a refresh.
The potential embarrassment of grammar, spelling and punctuation errors sends shivers down your spine.
You know your idea is a good one but you’re not sure who to trust or where to get the best advice on how to write or publish it.
You’re not sure what editorial help you need but publishing seems daunting and you need a road map.

If you’ve been there, done that, I can help.

Organisations, charities and NGOs

Writing help for your reports, documents and publications

You’re passionate about what you do, so you want to share your message effectively and get people to take action.

LET'S SET UP A MEETING

You need sensible words to communicate your message, ideas or instructions.
You need help to convey something complex, turn legalese to easy legal, jargon-stuffed to plain English or clunk to clarity.
You’re trying to wrestle different people’s contributions into a coherent text, but they all have their own way of saying things.
You’ve spent so long writing and rewriting your text that you can no longer judge whether it’s any good and you’ve stopped seeing the mistakes. You need a fresh pair of eyes.
You’re happy with the words but you don’t have the expertise or time to make your document look its best so you can get it published.

When you need a fresh eye and a dependable output, I can help.

I also work with

indie authors and self-publishing writers
publishers and small presses
businesses and companies
PR, marketing and design agencies
government departments
non-profit organisations and associations
academics and policy bodies
people whose first language is not English

What I work on

I work on any text that’s not fiction, including:

books and ebooks (business books, guidebooks, memoirs, wellbeing, textbooks, local history)
step-by-step manuals, instructions
learning materials
magazines and newsletters
web and blog articles
business documents and annual reports
marketing materials and packaging
government and academic reports
information leaflets, displays and posters

Why not fiction?

Because fiction is a specialism with its own quirks and requirements. If you’re writing a novel, you will get the best out of the editing process by finding a fiction editor who’s experienced in your genre. That’s not me. But you’ll find plenty of good fiction editors (and other sorts) in the CIEP Directory.

Proofreading

People often use the term ‘proofreading’ to mean any kind of editing, but professionally it means a last quality check after your text content has been put into its final format by you or a designer. This is not the time to make major changes or start rewriting. If your document needs such work then it should first be copyedited.

Proofreading includes checking for:

remaining minor errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and consistency
problems with the layout, such as wrong page numbers, misalignments, incorrect heading levels, broken links

Copyediting

Working with you on your draft text to enhance the flow, readability and quality of your writing and get it ready for design and layout or final formatting. The checks and changes at this stage will depend on what shape your text is in, the time available and your budget. I will recommend what is needed once I have seen at least a sample, and we will then agree on the tasks to be undertaken.

Example editing tasks include:

checking for spelling, punctuation and grammar errors
making the text consistent by applying your own house style or agreeing style choices (and I’ll list these in a stylesheet for you to use in future)
making suggestions to improve flow, readability and clarity, to suit a particular readership or to replace jargon
marking any content that’s missing, incomplete or in the wrong order (such as no captions, tables numbered wrongly, missing references in a bibliography)
querying possible factual errors
flagging potential legal or sensitivity issues
marking up the structure of the text so it’s ready for design and layout, such as heading levels, boxed text and features, displayed quotes and image placeholders

Design and layout

Creating a clear and consistent design and layout for your text, book or document so that it looks professional and gets your message across. I will work with you to develop ideas into an overall design. I’ll then lay out your text and provide you with proofs. Once you’ve had everything checked, I’ll send you the final file formats you need to submit for publishing or printing. If you already have your own design spec or template, I can use that to do the layout.

You will get:

sample layouts from which we’ll build a design (unless we’re using yours)
PDF proofs of the layout
final formatted files, such as a print-ready PDF, an ebook, or another appropriate file format (InDesign, Word, PowerPoint or Excel)
copies of the original design files in case you need to make changes in future

Note: I design interior pages and simple document covers. If you’re publishing a book, you will also need to engage a separate cover designer as this is a specialist task.

Print books and ebooks

If you’re an independent author who’s self-publishing, I can help you with a great interior design and formatting the files you need for print and ebook publication. Competition is fierce and readers will soon become disengaged or leave bad reviews if your book does not look good or function well. Ebooks and print have different requirements, and a professional job will help your book sit comfortably alongside traditionally published titles.

You will get:

input to what your book looks like – I don’t use off-the-shelf templates but design just for you
a professional interior layout with a press-quality PDF ready for printing
correctly formatted files ready for submission to Amazon Kindle and other ebook platforms
instructions on how to view and test your ebook
copies of original design files in case you need to make changes in future