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Document Editing & Writing

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Looking for a detailed and professional final polish-up, with confidentiality assured?

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All  written text requires editing and/or proofreading by an objective third party for best quality. This is not only true for individual writers, but even more when multiple authors have been involved with the writing (e.g. in annual reports, joint research papers and Cabinet papers).

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As a professional editor of 12+ years' experience, and a professional member of the Institute of Professional Editors, I am in increasing demand by government departments, corporations and not-for-profit organisations. My keen eye for detail and knowledge of Australian Commonwealth Editing standards is much appreciated by my clients, plus my flexibility regarding time frames, especially when urgent projects come in.

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Government clients have included: Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, CSIRO (Qld & Corporate), Arts Qld  and Qld Museum.

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Academic: Churchie Grammar and various university and post-grad students (both Australian and abroad).

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An individual quote will be provided for each project. One of three types of edits can be applied. See below regarding Proofreading, Copy Editing and Comprehensive Micro-Editing.

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If your documents require re-writing or ghostwriting, I am more than happy to oblige! Please contact me to discuss an individual quote.

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  • Annual reports

  • Research papers

  • PhD/Masters (proofreading & copyediting)*

  • Book proposals

  • Educational courses

  • Newsletters

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*Academic editing does not include thesis formatting 

  • Newsletters

  • University assignments

  • Resumes/CVs

  • Book proposals

  • Magazines

WHAT PEOPLE SAY

"Hi Wendy. My predecessor's reviews for your copywriting and proofreading services were glowing in the handover. And your rates are perfect! 

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—  'Jane', Australian Govt agency

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Substantive (structural) editing

Substantive editing is assessing and shaping material to improve its  organisation and content. It is editing to clarify meaning, improve flow and smooth language, ensuring the language use is appropriate to the natural of the material and audience. 

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This is sometimes called structural editing and content editing.

Substantive editing areas addressed :

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  • paragraph length and flow 

  • inappropriate clichés 

  • wordiness, redundancy, poor word choice, irrelevant text

  • passive vs active writing

  • incorrect facts or inconsistent facts

  • tonal shifts and unnatural phrasing

  • structural and developments issues 

  • pacing, ‘bogged down’ or too light

  • message: mixed? appropriately weighted? information and arguments presented clearly and relevant?

  • factual errors and inconsistencies

  • text presentation e.g. tables, bullet points, illustrations, activities, summary or other reader aids to improve message delivery.

  • structure, sequence, flow and logical progression of ideas – sections, chapters and paragraphs

  • readings appropriateness

  • chapter length

  • alignment of book content and style with author’s goals

  • consistency and appropriateness of author’s voice, style and tone

  • general copyright or referencing issues

 

Note: For academic editing, on matters of content, substance and structure , your editor may draw attention to problems but may only offer examples or comments to guide the student.

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You will receive

 

Your editor will do two run-throughs of your electronic version before returning the document to you with all changes shown through tracking. You will also receive one clean copy with no trackchanges.

 

You may then re-submit the document one more time for a check of any new changes you make if you wish.
 

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Cost

$AU

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From 3c / word depending on document length and complexity. An individual quote will be drawn up for each client. 

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If using an hourly rate, the cost is (AUS) $80/hour

(The minimum suggested by the Institute of Professional Editors)

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24-hour rush surcharge 20%

48-hour rush surcharge 10%

COPYEDITING
(plUS LINE EDITING WHEN REQUIRED)

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Copyediing is editing to ensure consistency, accuracy and completeness. It is a word-by-word technical edit  that may include editing language and illustrations to achieve:

 

  • clarity of expression and flow of the text (e.g. removing ambiguity, wordiness and needless repetition, and ensuring clear and logical connections between phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections)

  • correct use of grammar, spelling and punctuation

  • appropriate use of idiom, style and tone

  • appropriate use of technical and specialised terminology, including discipline-specific terms, abbreviations and units of measurement

  • consistency in the presentation of illustrations, diagrams and other display items. 

 

Copyediting is a final opportunity to flag ambiguous or incorrect facts and pick up internal inconsistencies.

 

Applied once a document is relatively sound in content and structure.

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Line editing is an intensive edit working at sentence and paragraph level to bring order, flow, smoothness and consistency to your language. May include ghostwriting or re-writing suggestions.

 

Addresses unclear or ‘clunky’ writing, wordiness, overuse or appropriateness of clichés and metaphors, incorrect facts and redundant text. 

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Line editing will be applied when necessary during the first round of the copyediting process.

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Areas addressed
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COPYEDITING
 

  • spelling and typos

  • punctuation including exclamation and question marks, dialogue marks, hyphenation

  • basic grammar

  • repetition, irrelevance, wordiness

  • typographical errors

  • basic format consistency

    • bullet points

    • use of italics

    • capitalisation

  • headings & subheadings

  • referencing

  • paragraph spacing

  • line and word spacing

  • numerals

  • hyperlinks

  • contents list

  • basic fact checking

  • word choice and terminology, inappropriate cliches

  • basic sentence structure and phrasing

  • tone, style, idiom, voice, point of view

  • paragraph length

  • basic consistency, cohesiveness and completeness

  • check for potential legal liability e.g. copyright or referencing issues

 

LINE EDITING

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  • tone and voice

  • paraphrasing

  • unclear writing

  • wordiness

  • cliches and metaphor use

  • incorrect facts

  • telling vs showing

  • point of view

  • words choice

  • unnatural phrasing

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You will receive

 

Your editor will do two run-throughs of your electronic version before returning the document to you with all changes shown through tracking. You will also receive one clean copy with no trackchanges.

 

You may then re-submit the document one more time for a check of any new changes you make if you wish.
 

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Cost

$AU

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From 3.5c - 4c / word depending on document complexity and level of line editing needed. An individual quote will be drawn up for each client. 

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If using an hourly rate, the cost is (AUS) $80/hour

(The minimum suggested by the Institute of Professional Editors)

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24-hour rush surcharge 20%

48-hour rush surcharge 10%

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proofreading

Proofreading is a precise and detailed polish-up of a final draft, usually after layout,  ensure consistency, accuracy and completement. In this level of editing, we will catch typos and ensure consistency and accuracy in grammar, spelling, punctuation, formatting and design, use of language, style, terminology, numbers, symbols, shortened forms, capitalisation, italics and other mechanic of text.

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A last chance for quality control to ensure your final draft will go to print in the best shape possible. 

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For Government documents I will follow the Commonwealth Style Guide or individual department style sheets.

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Areas addressed

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  • spelling and typos

  • terminology and shortened forms

  • punctuation

    • exclamation and question marks

    • dialogue marks

    • hyphenation

    • dashes

    • commas, colons, semi-colons, full stops

  • basic grammar

  • terminology

  • numbers, symbols and shortened forms

  • repetition

  • typographical errors

  • basic format and layout consistency according to the specified style

  • bullet points

  • headings & subheadings

  • referencing and citations to ensure conformity  to the specified style

  • capitalisation

  • numerals

  • hyperlinks

  • contents list

  • headers & footers

  • page numbers

  • drop caps

  • paragraph spacing and formatting

  • line and word spacing

  • capitalisation

  • illustration and tables placement and style

  • copyright and publishing details

  • attention will be drawn to awkward or unclear writing and any need for further revision for clarity

  • hyperlinks

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You will receive
 

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Your proofreader will do two run-throughs of your electronic version before returning the document to you. You will receive 1 x copy of document showing detailed trackchanged revisions and comments for improvement PLUS ​1 x copy of clean manuscript with no trackchanges if requested

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Cost 

$AU

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2.5 - 3c / word depending on document complexity. An individual quote will be drawn up for each client. 

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If using an hourly rate, the cost is (AUS) $80/hour

(The minimum suggested by the Institute of Professional Editors)

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24-hour rush surcharge 20%

48-hour rush surcharge 10%

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