Services

Please scroll down for business services.

Author services

With 17 years’ experience and competitive rates, I can assist you to perfect the book on which you worked so hard (both fiction and non-fiction).

Although the different types of editing and their definitions are generally agreed on within the editing community, there are slightly different definitions of each type and what it does and does not include, depending on whom you ask. Therefore, you need to specify what type of edit you want and ask what will be addressed during the edit – this will enable me to quote you correctly and ensure that you are not disappointed by receiving the ‘wrong’ type of edit and feedback.

My services include the following.

Proofreading

Proofreading focuses on bad grammar, spelling mistakes, typographical errors, semantic issues and punctuation, etc. Proofreading is best done by someone other than your editor, because a fresh set of eyes is more likely to spot anything that the editor might have missed. A proofreader does not change your sentence structure or make any major suggestions for improvement.

Copy-editing

Copy-editing focuses on bad grammar, spelling mistakes, typographical errors, semantic issues, punctuation, sentence structure, consistency and ensuring that text flows and is readable by adding to, trimming or rewriting. A copy-edit does not include a critique, but I do include brief notes to assist you in future writing or explain why something was changed.

Developmental editing

Some editors see this as the same as a substantive edit; I view them as two different types of edits. In a developmental edit, the manuscript is looked at as a whole. For a developmental edit, I don’t do any major rewriting or restructuring – any major changes required will be pointed out to you so that you can address them. Along with giving the work a copy-edit, I address the following:

That everything makes sense and is logical (and, if not, how the logic issues can be fixed)
That the setting is described well enough (in fiction)
That the story is told well enough (and if not, how it can be improved)
That the writing is structured well (tenses, viewpoints and timeline, etc.)
That the characters are real enough (and, if not, how they could be made more real)
That the character dialogue is realistic and sounds right when read out loud
That the plot makes sense and is entertaining, and that there are no plot holes (and, if necessary, how it could be improved)
That there are no inconsistencies
That your book flows well
Anything else that I feel can be improved

Substantive editing

Substantive editing involves tightening prose and ensuring that everything reads the best it can – similar to a developmental edit, but it can include fact checking (please specify if you want this). If it is needed, I will also do major rewriting or restructuring.

Other author services

I provide a full manuscript critique service or a mini-crit as part of your edit.

I can also assist with manuscript formatting, book covers and other marketing graphics. Please keep in mind that I am not a professional graphic designer/illustrator – I thus use generative AI to create book covers. These images will be copyrighted to you, so you don’t have to worry about someone else using the same images. I can also use free stock images upon request, but this is often more time-consuming, so might cost more. As such, I do not charge you for the images used to create your graphics, only for my time to generate the right image and put together your book cover or promo graphic. Please click here to see some of the book covers and promotional graphics I’ve created.

I also recently started contributing to Dreamstime and have been uploading images for use as stock. Some of these are photographs taken by me and others are AI-generated images. A big part of my focus here is stock images for use as book covers. As an author, I know how impossible it can be to find the right images for your book cover, and in the right shape. As long as you don’t mind generative AI images, I aim to make this easier. I’m also open to requests – if you need a specific image and can’t find one anywhere, I will try to generate it for you. I’m still new as a contributor, so my gallery is pretty small right now, but it’s growing by the week. Check it out here.

Business services

Let me help you write it right with my 17 years of experience!

My services include proofreading and editing of business documents, government documents, website text, marketing material, editorial, company profiles, CVs, blog posts and more. If it’s written in English, I can edit it. I use MS Word’s track changes function, so you can see exactly what was changed. I provide you with a tracked version and a ‘clean’ version in which all of my changes are accepted, but that still contains any comments.

If you hire me

I ask South African clients to please do a direct EFT to my bank for payments, and international clients can choose to do the same (via your bank’s Forex department) or pay via PayPal.

For book edits (and some other services), I ask for a 50% deposit, with the balance of the fee payable upon completion of your edit.