Hello and Welcome!
What I do
I offer a full copy-editing and/or proofreading service for authors looking to create work with a professional look at an affordable price. I specialise in helping Indie-Authors and those who wish to self-publish their work get their words into manuscript form and to help make sure that CVs and Websites reflect the professional image of their owner. In fact, anything you can write I can edit for you.
I do this by working very closely with the author and recognising that copy-editing and proofreading are skills which veer more towards the arts than the sciences and that this type of work is there to enhance and clarify the author's words but not to change the style of the work -unless that's what you're looking for of course!!
I do this by working very closely with the author and recognising that copy-editing and proofreading are skills which veer more towards the arts than the sciences and that this type of work is there to enhance and clarify the author's words but not to change the style of the work -unless that's what you're looking for of course!!
A bit about me
My name is Mel Horrod and it feels like I've been correcting people's grammar and spelling since I was at school. I have the reputation as a bit of a gentle pedant if there is such a thing!
I have a degree in English literature and a background in childcare and teaching English as a foreign language.
I'm currently living with my family in Italy where I still teach English part-time and spend a lot of my free time hanging out with my partner and kids, practising yoga, reading whatever I can lay my hands on in the English language, walking in the mountains and knitting.
I have a degree in English literature and a background in childcare and teaching English as a foreign language.
I'm currently living with my family in Italy where I still teach English part-time and spend a lot of my free time hanging out with my partner and kids, practising yoga, reading whatever I can lay my hands on in the English language, walking in the mountains and knitting.
Copy-Editing or Proofreading?
These two terms are very similar and this is where confusion can often step in. I thought for a long time that what I mostly did for people was proofreading but I now see that what I do a lot of the time is actually the more involved skill of copy-editing. So here is a little explanation for you to make sure you are getting the service you expect.
Copy Editing
Copy editing is the very deep and involved process of taking a text from an author in it's raw state and reading it in a very close and detailed way to find all the grammatical errors and spelling errors; looking at the continuity of a piece (for example, when a character suddenly goes from having black hair to blonde hair halfway through a story) and checking that the layout is and will be as the author and/or publisher will want things. It can often take more than one reading to get all of these things so that the author and the publisher are in agreement with the changes being proposed. One thing I have learnt is that grammar is not always as fixed as you think. Grammar also plays it's own part in how a story is transmitted to the reader and contributes to the overall 'read' of a piece.
I always like to work very closely with writers to take their original words from the raw state up to a professional standard ready in a manuscript to send to you publisher. I will always try to find a way that works best for writers. For example, some writers prefer me to read through, make recommendations on the text and send it back to them to look at the changes and implement those they want for themselves. Others want to have feedback chapter-by-chapter or story-by-story and then want me to implement the changes. For some writers it can be hard to have someone else correct their work. I always try to approach people in an open but sensitive way. I understand that for many writers the work is your precious baby and I only make suggestions. If a writer wants to keep something then it stays.
Proofreading
Proofreading is the final reading of a piece which has been copy-edited and is in it's final publishable form (either a hard copy -for example a brochure or book, or in ebook format) just to check for spelling, grammar and continuity errors. It is obviously in many ways less intense than copy-editing but is still important as a way to pick up those final errors that may have been overlooked in prior edits -there are often quite a few which get missed!
Copy Editing
Copy editing is the very deep and involved process of taking a text from an author in it's raw state and reading it in a very close and detailed way to find all the grammatical errors and spelling errors; looking at the continuity of a piece (for example, when a character suddenly goes from having black hair to blonde hair halfway through a story) and checking that the layout is and will be as the author and/or publisher will want things. It can often take more than one reading to get all of these things so that the author and the publisher are in agreement with the changes being proposed. One thing I have learnt is that grammar is not always as fixed as you think. Grammar also plays it's own part in how a story is transmitted to the reader and contributes to the overall 'read' of a piece.
I always like to work very closely with writers to take their original words from the raw state up to a professional standard ready in a manuscript to send to you publisher. I will always try to find a way that works best for writers. For example, some writers prefer me to read through, make recommendations on the text and send it back to them to look at the changes and implement those they want for themselves. Others want to have feedback chapter-by-chapter or story-by-story and then want me to implement the changes. For some writers it can be hard to have someone else correct their work. I always try to approach people in an open but sensitive way. I understand that for many writers the work is your precious baby and I only make suggestions. If a writer wants to keep something then it stays.
Proofreading
Proofreading is the final reading of a piece which has been copy-edited and is in it's final publishable form (either a hard copy -for example a brochure or book, or in ebook format) just to check for spelling, grammar and continuity errors. It is obviously in many ways less intense than copy-editing but is still important as a way to pick up those final errors that may have been overlooked in prior edits -there are often quite a few which get missed!
© 2011 - Indie-Editing and Mel Horrod
