Professional writing and editing

Copy editing and proofreading

Copy editing is a must-do before publication. It is a check of grammar, punctuation and readability and will include fact checking where necessary.

Proofreading is a final check for any grammar or punctuation errors that might have slipped through the copy editing process. It is accepted practice to have one person do the copy edit and another do the proofread. For example, if I copy edit your text, I will outsource the proofread to a third party.

I have 15 years of solid copy editing and proofreading experience, from website copy and company profiles, through to tertiary level text books.

Rates for copy editing and proof reading depend on the length of the manuscript or document:

• For more than two A4 pages – R175 per page.
• For fewer than two pages – 50 cents per word.
• Proof reading: R40 per page, or 10 cents per word.

Copywriting

Creating concise and punchy advertising copy for your products. Rates will depend on my involvement with the process, including attending briefing sessions, liaison with the creative and/or marketing teams. Generally, this will be either a rate per hour or a rate per day.

Ghost writing

You have a story you want to tell, but do not have the time to devote to writing multiple drafts. Or doubt your ability to tell it in writing. This might be your biography, or an event in which you played a significant role. In these cases, the story would be written by me for an agreed fee, but would be published under your name with royalties going to you. The fee would be negotiated and would include a series of one-on-one interviews with you and perhaps other people who can add to the background content.

Speech writing

Whether for you or a family member, such as a school child, who needs to give a speech. If necessary, this could include coaching on presentation. Rates are negotiable, and would depend on the urgency, length, topic and number of interviews in order to understand the brief.

Technical writing

I have a broad-based technical knowledge, and spent 30 years in ICT, part of which included writing technical manuals and user manuals. There is a big difference between having the technical skills to carry out a procedure and having the writing skills to describe the procedure. Plus, the content for a user manual differs vastly from the content for a technical manual. This is where I come in. Rates are negotiable.