About

My journey

A few words on how I reached where I am today.

Frustrated schoolteacher

I’m a native English speaker, although I speak and read Afrikaans as well (plus, I read German, New Testament Greek and Classical Hebrew).

In the 1980s and 1990s I taught in schools in South Africa, Namibia and then, finally, the UK.

My last post was at a UK school, where I taught GCSE English and English as a Second Language.

While I love the English language and English poetry, standing before a class of unruly teenagers wasn’t fun.

I felt like a rider daily controlling a feisty horse.

And then all that after-hours work: marking books, lesson preparation, compiling tests . . .

Proofreader

Eventually, I escaped from teaching and got a job as a proofreader for a well-known UK printing/publishing company that mainly published literature to be used in UK churches.

I also wrote some of their Christian literature.

One day they asked me to proofread some material that clashed with the Bible’s clear teaching, which, as a committed Christian, I wasn’t happy to do.

So, they sacked me . . .

Next, self-employment called. 🙂

Copy editor – early days

Although I enjoyed proofreading, copyediting is far more interesting and pays more.

Each book throws up different challenges and I enjoy interacting with a wide array of fascinating authors, many of them famous scholars.

Copyediting of a manuscript or file precedes the proofreading process.

Here I explain copyediting in more detail.

Keen to become a full-time freelance copy editor, I took a recognized course with the prestigious Publishing Training Centre, Book House London.

I passed their copyediting course with distinction. 🙂

Soon I joined the UK Society for Editors and Proofreaders (now known as the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading) and took five of their courses. In 2002 they accepted me as an Advanced Member.

Still copyediting and proofreading in 2024

Although I set up my freelance business in 1997, I’m still copyediting and proofreading today, 27 years and 672 books later.

My clients fall into two broad categories – traditional publishers, and authors wanting either to self-publish or hoping to get a publisher to accept their book for publication.

Whether you’re a publisher or an author, my mission is to give you the best service you’ll find in the proofreading or copyediting world.

> Get a quote for copyediting or proofreading your book, thesis or web article

 Here are just five more of the many testimonials clients have given me.

Why do I have them here?

To show you that when you hire my copyediting or proofreading service, I’ll do an excellent job for you and I’ll be a pleasure to work with.