The-Wordsmith

For Authors: the value of editing

Whatever you write about – from dead reckoning to eternal life – can be just as evocative as the quotes above. But to achieve this you need a good editor.

An editor acts as a mirror, reflecting your writing from an external perspective, revealing strengths and weaknesses that you can’t notice alone. Why should you worry about this?

"To write a book without an editor would be total madness. Caroline not only corrects my grammar and punctuation, but she checks the consistency of facts – names, places, people, dates. It would be embarrassing to reveal how many errors she finds, but I don’t think I am alone. We all need a second pair of eyes."

Matthew Woodward, author of The Railway to Heaven

An editor’s skill and experience enables them to adjust the text so that while your message retains your authorial voice, it is powerful and memorable as well.

Editing comes in two flavours:

Structural editing: this is the first of the two processes. The editor looks at the bigger picture, the overall structure of the book; they check its plot, character development and pacing. They ensure that the different parts of the story – in good non-fiction, too, there is always a story – fit together well, and that the beginning and ending are strong and memorable.
In sum, a successful collaboration between you and your structural editor not only transforms your manuscript, but also helps you grow your writing skills.
Copyediting: this is the second process; a good copyeditor ensures that your text is clear, coherent, consistent and correct. Yes, this does mean they will correct errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation and style – but it also means they will check facts, see whether any author bias is unintentionally revealed, and ensure the text is in an appropriate linguistic register for its readers. And finally – an essential but invisible task – they will format the text ready for a design program or conversion into an e-book.

I’ve worked as an editor since the early nineties, and I’ll give you a friendly, helpful and cost-effective service. I have provided copyediting for many years, and I am now providing structural editing too.

To find out more about what my editing service can do for you, get in touch.

PS: Many of the writers I have worked with have – in some cases rather to their surprise – greatly enjoyed the editing process. One of my authors said to her publisher: ‘Caroline and I have had SUCH fun getting the m/s sorted!’

For Publishers

I have worked as an editor since 1995, and my service for publishers is swift, efficient and cost-effective.

For example, Whittles Publishing, a prestigious private house, on their non-fiction trade books.

"We have been working with Caroline for several years and across a broad range of projects and subjects. It is a pleasure to work with her – she is efficient, accurate, knowledgeable, diplomatic and very understanding."

Dr Keith Whittles

Amongst many other projects, I worked on Lloyd’s Register’s magisterial books, 250 Years of Service and Maritime Science and Technology.

"Caroline was a joy to work with on our projects. She immediately answered our cry for help and couldn’t have been more helpful throughout our time of working with her. We found Caroline a fast, accurate and efficient editor."

Barbara Jones

I edit for not only the author, but also the designer; my skilled use of Word's styles means the text slips into InDesign easily and quickly. Happy designer, happy publisher!

To find out more about my services, contact me.

My Credentials

Qualifications

I am an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading – the highest possible grade in the UK body that sets editorial standards: CIEP Directory.

I also hold a degree in linguistics, Latin + Ancient Greek, and astronomy + cosmology. My activities include crewing a Tall Ship, piloting my own microlight, and rewilding my 70-acre holding (Windsworth).

Clients

Whittles Publishing (maritime, engineering, natural history)
Lloyd’s Register
The Maritime Foundation
HarperCollins (educational maths and English)
Lovely Little Books
Helbling Languages
SECTA
ABTT
Many independent authors of fiction and non-fiction, including memoirs, family history and local history

Selected Titles

Here's a selection of the titles I have contributed to. If you’d like your next book to appear here too, contact me about my service.

About Me

Since 1992 I’ve created and contributed to a wide variety of texts, from leaflets and newsletters to weighty multi-author tomes.

Business background: My business background covers the UK and Hong Kong, including PR work for J Walter Thompson, and 10 years running Heritage Travel (classical music festivals, natural history, fine arts and architecture, and fine food and wine). And:

Car driving: I became a member of the IAM. Abroad, drives etched on my memory include (1) nipping over the pass from La Paz and down the Camino de La Muerte for lunch in the steamy heat of the rainforest in a beat-up rented Beetle; and (2) penetrating the fastnesses of the Zhongyang Range in Taiwan in ... a beat-up rented Beetle.
Scuba diving: I’ve dived the Channel, the Med and the Red Sea.
Winter sports: I’ve spent winters abroad skiing in Switzerland and France, and have visited the Canadian Rockies, riding a snowmobile and helping train a dogsled team.
Aviation: I hold a PPL, with IMC and Night ratings. I have flown a helicopter, and gone gliding and hot-air ballooning. I stopped flying my Thruster microlight after its two-stroke engine seized on overshoot. Then I had a go at hang-gliding, but stopped that too before I bent myself as well as the wing ...
Martial arts: Judo, ki-aikido, t’ai chi.
Sailing:
- constructing an 11-foot dinghy in my early teens, and successfully sailing it
- restoring and sailing a 25-foot two-mast, gaff-rigged double-ender with leeboards
- yachting – Solent Points, Cowes Week and Kiel Week racing and cruising, DoT Yachtmaster, Short-range Radio Operator
- Tall Ship – crewing the STA’s Prince William in the Azores.
Opera and ballet: for several years I went to Covent Garden once or twice a week. I’ve also been to many performances at Bayreuth, Salzburg, Glyndebourne and so on.
More arts: For several years I was the Discovery Days organiser for my Arts Society branch.
Family: I’m mum to four young adults scattered across the globe. My father, an army officer, was a renowned salmon fisherman – and, an excellent shot, was in demand at shooting parties; I would sometimes join him in Scotland, or at his fishing lodge in Iceland.
Weird and wonderful: I enquire into healing, dowsing, the esoteric arts.
Travel: For nearly 10 years I explored Europe, Asia and Africa to set up tours featuring art and architecture, wildlife, gastronomy, and classical music festivals. Earlier, I travelled overland via Afghanistan to India and Nepal, skirting the Vietnam War to reach Hong Kong, then returned home via Japan and the Trans-Siberian – ending up on a bicycle I’d bought in Copenhagen. Over the years I’ve spent time in well over 50 countries:

I’ve stayed long-term in these places: Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, France, Gozo, Switzerland, Italy, USSR (inc Trans-Siberian), Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and Peru.
In addition I’ve travelled overland in: Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany; Andorra, Spain (inc Mallorca and Canaries), Portugal (inc Madeira and Azores); Yugoslavia, Greece; Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal; Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Macao, China, Taiwan; Canada (inc Trans-Canadian), Colombia, Bolivia and Venezuela.

Carbon footprint: about 5 tonnes per year, less than half the UK average. I normally ride an e-bike to travel up to 7 miles from my house, and occasionally drive a small car. Further afield? Train and ferry. At home, I subscribe to my local organic veg box, I share my house, and in winter a stove keeps the centre of the house warm.
Languages: a conversational knowledge of French and Italian, plus ‘get-by’ knowledge of the languages of several other countries.
Context: I’m lucky enough to part-own half a mile of Cornish coast, and having rewilded the land since the 1980s I expect to leave this stunningly beautiful part of the world in much better heart than I found it.

There are reasons why I’ve listed all these things – first of all I’m quite proud of them, and second if your text has anything to do with any of them, you can expect an extra-special result.

So … tell me how your text is linked to my experience!

Finely crafted words

Looking for a way to polish up your text?