How much will you charge me for proofreading?

Understandably I hear this from people enquiring how much I estimate the cost of a proofread will be from me. Unfortunately, some equate freelance with part-time or casual work undertaken, by someone who magically earns their main income elsewhere and can therefore be generous with their time and charge a minimal amount for it. Sadly,… Read More

How to achieve the work–life balance as a freelance

We hear a lot in the media about the health benefits of achieving a good work–life balance, but it is harder to achieve when your home is also your workplace. How do you avoid the stress of not being able to switch off and differentiate work-time from home-time? The following are some strategies that can… Read More

Authors’ quotations on writing: What do writers think of their craft?

I have discussed previously authors’ quotations about each other – sometimes derogatory – but how do they and others regard the craft of writing? Here are a few of the more humorous ones.

Why proofreading should be part of your marketing strategy

You might think that proofreading is an outdated process that belongs to an era before digital content and communications, when everything was printed and proofs were intensely inspected by eagle-eyed proofreaders wielding red pens. That would be a wrong assumption as proofreading is needed now as much as ever before, perhaps even more so with… Read More

Is your business ready for Brexit?

  British Prime Minister Theresa May has just fired the starting gun on the UK’s negotiations to withdraw from the European Union with the serving of notice to leave under Article 50. Whatever your own personal views on the implications for the British economy and its effect on your business, it will be a move… Read More

Quotations on motivation

What is motivation? We all need it in some form to tackle the humdrum of daily life, or to tackle problems and challenges thrown our way. I could say that I need motivation to accept the task of proofreading a 1400-page book on economics or accounting, as I have done in the past. The Oxford… Read More

How to promote your freelance business

You have set up your business – in my case as a freelance proofreader – and need to attract new clients. Maybe you need to attract new clients to an established business that has suffered a drop in trade recently. It is no use just sitting around waiting and expecting the telephone and e-mail enquiries… Read More

Legalese – kicking a bad habit

What is legalese? It is a very specific language written by lawyers that is often verbose and opaque to the lay reader. Perhaps lawyers write in a long-winded manner as it takes longer to read and write – after all time is money and this is reflected in their bill to the client. Also, perpetuating… Read More

Tips for writers: Knowing how to use hyphens and dashes

You might wonder what the difference is between hyphens (-) and dashes/rules (*– en, — em dash/rule) that are to be seen in publications. Well, they have distinct functions in punctuation. The main ones are covered below. Hyphens These are used to join two words together (e.g. ‘mother-in-law’, ‘ill-natured child’), called a hard hyphen to… Read More