Technical Writers and Editors
Technical Writing
In addition to strong writing skills, a technical writer should have a technical aptitude and the ability to learn quickly. The writer needs to be comfortable writing from source documents (such as design specifications and marketing requirements) as well as using the software to determine what needs to be documented. Technical writers need to be able to communicate easily with subject matter experts, engineers, end users, and technical support personnel. In addition, technical writers need project management skills, such as scoping a project, writing a documentation plan, and carrying it out within the specified deadline. A good technical writer understands that s/he is the advocate for the end user. So, determining what tasks are needed to enable the user to do a job is the focus of document design. After a design is in place, consistency of terminology and a minimalist approach to the writing help to produce quality documents. Technical writers should be familiar with the industry-standard writing tools, such as FrameMaker, RoboHelp, WebWorks Publisher, Word, PowerPoint, Visio, and Adobe Acrobat. Most writers need to produce their own flow charts and other line drawings. PaintShop Pro, Adobe Illustrator, PowerPoint and Visio are commonly used tools for developing graphics.
Technical Editing
An editor of technical papers should be comfortable with the common terminology and style used by sci/tech publishers. Although knowledge of all terms is not necessary, the editor should be able to assess consistent use of terms and to judge when common jargon of the discipline is appropriate. The editor should be comfortable with mathematical notation, including statistical terminology and the presentation of results in charts and diagrams. The editor should be able to evaluate and make suggestions to the author about presentation of data, processes, and algorithms. The editor must be adept at rewriting or substantially reworking technical material prepared by multiple authors in order to standardize and unify tone and voice. The editor should be comfortable with applying style specifications (e.g., IEEE, ACM) and variations unique to individual journals and symposia identified by the client. When editing a thesis, dissertation, or argumentative paper, the editor must understand the structure and flow of the argument. In addition, the editor must demonstrate the ability to guess or investigate the intention of writers for whom English is not a first language. Finally, although most documents are presented in MS Word, it is valuable to know how to edit documents in LaTeX.
Technical Editing: Theses and Dissertations
The academic editor should be familiar with common ways of structuring a dissertation. For example, the first and last chapters should be readable as a single document; interested readers can delve into the interior chapters for detail. It is important to state the "problem" and the "thesis" clearly. It is also important to clearly state the "solution" offered. Finally (and often overlooked by students), it is important to "validate" the thesis (i.e., show evidence that the solution offered does indeed support the thesis. Evidence might include mathematical theorems, simulations, prototype implementations, or statistical tests, among others.).
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Editors MICHAEL ANDERSON Ghostwriting & Manuscript Development, Book Cover Design, Self-Publishing/Print-On-Demand Consultant Ghostwriting, collaborative writing, and developmental restructuring for the following subject categories:
Deanna spent more than a decade as a magazine editor. She also taught at California State University for a dozen years, has written several children's textbooks, and is an award-winning author of short fiction and poetry. Her many happy clients greatly appreciate her expertise, gentle guidance, and ability to preserve their individual voices and help make their manuscripts shine.
JEN BOUVIER • GHOSTWRITING: Over the past several years I’ve ghostwritten a number of books, ranging from business/marketing to travel to fiction. Specific titles available upon request. • FICTION: Over the past two years I’ve written and sold the first novels in what will be two mystery series, one as J.A. Squires to Echelon Press, and the other as Alicia Stone to Mainly Murder Press. Read about the first book with Echelon, Assignment: Nepal, at www.ireneadlermysteries.com. • MARKETING/BUSINESS COLLATERAL: For going on ten years I’ve been doing all the marketing writing for an email/SEO/social media marketing company, which includes articles, press releases, email content, web content, case studies, white papers, some SEO work, and other business collateral. Based on a case study that I researched and wrote, the company won the Promo Interactive Marketing Award. • VIDEO SCRIPTS: I continue to enjoy writing the scripts for marketing and educational video projects, working with a number of different video companies. Samples are available upon request. • EDUCATIONAL COLLATERAL: I came out of academia and so am comfortable working on educational materials. One of my ongoing clients provides educational materials to corporations; another needs educational collateral for teaching assignments. Literary Contracts: Contracts Not Optional How Long Does it Take to Write a Book? Words and Writing: Fictional Genres
Other projects include editing of:
"Esther coached, edited, commented, and offered constructive suggestions. Her ideas and comments were more helpful than those I received from colleagues. " John R. Schultz, consultant, writer, retired professor "Esther was great! She was very informative and clear as to the reasons for changes she suggested. Very bright and intuitive, it was a pleasure working with her and hope to do so again soon." "I am completely satisfied with her work, and the extra effort she made to understand what I needed. It felt like she was around the corner in regards to how quickly she responded." —Maria Flores (substance abuse counselor) "Esther was very involved and enthusiastic editing my book. It was a pleasure working with her." —Nadzija Gajic-Sikiric (retired surgeon) "I was VERY pleased with the whole experience from start to finish! I will definitely use this service again. The copyediting was very constructive and helpful. It was very easy to ask questions and get in contact with my consultant. Esther turned a stressful situation into a fun one. Thanks again!!!!"
TINA HARDY is a professional copy editor and proofreader who specializes in the editing of scholarly works, specifically academic and student documents. Many of her clients are authors whose first language is not English. She has edited hundreds of academic titles and has been involved with dozens of scholarly journals, primarily in the fields of psychology, scientific measurement, and communication. Tina has been repeatedly recognized for her ability to grasp complex concepts and for expertly balancing between reader comprehension and instruction. She is an expert in Chicago and APA formatting. * Copyediting, line editing, and proofreading (nonfiction) If you are writing a scholarly article, academic essay, thesis, dissertation, or research paper, Tina will ensure that your grammar, spelling, punctuation, tense, and so forth, are 100% correct. She will review your document and ensure total compliance with your style of choice, using her extensive expertise in Chicago or APA style as her guide. She will work to mold your document into the appropriate form, ensuring items such as headings, abbreviations, technical terms, citations, references, and so forth, all conform to the appropriate style. She will work with you to ensure that your word choice and word form flow naturally, so that each sentence builds on the next to advance your argument in a logical, consistent, and cohesive manner, all while keeping your natural voice intact. This will result in a document that is precise, exact, and Recent books Tina has edited include the following:
Testimonials: "You are so skilled at making recommendations, asking questions, and eliciting creativity from us. Your thoroughness and thoughtfulness in editing made our revisions easy and logical. We will ask for you again!" Margarita Calderón, Johns Hopkins University, coauthor (with Liliana Minaya-Rowe) of Preventing Long-Term ELs "Tina Hardy's editing skills are outstanding. Her ability to revise in a way that captures the original intentions of the author is top-notch!" Maria Grant, Director, Secondary Teacher Education Program, California State University, Fullerton, coauthor (with Douglas Fisher) of Reading and Writing in Science: Tools to Develop Disciplinary Literacy "Tina Hardy is a quality professional copy editor with an enormous understanding of the concepts and extraordinary attention to even the smallest details. I would confidently recommend her services to those who want their projects manicured properly. She's on my extremely short list of trusted editors for anything I'm involved with." Stephen Thomas, The Pioneer News "I have worked with many editors. I have written 20 books. This is the best job I've seen to date. You have made what we said clearer with every edit and NEVER compromised the message we want to send. We accept everything you have done gleefully with no changes. Thanks so much. This has been a total pleasure for both of us." Peter Desberg, coauthor (with Jeffrey Miller) of Understanding and Engaging Adolescents SUZANNE MANNESS is an English professor specializing in technical and business writing. She has written and edited technical manuals, informational brochures, business proposals, and grants. She has also written computer user manuals and technical instrumentation directions. Additionally, she has edited many medical textbooks and medical articles on such subjects as heart transplants, pain management, and anesthesiology. She is an expert in all documentation systems such as Chicago Style, Harvard, APA, American Anthropological Association, and MLA. Her specialty is taking complex material and translating that material into a clear, concise, audience-friendly document.
HOLLY MONTY, MA, MAComm, ELS, has been a professional APA and Chicago style editor and writer for 10 years. Since operating as a freelance editor and writer, Ms. Monty, a Microsoft Word and LaTeX expert, has worked on books and articles published by many of the world’s leading publishers, including Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, MIT Press, John Wiley, Springer, Lawrence Erlbaum, Pearson-Prentice Hall, Berg, Macmillan, Berkshire, American Geophysical Union, Praeger, Greenwood, Blackwell, Elsevier, Sage, Begell House, Teacher Ideas Press, Libraries Unlimited, UTH Zürich, RAND Corporation, and other top names in academic and nonfiction publishing. To date, she has edited over 1,500 published journal articles, over 100 nonfiction books, and a wealth of dissertations and theses. An elected member of the board of governors of the Editorial Freelancers Association from 2007 to 2008, Ms. Monty is proud to have worked with a diversity of students and academics from a broad range of our nation's universities. Given her wealth of experience, she is adept at working within the precise terms of your university's thesis/dissertation guidelines or with the publication guidelines of any peer-reviewed journal. NANCY ROSENBAUM is an expert at eliminating extraneous verbiage to bring the important points into clearer focus in works of fiction and non-fiction. As a rewriter, proofreader, editor, fact-checker, and indexer, Nancy works from the reader's perspective to help her authors generate more polished manuscripts, whether they self-publish or pursue commercial representation. Her clients' works have been on subjects as diverse as memoirs, fictional tales, short stories, self-help and new-age topics, diet and personal health care, and wealth management, to career and business management, political treatises, philosophical and social science critiques, business development and marketing optimization, textbooks, historical studies, travel and tourism guides, and finance and economics. Whether her clients need assistance with book proposals, query letters, critiques, or fine-tuning of completed manuscripts, Nancy is ready and able to provide just the right touch to hold the reader's attention. Nancy earned a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Mt. Holyoke College and studied technical documentation and business communications at Northeastern University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Article: What does APA Formatting Include "Nancy went above and beyond heavy editing, putting my 70 page, 15,000 word Capstone in APA compliance. Her ability to understand the material and translate into higher level English is very impressive. The feedback from my professor was ‘exceptional work’ and he turned it back to me with no corrections. Her work was PERFECT. I can’t thank her and the editing network enough. Well done!" - Brian Bowman, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical, Deputy Group Commander, USAF "It has been a pleasure working with Nancy Rosenbaum. Her professionalism is outstanding. She walked me through the every step of the editing process and, was always available. The quality of work was far more superior than I had expected. I intend on using both Nancy and the service again to assist with the final editing of my dissertation project." "Nancy Rosenbaum was very accessible and easy to work with. She was responsive, and most importantly, I’m very happy with the finished result (edited manuscript)." —Steve Todd "I didn't know that services of this caliber existed online!" "She is a master of APA and of the English language!" —Jasey Kolarik, Aurora University "Nancy did an amazing job of making my manuscript much more polished and professional. Her services included rephrasing, tightening text, and proofreading. Nancy was a joy to work with. I highly recommend her services to anyone."
Published nonfiction edited by Marie:
Published fiction edited by Marie:
Marie has edited numerous manuscripts by authors who self-publish, list available on request. Services:
Articles:
I love having Marie as an editor. She truly engages with the work. She finds the inner heart of the piece and works her way out from there. I appreciate that she fields my questions regarding edits openly and promptly. She is more than I could hope for. If it were ethical, I would have her edit this recommendation. -Mike Bahl, fiction writer Marie Valentine has edited three books I have written and we have co-edited several short-run chapbooks. Her keen intellect, critical eye for good writing and ability to process large amounts of complicated text in a short period make her a valuable asset. Marie is impressively well-read and has been tremendous to collaborate with due to the broad range of literature which encompasses the breadth of her interest. I would highly recommend her in the areas of editing, proofreading, writing, analytical critique and inspirational encouragement. -Wes Tank, writer and filmmaker |
Submission Cut and paste the questions and answers into an e-mail: Alternates You may send your initial submission to all addresses to make sure it's received. Required: A sample is required to receive an estimate Along with a sample, the following information is required. Ignore questions that do not apply to your project (e.g., footnotes). (01) Word count of complete project (under "Tools" in MS Word): (02) Put your 100-word (approx) synopsis/description here (or attach): (03) Describe your genre and topic (e.g., nonfiction/self-help, science fiction, horror, romance, mystery, Western, young adult, children, poetry, Christian, creative nonfiction, literary): (04) Deadline date, if any, for return of complete project. (Please be realistic. Remember that professional editors usually have a project in process.): (05) If you have no immediate deadline, when do you want to start the editing process?: (For instance: within 30 days, within 60 days, within 90 days, 4-12 months) (06) Level of editing desired/expected --
(07) Number of charts/tables/pictures (if any): (08) Writing style/format manual (e.g., Chicago Manual, APA, MLA), if applicable: (09) Number of footnotes/references: (10) Do you have a contract with an agent or publisher?: (11) Do you plan to self-publish?: (12) What is your budget for the entire project? (13) Your name: (14) E-mail addresses: (15) Day/evening phone numbers (required -- in case the response to your e-mail bounces or the editors need clarification regarding the scope of service needed, deadline, etc.): (16) City, State, Country (or time zone): (17) The name(s) of the editor(s)/writer(s) you'd like to contact. (18) Do you want the coordinator to reroute your submission if you requested editors/writers who (a) are not available by your deadline date, (b) do not handle the type of material you submitted, and/or (c) do not perform the service(s) you want? (19) How did you learn about our service?: (20) Attach the first 50 pages of your manuscript (include prologue/preface, proposal, query) Notes: No hidden charges To learn more about the rates charged by professional editors, please see: Editorial Freelancers Association It is a mistaken notion that freelance editors work "on spec" (speculation) with no payment to the editor. It is basically asking the editor to work for free. There's no guarantee that a book will see a profit (or even be published). The editors posted here do not work on spec. Note: Questions about price and turnaround times cannot be given over the phone or via chat.
Contact live support if you do not receive a response within three hours (M-F, 9a-7p central). Expect longer response times if you submitted after U.S. business hours or on weekends. Help2012 at Airmail.net You may also leave voice mail for the network coordinator: 469-789-3030. This number is for verification of e-mail submissions only. Please be as complete as possible in representing your project's scope and size so you will receive the most accurate estimate. Disclaimer: Your agreement, whether oral or written, is with your editor or publishing consultant, not with the editing network as a whole or its coordinator. |
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DEANNA H. BRADY is a highly versatile freelance writer and editor with more than two decades of experience. Known as an "editor's editor," she ghostwrites, rewrites, develops, and copyedits a wide range of material, including self-help/how-to books, novels (both literary and genre fiction), creative nonfiction, biographies/memoirs, proposals, cover and query letters, articles, essays, scripts, business communications, and Web content. She has written and edited marketing and advertising copy for Fortune 500 companies and is adept at editing ESL and translated text, as well as scientific/technical material. In addition, she specializes in projects concerning spirituality, ecology, Native American Indian culture, psychology, allopathic and complementary medicine, and health, and she particularly enjoys working with& fantasy, science fiction, historical, romance, adventure, mystery, and young adult literature. 
ESTHER DAVID-ROLANDis a writer and editor whose experience includes writing and editing in technical and non-technical subject areas. She has worked as a journalist, writer, and editor for more than 25 years and brings her many years of experience to each project. As a freelance copyeditor, Esther has worked with major publishers, businesses, and individuals, and has worked extensively with authors whose native language is not English.
MARIE VALENTINE's editorial work ranges from conceptual and developmental brainstorming to copy editing and proofreading, as well as the nitty-gritty of print and Web production. She has worked in acquisitions and production for the renowned new age book publisher Llewellyn Worldwide. She has also served as a news editor and writer, business technology editor, poet and small press publisher of experimental works by contemporary writers. Marie will use her knowledge in literature and nonfiction to clarify your thoughts with minimal alteration, but she is also open to experiments and will adapt easily and quickly to your perceived vision and goals. A flexible editor and proofreader with a light touch, Marie will help your prose shine while keeping your personal style intact.