NEED HELP WITH YOUR WRITTEN ENGLISH?

When it comes to writing material for public consumption, you need to make the right impression immediately. Like most people in Britain today, you were probably passed on your English teacher’s lack of confidence at school.

Seventy-eight per cent of consumers are put off by poor websites, according to the Rawnet 2008 Online Conversion Report. While it doesn’t seem to matter among friends, web surfers flit from site to site without asking themselves why; if they are struggling to make sense of your copy, then you are losing out.

As a consumer, any inconsistencies or mistakes in grammar, punctuation or spelling in websites or advertising will nudge my subconscious choice to look at the next idea. The product may be the World’s best, but the message given over is that it is not worth selling properly. Subliminally, we begin to suspect that there is something suspect about the whole operation.

While your business is to mean what you say, mine is to help you say what you mean. Writers (of any material) need to bear in mind that what they are putting down onscreen or on paper has to work instead of all the tonal voice changes, facial and bodily gestures that we use to convey information in person. People tend to forget this, and to write as they speak.

I won’t send you obscure proofreading symbols or coloured squiggles; just your amended text with my suggested changes clearly shown, and any notes to you in capitals. We won’t have to get frustrated with different versions of programs, computer systems  or lack of transferability.

Your readers will get the message, and you should get the amount of business you deserve.

Ever since my first day at school, at the age of five, I have been correcting people’s mistakes in written English (in this case, my teacher’s). I have worked as a professional proofreader in the publishing industry, and I can guarantee a very quick turnaround.

I have proof-read poetry collections for Bristol’s Poetry Can (www.poetrycan.co.uk), helped novelists and a philosopher with their books, proof-read and rewritten a guide to Berlin and various web sites.

How I work

Use the calculator to work out how much to pay me, and send the payment using my bank details at the end of this page. I will send you a receipt as soon as possible. Meanwhile, email your work, stating the number of words and the level you require (copy editing, or just proofreading), together with the level of urgency. I will return it to you electronically (please submit .doc files in Microsoft Word/Office).

You might prefer to meet to go through the sorts of mistakes which are being made repeatedly; see the information on Coaching in the Editing page.

If I proofread your website, you might get a link to it here when I expand this page.

My Rates

I charge competitive rates, which depend on your level of urgency and the simplicity or complexity of the text. They also depend on the length of the document. There is an online calculator at http://www.metacalc.com, and you can pay using my details at the bottom of this page.

Editorial suggestions (to improve the quality and clarity of your text), are included in this price. If you are sure that you want pure proofreading only, reduce the amount you are sending by ten per cent.

I charge £22 per thousand words, and £12 for short jobs (under one thousand words). These rates are for a turnaround time of between twenty-four and thirty hours. If you are waiting longer than our agreed time, the charge is reduced by ten per cent.

It goes to £26 per thousand words if you need it back in under twenty-four hours, and £29 per thousand words for Espresso service (under twelve hours). If you require Espresso Service, you will need to prompt me with a text only (SMS), please, on 0044 (0)7881 838812, and your work will need to be under 12,000 words in length.

For work in which English is a foreign language (EFL) or for technical/ scientific work, I charge £25.00 per 1,000 words (£14 for jobs under 1,000 words) if you want it within 24-30 hours, or £30 if you need it back in under 24 hours. I offer an Espresso service for EFL and technical work, of £33.00 per 1,000 words, for work of under 12,000 words in length.

Translations

I translate from French, German or Spanish into perfect English. I am abroad regularly, using these languages.

I charge £22.00 per thousand words (£14 for translation jobs under 1,000 words) if you want it within 72 hours, and more if you need it back in a hurry. Contact me for details.

Payment

Payments can be made directly to my business account online or by telephone banking (ring your bank and authorise them to pay me). My bank is First Direct, Leeds LS98 1FD (UK), and my sort code is 40 47 80. The last eight digits of my account are 63844641. Payments can go through to my account in around four hours – far quicker and simpler than online payment systems. My name is Lawrence Pettener.

If you are sending money from outside Britain, you can send it to me (Euros only, not Pounds or Dollars) at HSBC (First Direct) Bank, 8-16 Canada Square, London, E14 5HQ, UK, with the following international IBAN code: GB87MIDL40478063844641. You will also be asked for a code known as the BIC, which is: MIDLGB2168C.

There is an online calculator at http://www.metacalc.com/. If you have any queries or to send me your material, please use the box on my Contact page or email me at info@acanofwords.eu.