FAQs and the Editorial Cuppa

 Answering questions you may have about editing and proofreading and my service

Check out the Editorial Cuppa on YouTube

What questions are covered on the Editorial Cuppa?

So far I've talked about topics including:


Do drop me a line if you have a question you'd like me answer on the Editorial Cuppa.

What is a serial comma?

It's sometimes known as an Oxford or Harvard comma. 

It's the presence of a comma before 'and' or 'or' in a list of three or more items.

If you have a preference (whether or not to use serial commas), I'll look for consistency with your preference.


If not, I'll run a diagnostic macro to see what you usually use. Then I'll suggest standardising to that.

What is a diagnostic macro?

It's a little computer programme in Word that I use to give me an early view on stuff I should look out for in your book.

For instance, do you have a mixture of curly and straight quotation marks? It's an easy change to make and I like to tick it off my checklist early.

This is one of Paul Beverley's excellent macros, that I know a lot of colleagues use.


Thank you, Paul!

Why does it matter if quotation marks are curly or straight?

Published books tend to use curly (or 'smart') quotation marks. They're easier to read and won't distract the reader from the flow of the words.

Straight quotation marks can creep in when you copy and paste text from one source to another. 

I'll double-check for straight quotation marks as part of an edit. I'll also look at whether your curly quotation marks are facing in the appropriate direction.


Consistency is key and helps your designer/typesetter when they receive your manuscript.

What is a style sheet?

A style sheet is a summary document that details editorial decisions and is used to review consistency. 


For example, do you prefer to use IS or IZ spellings (organise or organize), and do you prefer sentence case or title case for your headings?


I always build a style sheet as part of my editing process (whether copyediting or proof-editing).


I start with a conversation about your preferences.

Which style guides do you use?

Style guides tend to be large tomes that go into great detail on grammar, the use of words and punctuation.

These include the Chicago Manual of Style and New Hart's Rules. 

If you have a preference, I'll work with that.


If not then we'll agree on one together.


It's very useful to have a guide to fall back on if a tricky editing question comes up.

What dictionary should I use?

We're all so used to picking up 'the' dictionary, that we often don't think about which one we choose.

From an editing point of view, it can make a small and important difference to consistency (for instance, hyphenation). 

I like the Oxford English Dictionary for British English and Merriam-Webster for American English.


If you have a preference – tell me and I'll use that. I've had clients use the Collins English Dictionary and the Cambridge English DIctionary.

How do you deal with hyphenation?

I'll look at your preferred dictionary. Some words may be given as two separate words or  one whole word rather than being hyphenated.

Hyphenation tends to change over time and as the word is used.

Hyphenation can be a tricky question – that's why I'll start with your preferred dictionary.


If the particular hyphen question comes up more than once, I'll check relevant editing resources, and, once I have that information, I'll double-check your preference.

Do you offer book reviews?

I feel that there's conflict of interest if I were to share a review about a book I've worked on. 

I'm keen to share my excitement about your book and I'll post about its publication on social media.

How does your editing process work?

Authors are keen to understand how I edit, and I've written this blog to help explain my process.


What does proofreading involve?

People often have different ideas about what proofreading means, and I've written this blog to help explain my process.

How do you price a job?

All quotes are bespoke and vary from project to project.

As the projects themselves vary, I believe bespoke prices are the fairest way for me to quote for a piece of work.

See pricing
After discussion with you, I will typically quote for a fixed piece of work using a flat fee.

How do I get a quote?

I'll need the following details in order to provide a quote:

  • a brief summary of the work, including type of document (for example, book or annual report) and format (Word or PDF)
  • the timescale (when you will send the document to me and when you need it returned to you)
  • the word count
  • a sample of the text.
Please note that, if you choose to work with me and accept my quote, I will work on the basis that you accept my terms and conditions.
Download my terms and conditions

Do you edit/proofread websites?

Yes, I can support you. Let's discuss how you'd like this done, for example, copy your content into Word or PDF.

I can check links as well if you need that.


Do you accept payments in cryptocurrency?



Unfortunately not.

I have investigated this, and, for me, it's not feasible for tax purposes.

How will you manage data retention?

I take your data very seriously; please see my privacy policy for compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

I ensure that all my work on your project is backed up securely.
 
You own all content delivered to me for the project.

I will retain copies of your content for at least six months after the publication date of the work, unless agreed otherwise in writing.