Editing
You’re publishing a book. Or your course materials.
Perhaps it’s a report. Or a blog post or two.
Or your website. Your marketing materials.
Some HR policies or procedures. Slide decks. Sales scripts. A communications style guide.
Browse the bookshelf below for a few titles from my 450+ project portfolio.
Scroll down to the showcase for a peek behind the scenes of an editing project.
Wherever you’re using words, there’s a business case for getting them professionally edited—because substantive clarity and stylistic consistency aren’t only quality concerns, with implications for your credibility; they’re also accessibility issues.
Editing is among the tools we can use when designing for equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
Inclusive design—and inclusive language—can be sources of competitive advantage.
They’re the EDI of editing: where words can do EDI work.
So, perhaps you don’t have time to invest in auditing—in someone showing you the work you might do. And perhaps consultancy—someone doing the work with you—is a long-term strategy you need to set aside for now…
Perhaps, right now, the pragmatic choice is editing: handing some of the work over to someone you can trust to get it done.
I’m an experienced editor with proven standards of editing excellence and EDI expertise.
Why not let me polish your words and point them towards more inclusive outcomes?
Editing in practice: a showcase
Wondering what my work might look like?
Let me show you—courtesy of a showcase shared with the kind permission of its author, Jackie Schuld, ATR-BC, LPC, REAT.
‘“Autism spectrum disorder” falls short for everyone’ is one of 56 essays that Jackie had gathered—from among those she’d shared on Medium—to publish in book form.
Click into the thumbnail captioned ‘Original file’ to take a look at what Jackie sent me.
Original file
I’ll let Jackie tell you about her experience of working with me:
‘Vanessa’s edits felt like a masterclass in writing. She took the time to explain why she suggested a particular change, and every suggestion made sense.
‘Vanessa respects my writing style, and her editing wasn’t just about typos or grammar… It was about the soul of my writing.
‘It was about communicating in a way that’s kind, compassionate, and empowering.
‘It was about helping me to connect with my reader.’
Click into the thumbnail captioned ‘Edited file’ to take a look at what I sent back to Jackie—edited and redesigned, with accessibility in mind.
Edited file
Jackie—an art therapist with the human-centred, trauma-informed competencies that are at the heart of my approach to editing—was already a good writer.
I showed her only how she could be even more authentically herself.
Click into the thumbnail captioned ‘Final file’ to take a look at the clean, edited version that I delivered to Jackie for publication.
Final file
Jackie Schuld, Life as a Late-Identified Autistic: a collection of essays exploring autism, vol. 1 (2024), is available to buy now from Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
‘I’m struggling to find words to capture how incredible Vanessa’s editing skills are. I learned so much from her. Her edits not only improved my writing, but also expanded my thinking and awareness.
‘I particularly appreciated how her commentary and explanation for her edits provided the insights my autistic brain needs.
‘It was a joy to work with Vanessa and I’ll be recommending her to all of my neurodivergent writer friends… Hell, I wish neurotypical writers would work with her, too! What a beautiful reading world that would be!‘
Jackie Schuld, registered expressive art therapist and author, Life as a Late-Identified Autistic (self-published, 2024)
'Given the fact that my education in English advanced no further than O level, Vanessa faced an uninviting task in copy-editing Friston on Costs. It was twice as long as War and Peace, Vanessa had a deadline to work to that was a twentieth of the time I took to write it, and she had to bring it up to a standard acceptable to major university publisher whilst at the same time preserving the highly technical meaning of the original text.
‘Oh, and she had to make about 75,000 edits to make it gender neutral — and check at least 20,000 footnotes. And all this with an author who repeatedly changed the text.
'Given the above, it is little short of astonishing that she noticed references to obscure delegated legislation being out of date, incorrect or incomplete references to 16th and 17th century authorities, and internal inconsistencies that were separated by hundreds of thousands of words.
'In short, her work was not just excellent, but exceptional. She was Professor Henry Higgins to my Eliza Doolittle.'
Mark Friston, barrister and author, Friston on Costs, 3e (Oxford University Press, 2019)
Let’s figure out how I can help you where your words can do EDI work.
If my editing services look like the sort of thing you need, drop me a line with a few details and I’ll get back to you.