Proofreading, Editing, Writing

What sort of proofreader and copy-editor would I be if I didn't dabble a little in writing too ... Feel free to browse through my latest journal entries below.

JOURNAL

What will I do to your manuscript?

Posted on 18th April 2019

It depends on two things: what you want me to do and what I think your document needs. Very often work lands in my inbox and the author hasn’t a clue what needs done. I usually get a request for a proofread because that’s the term people are most familiar with. Sometimes a proofread is exactly what needs done – a check that everything’s in order before the print button is pressed, ...

Read more

You're in safe hands

Posted on 15th February 2018

I had a client recently who was the most engaged client I’ve ever had. He had me answer a whole myriad of questions before he took me on to edit his book, he rang me weekly to see where I was with it, what I was doing to it and what my thoughts were about it. It was frustrating on the one hand but on the other it was quite refreshing; I’d never had a client who was so attached to their work. One ...

Read more

Juggling jobs

Posted on 17th January 2018

You may think it’s strange but I couldn’t work on your text all day every day for a sustained period of time– I think I’d go insane, particularly if it’s an intense and laborious piece of work. Variety is the spice of life for me. I’m not saying it’s the same for every editor, in fact I’m sure it’s not, but for me it is. I tend to break my working da...

Read more

EPANI – who are we and what do we do?

Posted on 19th October 2015

I thought I’d write a journal post on EPANI (Editors’ and Proofreaders’ Alliance of Northern Ireland). For those of you who don’t know who we are -- and I’m guessing that’s most of you! -- we’re a group of freelance editorial professionals. Although the group has been going since 2011, it’s only recently that it has taken on a presence on the web. This has allowe...

Read more

The SfEP/SI joint conference, September 2015

Posted on 19th October 2015

York was where it was all happening this year, the University of York to be precise. A good crowd of proofreaders, editors and indexers descended from 5—7 September to hold the SfEP annual conference and the first joint conference with the Society of Indexers. The weekend promised some good sessions as well as a chance to catch up with colleagues who I only get to email and facebook throughout the year...

Read more

A day in the life of a proofreader

Posted on 23rd July 2015

I thought I’d give you an insight into the glamorous (not!) life of a freelance proofreader – or my day-to-day life anyway. My job title might be proofreader, but in reality I’m a jack of all trades … let’s not continue with that figure of speech! Not only do I proofread, but I also have to hold together the business that is ProofreaderNI. In the words of Louise Harnby: ‘Busin...

Read more

Recent Work at ProofreaderNI

Posted on 21st May 2015

Snowed under would be the term I use here – albeit a bit strange to be talking about snow in May! (Rain would be more appropriate L.) It’s studentsville at ProofreaderNI HQ, the time of year when theses and dissertations have to be handed in -- and there’s always a mad panic to get work proofread before a uni deadline. I quite enjoy student work; it’s diverse, with topics ranging fr...

Read more

PORTFOLIO


Let's work together

Please contact me for any other information or a quote.
Phone: 00 44 7979434500
Email: victoria@proofreaderni.com

You can also find me here:

EPANI PTC
  • I have employed Victoria Woodside for several projects over the past year and found her to be an excellent proofreader. She is thorough, eagle-eyed and meticulous. She is also a pleasure to work with - professional yet friendly, efficient and timely. I can't recommend Victoria highly enough...

    Averill Buchanan
    Advanced Professional Member, Society for Editors and Proofreaders

  • I am working with Victoria on two projects and am extremely pleased with her work: one piece of work is fiction and the other is non-fiction. She is able to edit equally well on both even though they are two entirely different genres. She has checked facts, corrected spelling and punctuation and made good suggestions about layout and formatting. The work is all mine but she has somehow made it better. I look forward to working with Victoria in the future.

    Rev. Neil Cutcliffe
    Author

  • Victoria has proof-edited business documents for us on numerous occasions. We are very pleased with the standard of her work and I am sure that her contributions have positively impacted on our business.

    Mark Grain
    Financial Director, Woodside Haulage Group

  • Victoria provided a fast, attentive and very thorough service. It immensely improved my work and focused my attention on various aspects of my writing throughout my dissertation.

    Student
    Anonymous

  • I found Victoria easy to deal with, she has a pleasant and willing manner and always responded to emails/calls/texts promptly. Victoria engaged well with the content of my book and was considerate of the subject matter. Victoria was thorough in her proofreading and demonstrated a high level of attention to detail.

    Victoria offered suggestions but was not forceful with any of them, and was open to my view on her suggestions. I found Victoria to be professional and efficient in her work and I would have no difficulty recommending her to others and I would certainly use her services again in the future.

    Nollaig Mc Sweeney
    Author

  • Victoria has been amazing at helping shape the flow and language of our brochure, from simple mistakes to rewording entire sections.

    This had made a big difference to the standard and quality of our brochure, which we are very grateful for.

    Alex Milne
    Milne Holiday Parks