My background in writing and editing

 

I studied English as an undergraduate (BA degree), and Slavic Literature and Languages (MA and PhD degrees), and wrote many academic research articles in literature, history and culture, and became familiar with the conventions of academic writing for articles and books, primarily using the Chicago Manual of Style.

After graduating in 2000, I went on to teach Composition and ESL (English as a Second Language) courses at the City Colleges of Chicago until 2005, and I reinforced my knowledge of writing in terms of style, usage, grammar and mechanics.

I have worked for ETS (Educational Testing Service) and Pearson to evaluate student writing at the secondary and college level since 2003, and I have also worked as a freelance translator of Ukrainian and Russian to English.

Recently I became a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association and took several courses in proofreading and editing through EFA. Currently I am enrolled in the UC San Diego Extension Copyediting program and plan to receive my Certificate by the end of 2019.

 

My Rates

 

A flat fee of $30/per hour for proofreading and editing is my rate. I can provide a cost estimate by looking at a sample or the entire article or book that needs to be proofread or edited. For any larger scale projects that will take over 4 hours of work, I will request a down payment and payment in installments as I work on it.

Generally I can offer a few page sample of the type of proofreading and editing work in advance of a project.

 

Format and software programs

 

For texts that are in Word format (on either a Mac or PC) I use Track Changes, and for texts in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat. Suggested changes and corrections can be made in the text or in comments.