Services.I offer three distinct services to my clients, which are described below. |
Writing
I’ve been writing professionally since the 1980s, when I began contributing articles on horse racing to the Irish Echo, a New York-based weekly newspaper (www.irishecho.com). Three decades later, I’m still writing for them, covering horse racing, golf and college sports, with the occasional non-sports story. Over the years, I’ve contributed articles on a freelance basis to various news outlets.
Beginning in the early 1990s, I began working for a financial services company and developed marketing materials that discussed their products, along with investment concepts that their customer base could use to make them feel more comfortable in dealing with the sometimes arcane and often intimidating world of personal finance. I continued in that capacity for 16 years.
I’ve also written advertorials, which are basically advertisements that are structured to appear to the casual reader as articles.
My strengths as a writer are that I’m concise and I can present complex topics in a manner that makes them readily understandable to the layman. When composing a feature article on an individual, I can animate aspects of his or her personality so as to give the reader a clearer comprehension of what it is that is worth knowing about the individual.
Please visit the “Samples” page where you can read published items of mine.
Beginning in the early 1990s, I began working for a financial services company and developed marketing materials that discussed their products, along with investment concepts that their customer base could use to make them feel more comfortable in dealing with the sometimes arcane and often intimidating world of personal finance. I continued in that capacity for 16 years.
I’ve also written advertorials, which are basically advertisements that are structured to appear to the casual reader as articles.
My strengths as a writer are that I’m concise and I can present complex topics in a manner that makes them readily understandable to the layman. When composing a feature article on an individual, I can animate aspects of his or her personality so as to give the reader a clearer comprehension of what it is that is worth knowing about the individual.
Please visit the “Samples” page where you can read published items of mine.
Copy editing
Copy editing entails the improvement of already existing text. This includes proofreading plus addressing the creative elements to help attain the desired objectives of the message. This could consist of minor buffing and polishing or a complete rewrite based on your prerogatives. [MORE]
What is the difference between copy editing and proofreading? Proofreading is basically just a cleanup of the text, ridding it of various errors, while copy editing goes a step beyond and usually entails swapping out certain text for alternate words. The attempt is usually to streamline the text, making it more concise and understandable to the reader.
One way to look at the difference between copy editing and proofreading is to contrast it to a car wash. Proofreading is a basic cleanup, like running a car through the car wash in 10 minutes or so. Copy editing is similar to having your car detailed, where the attendants pay scrupulous attention to all facets of the vehicle. The analogy isn't perfect, but may help to get the point across.
What is the difference between copy editing and proofreading? Proofreading is basically just a cleanup of the text, ridding it of various errors, while copy editing goes a step beyond and usually entails swapping out certain text for alternate words. The attempt is usually to streamline the text, making it more concise and understandable to the reader.
One way to look at the difference between copy editing and proofreading is to contrast it to a car wash. Proofreading is a basic cleanup, like running a car through the car wash in 10 minutes or so. Copy editing is similar to having your car detailed, where the attendants pay scrupulous attention to all facets of the vehicle. The analogy isn't perfect, but may help to get the point across.
Proofreading
There are only 24 hours in a day.
How many are you going to spend poring over text, ferreting out typos?
After you've reviewed the umpteenth draft, will you really be able to step back and see the trees (or typos, if you will) for the forest?
That's when it's time to call in a fresh set of eyes.
That's when it's time to call John Manley.
I've proofread for over 30 years, primarily serving law firms, but also sundry other entities that are reliant on the written word.
I'm available to work both onsite at your premises and via remote transmission.
Overnight and weekend service is available.
I have familiarity with the Associated Press Style Guide, the Chicago Manual of Style and the Legal Blue Book.
No job is too big (not yet, at least) or too small.
I can provide a hardcopy markup that can be scanned or faxed to you (if I'm working remotely) or I can incorporate changes into a document that you provide me with. I'm capable in Word, PowerPoint and Excel, although I don't hold myself out as an expert technician in these realms.
Listed below are descriptions of the various proofreading services I can perform on your behalf.
Cold read -- I read the document (or designated passages) for any anomalies that catch my eye. These basically include, but are not limited to, incorrect grammar, spelling errors and inconsistencies. If there is a table of contents, I'll check to make sure the section and page references agree. If there is a glossary or defined terms section, I'll check to make sure the terms appear in alphabetical order.
Word for word -- You provide two versions for me to work with: a "master" copy and a more recent version that is supposed to mimic the master. I then read them side-by-side and indicate to you where discrepancies appear.
Format check -- I eyeball the document you provide me with to ensure a consistent appearance of text and graphical elements. For example, I'll make sure that section headings and indents do not deviate. If you're text begins right justified, but then appears "ragged," I'll point this out to you.
Revisions -- You provide me with a marked up "master" copy and a "clean" copy that is supposed to incorporate the edits from the master copy. I then check the clean copy, indicating any resultant errors.
Slug -- You provide me with different versions of the same document (usually the current version and the immediately preceding version), the content of which is not supposed to vary much, if at all. I then eyeball the two versions by comparing either line breaks or paragraph breaks to determine whether any text was inadvertently dropped.
Redlining/blacklining -- I mark up a hard copy of a document you provide me with, indicating changes in content, such as insertions, deletions and moved text. A feature such as "track changes" in a word processing program has pretty much negated the need for an individual to produce a hand redline or blackline. But there could be instances in which a manually produced redline or blackline is preferable, primarily when you want to compare a document on your system against a document that is not on your system. Note: a redline is generally understood to mean a comparison in which the proofreader fully reads both documents against each other to produce a markup in red ink that indicates where textual differences occur; and a blackline is generally understood to mean a comparison in which the proofreader compares your markup of a previous version of a document against the current version, indicating in black ink where changes occurred.
Miscellaneous -- While not considered proofreading, per se, I can also analyze a document to determine if there are defined terms that are not actually used therein, and determine if there are capitalized terms that have not been defined.
What is not included
Proofreading does not include fact checking. I can do this at your request, but please do not presume that it will automatically be done as part of the job. If you do wish me to fact check, I will need direction from you as to the extent of the research I will need to do on your behalf.
Proofreading is not an opinion on the wisdom imparted in your text. To wit, I am not an attorney nor have I attended law school. Thus, if you forward me a legal document for proofreading, I am not qualified to provide an opinion on your legal acumen. My job is to try to ensure that the document is readable and error-free from the standpoints of grammar, spelling and consistency of presentation.