Miss Simone Chiara Van Der Merwe

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Meticulous copy-editor and proofreader with 11 years' experience, focusing on scholarly monographs and journal articles in the social sciences. I am au fait with various referencing styles, both author-date and note-and-bibliography systems, and the conventions of academic and scholarly writing.

Engaging deeply with a text, and on many levels, is what I find most inspiring and stimulating. I enjoy finding the most appropriate solutions to problems – taking into account the complex interplay between content, style and tone, clarity of expression, and time and space limitations – with the needs of the intended audience in mind. I feel a deep sense of responsibility and accountability for every text I work on.

Clarity of thought and clarity of expression are necessary ingredients for a good text. I have a passion for getting to the bottom of a text, for assisting authors to voice their intended message clearly. When editing a text, I suggest improvements to awkward or ambiguous constructions and give advice on style where necessary. I identify areas of vagueness, gaps in logic or implicit assumptions that could affect the reader’s ability to understand the text.

My experience lies mainly with social sciences texts dealing with the Global South, southern Africa and South Africa, in fields such as culture, literature, communication, decolonical studies, politics and more. I have substantial experience with texts written in English by authors who are not first-language English speakers. I also offer developmental editing, copy editing and proofreading of educational materials for primary and secondary level.

Media

Multi-author books, Journals, Books, Educational materials, Research reports, Theses and dissertations.

In-house and Freelance experience

Freelance since 2011.

Clients

John Murray Press, UK

Cambridge University Press, UK

Oxford University Press, UK

Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Press, South Africa

University of South Africa (Unisa) Press

Wits University Press, South Africa

Juta & Co, South Africa

Macmillan Education South Africa

University of Cape Town, South Africa

Subjects

Social sciences, humanities, South African politics (current affairs, history), developing countries, Global South, decoloniality, English literature studies (focus on Africa), English language studies (focus on Africa), linguistics, communication, media studies, current affairs, South Africa, Africa, education (primary, secondary), visual arts, translation studies, Afrikaans, Spanish

Qualifications

BA - English, Spanish

Accredited text editor (English), Professional Editors' Guild, South Africa

Accredited translator (English to Afrikaans, English to Spanish), South African Translators' Institute

testimonials

I have yet to meet another editor and proofreader of Simone's calibre. She is scrupulous about deadlines and meticulous in her work generally, has a mustard-keen sense of style and usage, and communicates clearly and politely with any project stakeholders.

Waldo Grove, journals section, Unisa Press

Exact in her command of language – grammar and style – Simone’s excellent editing combines knowledge with sensitivity to content. She assesses the tone and does not over-edit but hones the text while keeping the voice of the author. She is professional, prompt  and pleasant in her approach.

Jane English, Professor Emeritus, University of Cape Town

Simone is the finest freelance editor who has ever worked for me. In a single year, the Lesotho titles she worked on for me brought in over R20 million for Macmillan Southern Africa. Simone is supremely dedicated, has vast knowledge and editorial expertise and is completely reliable. She has the ability to push authors to the next level. They don't always like the extra work, but they are always blown away by the end result of their books. Simone, I miss working with you.

Jonathan Hoch, former publisher for Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa at Macmillan Southern Africa

I have used Simone Chiara van der Merwe’s editing services for several of my books and research papers, and she has constantly rendered excellent work. Her meticulous attention to detail, intuition for grammatical expression and ability enhance the conceptual clarity of academic writing make her a valuable partner in any research project.  She is a gifted editor and my work has benefited greatly from working with her.

Herman Wasserman, professor of Media Studies and director of the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town

• Editor
• Proofreader