Practice notes

Working with an experienced editorial professional makes sense if you are producing any sort of written text. This free booklet will show you why. Learn what editors and proofreaders do and how they can help you produce clear and consistent communications.

• Use our ‘who does what and when’ chart to find the right person to work with you.
• Apply the tips and proofreading checklist to help check your own writing.

PDF download, 24 pages

Do you need proofreading or copyediting? This fact sheet summarises some of the differences to help you find the right kind of editor to work on your text. Editors may find it a useful resource to pass onto clients.

Advice on how to get started as an editorial professional, why it's important to invest in training and how to choose a course. There’s more to it than being good at spotting typos.

Bestselling author and copywriter Andy Maslen tells you how to make your web copy stand out in a crowded marketplace, how to keep readers on your webpage and how to communicate quality and justify your fees.

Freelance copyeditor and writer Stan Carey explains the importance of reading to professional editors. Stan looks at the benefits of reading broadly, highlights the ‘must-reads’ for editors, and likens reading to a workout for editors.

The CIEP’s honorary president, David Crystal, puts the case for using the services of a professional editor. A good editor, as he makes clear, is not a pedant or a self-styled member of the grammar police, but someone who reads the author’s work carefully, objectively and sympathetically; points out ambiguity and lack of clarity, checks references and cross-references for accuracy and consistency, and ensures that the style follows the stylistic norms of the publisher. Someone, in other words, who can keep the author ‘linguistically and creatively safe’.

Professor Lynne Murphy questions whether a worldwide standard English would help us communicate, or whether there's value in retaining the distinct voices of the many different Englishes across the globe.

Professor Alison Baverstock considers how the publishing industry and the role of the editor might develop in the future. She explores the value of editors both to publishers and the wider society, and argues that the role of the editor will continue to be essential.

Rob Drummond, Reader in Sociolinguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University, looks at his research on language and identity, language diversity and the language of young people and asks what makes swearing so linguistically interesting in form and function.

In this discussion paper, Sarah Grey looks at recent changes around gender and language. She starts with a quick review of how language change works, looks at some specific examples of recent changes, and ends with tools you can put to work in your editing to make sure that you stay up to date with language usage.

In this entertaining and erudite focus paper, Jeremy Butterfield considers what editors should do about the whom vs who debate.

Social scientist and bioethicist Tom Shakespeare looks at the changing terminology around disability. How do we know what's acceptable? Where's the line between sensitivity and political correctness? Can we use generalisations at all?

Books usually adhere to a standard basic structure. This fact sheet looks at the terminology for some of the main features of books and the order in which they appear.

A list of some easily confused words in British English, including some tips for remembering the differences and choosing which word to use. Plus keyboard slips: a paired list of words that look very similar but mean different things.

Numbers used in text are subject to style choices in the same way as words. When editing or proofreading, it’s important to make sure that consistent styles are used that are suited to the material you’re working on. This fact sheet will help you to decide the style treatment for all sorts of numbers, including dates and times, ages, percentages, cross-references and general numbers.

This infographic has some top tips for building good working relationships between client and editor.

This fact sheet summarises some good practice tips on writing queries to authors, gleaned from the CIEP's experienced trainers and mentors.

As an editor, one of the most valuable resources you have access to is the editorial community. Editors are renowned for their willingness to share professional and emotional support, best practice tips, efficiency hacks, favourite macros, and all sorts of other advice and practical suggestions. This fact sheet suggests how you can get more involved.

Zombie rules are ‘laws’ of language that are no longer, or never were, valid. Yet they refuse to die, and so continue to haunt people who work with words. We take a look at some common zombies and why they may be best laid to rest.

This infographic sets out the ideal stages in the publishing workflow, for all sorts of texts from documents to books, and highlights where editors and proofreaders can help.

Writing an effective multiple-choice question (MCQ) is difficult and requires specialist skills. Subject knowledge or teaching experience alone is often not enough to create a question that adequately tests students’ understanding. This fact sheet outlines some of the common problems that writers and editors of MCQs might encounter.

Good communication removes barriers and helps our audience access our messages. CIEP communications director Louise Harnby outlines 12 things every editor and proofreader can do to improve the accessibility of their online content.

Academic clients include academic publishers, packaging companies, academic institutions and independent authors. This fact sheet looks at the general considerations when working in this area, and how to get started.

Language can sometimes perpetuate unconscious biases, stereotypes and unfair assumptions. It’s our professional responsibility to advise the authors we work with if their use of gendered language is problematic and to help them to find inclusive alternatives. This fact sheet summarises some of the main points to look out for and how to sensitively raise issues with your author.

Unlike a business plan, which tends to focus on financial outcomes and growing a client base, a business resilience plan sets out the potential problems you and your business may face and how you will cope with them. It will help you to organise your daily working practices, but can also be given to a trusted colleague or family member who may need to cope in your absence. We should all have one!

Changing a text from one version of English to another or checking that the desired style has been used isn't a straightforward task: there are often subtle differences in spelling, meaning and usage that distinguish the versions of English around the world. This fact sheet is a starter list for some common differences between British and US style.

Even experienced editors can be confused and intimidated by the idea of copyright. This fact sheet clearly outlines the basics, to help editors advise publishers and authors on whether they need to seek permission to reuse copyright works and how to go about it.

Scope creep happens when a project’s workload expands beyond what was originally agreed between the client and the editor or proofreader. This fact sheet will help you learn strategies for identifying and dealing with scope creep to avoid negative consequences for you, your client or the project.

This fact sheet looks at how to edit or proofread music, whether it’s a short excerpt of a few bars or a whole piece of sheet music. It includes a checklist of aspects to consider and a marked-up example with explanation.

When editing dialogue in fiction, what should you look out for and how far should you go in making or suggesting improvements? This fact sheet answers these questions by looking at three overall aspects of editing dialogue: rules, punctuation and style.

This fact sheet looks at what editorial judgement is, the factors that affect it, how far we should go in different situations, the role of querying, and how to improve our editorial judgement over time, with links to plenty of helpful resources.

This fact sheet is intended to help you think about how doing your job as an editor may impact your emotional wellbeing – and how to cope with that.

Efficient editors use macros in Word to speed up repetitive tasks or carry out several actions at once. This fact sheet will introduce you to macros, step you through creating and running a macro and get you thinking about how they can make your editorial practice more efficient.

This fact sheet gives some useful tips for getting those all-important first clients when you are starting an editorial business.

Experienced editors use a range of tools and techniques to achieve greater efficiency, making their work more financially viable. Here we look at some timesaving tools for working in Word, which is the program professional editors use most often to edit text.

In many of the applications you’ll use in your editorial work, you can use keyboard shortcuts for actions to avoid needing to navigate toolbars and dropdown menus. This fact sheet lists some of the most common shortcuts for PC and Mac.

This fact sheet looks at how to get into medical editing, from the qualifications needed for this specialism, to the type of work you might undertake and where you can find it. It also considers what experience and technical skills you will need, some ethical issues to be aware of, and where to find more information on this rewarding area of editorial work.

If you are running a freelance editorial business, you need to understand what's in contracts you are asked to sign by clients and be able to draw up your own simple agreement where you are setting the terms. Epoq Legal, providers of the CIEP legal helpline, have written this fact sheet to help you understand the various contract provisions and ways to negotiate the best possible outcome.

There are very many books and resources on the English language, but you can't (and shouldn't) buy them all when you're starting out. This sheet highlights some of the essentials and priorities for supporting your editorial practice.

References can be found in academic texts, other non-fiction works and, occasionally, in fiction. This fact sheet is a simplified version of some of the content found in the CIEP’s References course, and looks at referencing systems and styles, what to watch for when editing references, and technology to save you time.

The majority of editing and proofreading is carried out on screen. This fact sheet looks at the most common software used by editors and proofreaders, and provides resources for those who want to extend their skills further.

There are as many different ways of building sustainability into an editorial business as there are editors, but here are some general tips to keep the momentum going through the first few years, and take your business to the next level.

It is good professional practice to plan how your business matters will be dealt with after your death. This fact sheet looks at what to consider when drawing up a succession plan.

In the context of book and journal publishing, a packager is an intermediary company that produces a finished document for the end publisher. They often work with freelance copyeditors and proofreaders, and it can be a way to gain steady work and experience. However, this way of working has its frustrations and issues too. In this fact sheet we look at the pros and cons.

A practical tool for recording your editorial jobs, including hours worked, word counts and fees earned. A more extensive set of recording spreadsheets, which can be used for upgrading your CIEP membership, is available in the Going Solo toolkit.