Hello to all of my readers, and wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2015.

I have been very busy over the last couple of months with work received from students and professionals in Canada and Sweden, as well as working for Equinox Publishing in Sheffield… and moving house. Unfortunately I experienced a painful trapped nerve which stopped me working for a couple of weeks in November (hence my silence during that time!). I have just about caught up with all of the work I had put to one side (the downside of independent freelancing is having no-one to cover me!) and am making a good recovery…plenty of regular tea breaks away from the computer are helping!

I am currently hard at work on writing some guidelines to explain exactly what proofreading is (and is not) to help potential customers decide whether or not the service I offer will be of use. I am also working on a webpage which will show clearly a list of all the services I offer. I have extended my services to include indexing and CV editing (the latter to be announced soon), both of which are offered at set competitive rates. Finally, I am in the process of setting up a PayPal account so those of you who live overseas will have the option of transferring payments without being stung with crazy bank charges.

For new year I am changing my hourly rates slightly to accommodate a need to differentiate between ‘proofreading’ and ‘proofreading with basic editing’. It has become clear that much of the work I receive requires a little more work than a straightforward proofreading offers, and I think it is fair that my prices reflect the extra work I have to take on. My rates are still very competitive and will always include an option of student discount for those registered at university (anywhere in the world).

I am still weighing up the pros and cons of offering set rates for PhD theses and dissertations, and this has taken up a lot of energy in the last few weeks as I have been attempting to establish reasonable and fair rates whilst taking into consideration differing word lengths and quality of writing style and language skill. I am always taking into account that most students are unwaged, but I also have to consider the length of time it can take for me to read an entire thesis and correct it to a high standard. For anyone wishing to have their thesis proofread, I am currently asking for a sample chapter and an overall page count so that I can establish as accurate an estimation as possible.

So, please keep an eye on the website for future announcements and updates to current pages. I think 2015 is going to be a busy year!

Finally, I would like to thank all of my customers, particularly those who have kindly recommended Proof-Ed to colleagues and friends, and all of those who have shared my posts on Facebook and Twitter. I would also like to thank anyone who has visited my website. At the end of the year, WordPress curiously informed me that if all of my visitors (from August through to December) were put into a 6-seater San Franciscan cable car, it would take 22 trips for them all to have a ride. Always good to know.

With all of my best wishes,

Sarah@Proof-Ed