Do you need help getting words into shape?
I’m Richard Wynne, a non-fiction editor with a mission to make words work for you, clearly, unambiguously, without errors of language or punctuation, without pedantic constructions, and retaining the writer’s own ‘voice’ where this matters – whether the project be a personal testament, a repair manual, or something in between.
Whether you are with a publishing company or an organisation needing to publish, or you are a self-publisher, I can help you – with books, journals, reports, and technical publications. And if you wish I can handle further stages of your project’s workflow.
I’m well-read, curious, discerning, resourceful, pragmatic, software-savvy, and a programmer. I like a textual or technical challenge: I smooth out the minor blemishes in otherwise-good writing; I massage disjointed accounts into smooth narratives; I prune dense thickets of barely functional verbiage into plain language; I transform unruly heaps of disparate raw material into polished publications. My work has served psychiatrists, software engineers, and sailors, along with non-specialist readers.
Since 2009 I’ve singlehandedly edited, designed, and published scores of trade books under my own niche imprint. They have a good reputation worldwide for their content, appearance, and production values; visit Lodestar Books to see my current list. They happen to be nautical books, but their textual and visual requirements are universal. I’d welcome the opportunity to bring their sympathetic high quality, and attention to detail, to your subject matter.
I’m a Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, and based in London.
Let me make your words as effective as they can be. I’m ever conscious that it’s your text and tone, and your target readership, that matter – not my own opinions or tastes. Maybe all your material requires is a light going-over for grammar and punctuation; often a little more intervention will better serve the reader; I can provide help at a structural level if you need it.
If you have a house style for spelling, punctuation, and language usage I can conform to it. If you don’t I can create a style sheet based on analysis of your text, to ensure stylistic consistency within it, and any later companion publications. If your book or document has citations and references, or a bibliography, I can format them – and check their accuracy – if required.
On a technical level I edit using Microsoft Word with tracked changes, for full traceability of the work. If (quite likely) you’re not the author, I can communicate directly with them if that’s what you’d prefer.
For a structured work I can conform to your needs for the indication of text styles to the typesetter; loosely, these might be coded, like <h1>This or <h1>This</h1>, styled, like This, or even both, like <h1>This</h1>. I can match the codes, or Word style names, to suit your layout software, so your edited text gets formatted automatically on importing.
Your project may be a busy mix of text and graphics; if so I could help you with a final text edit and copyfit in your own page layout using Adobe InDesign; this could save you a great deal of time and inconvenience.
Here are some of my more heavily illustrated books. They were created using Adobe InDesign; click an image for a sample PDF.
Autobiography of a renowned sailor and boat designer; 216mm square, robust sewn softcover with flaps, matt laminated; 288 pages in 12 x 24-page signatures: 11 printed mono, plus one in colour with its sheets wrapped around every odd-numbered signature, giving a colour leaf after every 24 pages; early mono photos on the colour sheets rendered in sepia tone for added richness and to suit their era.
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Manual for building traditional clinker dinghies; 216mm square, 192 pages, robust sewn softcover with flaps, matt laminated; hundreds of photos, the instructional ones numbered for easy reference in a teaching environment; central gutter wide enough for a spiral-bound workshop edition, made by guillotining off the spine and applying clear acetate covers to front and back.
At the other end of the spectrum from commercial books, I have copyedited and reference-checked a number of lengthy College Reports, and shorter Position Statements, for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, for example:
Substance misuse in detainees in police custody – guidelines on clinical management
Mental health services for adults with mild intellectual disability
Services for people diagnosable with personality disorder
The psychiatric management of autism in adults
Mental health of higher education students
Self-harm and suicide in adults
Frailty
The published versions may be found online at RCPsych; the individual URLs may change — search there for College Reports.
Some comments from the client:
Impressive editing by Richard Wynne – my thanks…
…the author asked me to pass on his thanks for the excellent editing you undertook…
…really appreciate all you have managed to do in tidying it up…
…we are very happy…
The world of words does not stand still, and I continually add to and improve my knowledge and ability. I have taken these classroom and remote courses by the Publishing Training Centre and the CIEP:
Introduction to Editorial Skills (PTC)
Progress in Editorial Skills (PTC)
Editing with MS Word (CIEP)
Copy-editing 2: Headway (CIEP)
with more planned
* Continued Professional Development
How it works
It makes no sense for me to quote rates because the nature of every job is different. Wherever possible I will quote an overall price for the work you need doing, based on an assessment of the original text and any other source material, and the type of output you require.
Get in touch
If you think I may be able to help with your project, do get in touch using the form below. I won’t use your email address for any other purpose than to respond to you. If you prefer, email me directly: richard at lodestareditorial dot com – once you’ve fixed up that address!