5 Reasons why you may need a good copy editor:
- You’re too smart for your own good
No, I’m not trying to flatter you. Certain people leading certain fields would benefit from commissioning an impartial editor. And not just for grammar and typos. In my experience, the geniuses in technology, medicine, science and finance can be so caught up in their concepts, and so brainy, only they understand what they’ve written.
Or, they assume that everyone knows a particular theory or concept.
So, to prevent them from writing above their audience’s heads, or getting lost in jargon, they bring me in. I play the role of the slightly above-average reader, and I then edit accordingly. After all, even other equally geeky, brilliant readers like you want their white papers to be interesting and concise.
- English as a Second Language (ESL) revisions
Many of my clients speak English nearly as well as a native. However, when they need to write a white paper, a report, or a book, they lose their conversational tone. They get tripped up by American idioms and common phrases. (Real example: You can bet on it vs. You can gamble on it.)
In addition to classic copy editing, I do a few ESL passes to make sure everything sounds as if it was written for a native audience.