Annette Rubery: Editorial services

Publish with confidence

UK non-fiction proofreading and copyediting services

I offer editorial services that solve the most common problems faced by writers, editors and publications managers whether they’re working on academic papers, book manuscripts, theatre programmes or online content.

I’m based in Lichfield, Staffordshire, and have been working with words for over 20 years. I particularly enjoy working on non-fiction (British-English) texts in the humanities and social sciences, but I’m happy to consider most topics. I’m also open to discussing budgets and will usually ask for a sample of your work to get an idea of cost and time required.

Qualifications

I have a PhD in English and Comparative Literary Studies from the University of Warwick and many years of experience in editing copy. I began my career in journalism, as an arts editor on a UK national newspaper; for the last decade I have worked in communications and marketing roles in Higher Education.

I am an Entry-level Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) and I train with them regularly.

Thanks so much for this, super thorough and clear and ahead of schedule – really useful and what I hoped for.

Fenner Curtis

Head of Marketing & Box Office, Longborough Festival Opera

‘A poet can survive everything but a misprint.’

Oscar Wilde

My Services

Proofreading:
Hard copy or on-screen PDF mark-up (in Adobe Acrobat). I will correct spelling, punctuation and grammar, highlight formatting errors and ensure that references are consistent. In the case of theses and dissertations, I will highlight sentences or passages that are unclear, but my services do not include editing or re-writing the material.

Copyediting:
Hard copy or on-screen editing in Word using tracked changes. This work involves correcting grammar, spelling and style in a document. You will be able to review my corrections and comments before deciding to accept or reject them.

Sometimes a combination of both services is required; this is known as proof-editing.

Recently completed training

Copyediting 1: Introduction, Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (Mar 2023).
Proofreading 1: Introduction, Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (Aug 2022).

Specialisms

History: particularly early modern England and Ireland.
Art history: 18th century, 20th century (modernism).
Theatre: particularly Restoration and early 18th-century drama (English and Irish), opera, Shakespeare in performance.
Literature: 20th-century British and American literature, Samuel Johnson, William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, biography.

How will I benefit?

Ask for a quote

Get editorial support

Do you need help producing content for a magazine, book or website?

Editing and content production can be daunting, especially when you’re safeguarding the brand of a business or institution. I can help you produce impressive stories that really connect with your readers.

I learnt my trade on the arts desk of daily national newspaper, Metro, and have edited two major publications for UK universities: an online magazine for the University of Warwick (Knowledge Centre) and a print magazine for Aston University (Aston in Touch / Aston for Life). In 2020, the latter won a Silver medal in the CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, which recognises the best work in educational advancement across the world.