Sub-editing

Freelance sub-editing by the day or by the project.

I cut my teeth as a sub-editor at InStyle magazine, before I really knew what a sub-editor was. Some people call it copy-editing. Others still spell it copyediting. Quite a lot of people still scratch their heads and wonder whether sub-editors are necessary, make them all redundant, then print stuff full of mistakes.

After going freelance from InStyle, I sub-edited for Stylist, ELLE, Sunday Times Style, Marks & Spencer, WGSN, LivingEtc and Wallpaper*.

I was chief sub-editor for Marie Claire Runway, ELLE Collections, ELLE Wedding, M&S Food Fresh Market Magazine and Selfridges,
and deputy chief sub-editor for Marks & Spencer.

For publishers, I have also copy-edited both fiction and non-fiction.

Wait: what is sub-editing/copyediting/nitpicking? Sub-editors take the work that’s already there, and run it through the mill. We adjust every word to match the preferred style guide spelling, check facts and figures and that everything matches up (particularly where there are figures and tables peppering the text), flag legal issues, issue comments and queries, add headlines, standfirsts/sells and captions to editorial content, cross-check information, zhuzh copy, compile references and make sure references follow a system correctly (whether that’s Harvard or Chicago), tweak grammar, check spelling, ensure everything makes sense, take in corrections from multiple stakeholders without making a ‘too many cooks’ situation, and generally clean house.

Fill in my contact form to get in touch with what level of sub-editing you need: I’m happy to work shifts, tackle long- and short-form copy, work to track changes in Word or edit directly in InDesign; I can also layout sub, flowing in copy, images, tables and other InDesign tricks.