Vicky Haygood

Summary:

• As an enthusiastic lover of books who is highly respectful of the written word, finding mistakes in finished, published material makes me sad. Published works should be completely finished, as close to perfect as possible, but sometimes people skip the vital copyediting and proofreading processes. That’s where I come in! 
• My goal is to help people make their work as polished as possible, so that readers don’t find mistakes and put it down. However, when proofreading or copyediting someone else’s words, my top priority is maintaining the author’s voice. 
• As a freelance proofreader, I expertly schedule projects around time with my family and volunteer work. I also spend a great deal of my (admittedly limited) free time reading other people’s words for fun. It’s one of my favorite things to do, and helping others perfect their own words is something I feel very passionate about. I hate for writers to lose readers because of editing mistakes distracting from the concept. An editor’s job is to turn great concepts into readable content. Even if a writer doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, I have never seen something free of mistakes that didn’t pass across a copyeditor’s or a proofreader’s desk. As far as I know we are all humans, and every human makes mistakes, even if only occasionally. Fresh eyes on a project are essential. 
• I specialize in Chicago Style, the standard of the book publishing industry, but I am also familiar with MLA and AP Style guides. Of course, House Styles are followed closely. 

Experience:

• Proofread outline of book summary for submission
• Copyedited newsletters
• Copyedited various documents for authors
• Copyedited CVs and Resumes for various types of prospective employment
• Copyedited for non-profit organizations
• Copyedited websites and blog posts
• Copyedited school work and work reports
• Edited EFL texts for readability and flow
• Volunteer with Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders

Skills:

• Native US English speaker with experience in UK English
• Successfully edit documents in a variant of styles, specializing in Chicago and AP
• Copyedit for clarity, continuity, and formality within context of the piece
• Explain corrections to clients and tutor them to improve their writing skills
• Correct errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, style, and format
• Utilize feedback to continuously improve proofreading and editing skills
• Develop and implement style guides and continuity for independent authors
• Assist authors to prioritize scheduled tasks and billable content
• Reconcile house styles when materials re-edited for new publication status
• Market specific services to appropriate industries
• Correspond with various clients to maintain scheduled deadlines