Editing: reams of experience across the disciplines

I’m a seasoned freelance editor with over 20 years’ experience under my belt. 

I’ve served as Senior Editor and Project Editor for a variety of organisations in the public and private sectors: businesses, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, local governments, universities, and academic journals. 

To get an initial sense of how I edit, take a look at this short video. And see below for representative highlights of my experience and a few samples of my work.

Senior Editor (P-4) at the OPCW

From 2002 to 2007 I was Senior Editor at the Technical Secretariat of the Organnisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague. My duties included:

  • Editing under my own revision, or revising, all major official-series documents in English
  • Editing press releases
  • Establishing and revising editorial standards for the Secretariat
  • Providing training to staff as required, on OPCW style and usage as well as on the do’s and don’ts of drafting
  • Providing editorial services during meetings of delegates from OPCW Member States, as requested
  • Providing advice to delegates from Member States on editorial matters

During each Session of the OPCW Executive Council and the Conference of the States Parties, I also worked on the report of the session in the chamber, with the text projected on-screen for delegations, as final report language was being negotiated.

The 2005 Annual Report, one of four such reports I edited, self-revised, and finalised during my tenure at the Organisation, will give an idea of the standards I work to.

Senior Editor and Project Editor, IBM Atlanta and EMEA

From January 1998 to October 1999 I was Senior Editor at IBM’s Knowledge Factory in Atlanta, Georgia. In this role I edited documentation for a range of in-house and client projects, such as courses on SQL; overhauled the Knowledge Factory Style Guide, bringing it into line with the IBM Style Guide; trained staff in Atlanta (and, later, in Paris) on the application of Knowledge Factory style; and drafted and finalised writer’s guides for individual projects as required.

From 1999 to 2002 I served as Senior Editor and Project Editor for IBM EMEA. I edited courseware and documentation for a wide range of projects, both in‑house and for IBM customers, including the following:

  • As Project Editor on a major project for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), I finalised 800 pages of courseware and documentation on WIPONET, a virtual private network developed by IBM for WIPO Member States
  • I provided training to project writers on the do’s and don’ts of drafting as well as on the Knowledge Factory Style Guide
  • In the summer of 2002 I offered training, in French, on the Knowledge Factory method to a team in Paris that was about to start a major project for Électricité de France.

Senior Editor (Editing and Content Management) at the European Space Agency, Noordwijk, the Netherlands

In this short-term freelance role (March to October 2008), I overhauled the Human Resources intranet site for all ESA locations, in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Spain, ensuring consistency in standards across the board, including in terminology and look and feel.
On request, I also wrote and edited articles for ESA’s intranet and Internet sites.

Books I have copy-edited

I have copy-edited four books:

For more details, see Books I have translated or copy-edited.

Academic editing

Kegularly edit academic articles and lectures, including inaugural lectures, and contributions to edited volumes. Examples include:

Editing for non-governmental organisations and foundations

I have considerable experience editing for non-governmental organisations. Examples include:

Style guides and writer's guides

Over the years I have overhauled or created style guides for a number of major organisations. For instance:

  • I created the IBM Knowledge Factory Style Guide for IBM, and trained staff both in Atlanta and Paris on the conventions and on the do’s and don’ts of drafting
  • At management’s request, I wrote a new version of the OPCW Style Guide from scratch
  • For ITS Global at KPMG international, I created from scratch a Guide to Producing Clear, High-Quality Documentation
  • In the context of a project at Philips that edited the text of the company’s new, sleeker intranet at Philips, I was asked to produce this Guide to Gathering Content. (The Project Manager for the migration effort, Claire Dorel-Watson, published this LinkedIn post on the project, which was completed on time and within budget, and even won an award.) 
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TEXTABULOUS IS ALL ABOUT EXCELLENCE IN WRITING, EDITING, AND TRANSLATION.

FOR WRITING, THAT INCLUDES TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION, HELP PROCEDURES, LONG- AND SHORT-FORM MARKETING COPY, AS WELL AS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS, INCLUDING PRESS RELEASES. I EDIT IN EACH OF THE AREAS I WRITE IN, AND ALSO DO ACADEMIC AND LEGAL EDITING. TO SEE HOW I EDIT, AND FOR A FEW THOUGHTS ON WHAT MAKES FOR GOOD EDITING, PLEASE SEE MY SHORT VIDEO ON THE EDITING PAGE. I AM A TRANSLATOR FROM FRENCH TO ENGLISH AND FROM DUTCH TO ENGLISH (SWORN, AND REGISTERED WITH THE DISTRICT COURT IN THE HAGUE). I TRANSLATE REGULARLY FOR THE DUTCH MINISTRY OF HEALTH, WELFARE AND SPORTS/RIVM, ABN AMRO, ING, AND GASUNIE, AMONG OTHERS.

TEXTABULOUS: REGISTERED WITH THE DUTCH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: 588 78 378 VAT ID: NL002410848B80 SWORN TRANSLATOR, NL > eN, REGISTERED WITH THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE HAGUE, NO. 25720

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