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Category Archives: Celebration

What I’ve been up to in November

08 Dec

November is traditionally another quieter month, but actually I stayed pretty busy through the month and brought in more income than I did in October.  I had quite a varied month workwise, ending up doing the following …

Proofread some chapters of various PhDs and full Master’s dissertations, as well as a couple of articles which needed their bibliographies put into the format the journals required (which took longer than proofreading the text)

Copyedited a large number of documents for a client’s important project – sometimes working at very short notice and getting up very early in the morning (and getting lots of thanks and a lovely quotation for my references page, I’m happy to report!)

Did a substantive copyedit on a non-fiction/humour book – I really tore it apart, re-ordering sections and deleting chunks. There’s always the temptation to include everything you’ve researched when it’s your own book; I have no such compulsions and will rip it out if it doesn’t fit perfectly! Anyway, the author’s now going through the new version and adding references where needed, before I convert it into Kindle format and we put it up on Amazon.

Re-wrote some web text and letters for a client I “met” on Twitter.

Polished some articles for a client whose first language is French – she writes up articles about HR issues in English and I go over them for her and smooth them out into more natural English – as I do speak French, it’s useful sometimes to know what word she would have used in that language in order to express it correctly in English, so it’s a bit like translating in some respects.

Edited a Terms and Conditions document and wrote an article on overseas procurement for my retail display client.

Edited and proofread the usual Yacht Club and Moseley magazines – very different publications but with surprisingly similar issues in their layout and text!

Coached a postgraduate student who needs to get his PhD written up – we have a weekly arrangement to make sure he keeps going with it and sends me something to look at every week.

Transcribed two journalist interviews, three webinars and a corporate panel discussion – a lot of transcription this month, and a lot of keeping the heater on in my study so my fingers were warm enough to type fast!

Launched the first edition of my new Libro Newsletter; recipients told me they enjoyed it!

Attended a Social Media Cafe, where I chatted to friends old and new …

And last but not least, resigned from my part-time Library job – so I’ll be taking Libro full-time from December 13. I have started a new blog in which I’ll record what it feels like to do this – do pop along and have a read if you haven’t seen it already!

Coming up …

December is usually quiet, but I’ve got some transcribing and editing booked in already, plus I’ll be doing some work on my Iris Murdoch project. Oh, and having a rest. January sees me officially full-time with no other means of support, but I have Jury Service in the first two weeks! I’m adjusting my pricing too, and will be blogging about that in another post.

Libro offers copyediting, copy writing, proofreading, transcription, typing and localisation services to other small businesses, individuals and corporations. Click on the links to find out more!

 
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Posted by on December 8, 2011 in Blogging, Business, Celebration, Copyediting, Jobs, proofreading, Transcription, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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What I’ve been up to in October

02 Nov

October is traditionally a quieter month after the student Master’s dissertation rush of August and September, and I have certainly seen a slight drop-off in workflow, although it’s still kept ticking along. I’ve …

Edited some PhD theses – some ongoing, some in their entirety; some large documents and a PowerPoint presentation for one ongoing client (discovering that, even if you can’t Track Changes, you can stick sticky notes all over the slides); quite a few blog posts for a new ongoing client who is not a native English speaker (picking up a lovely reference along the way); and all sorts of business and academic writing for my translator client.

Edited and proofread my usual American magazine’s quarterly publication and the MoseleyB13 local magazine.

Edited two articles for publication, ensuring they conformed to the journal’s style guide.

Set up a coaching relationship with one PhD student, where we talk via email every week about the new work he’s completed in an effort to get his thesis written up this year.

Transcribed interviews for my journalist client, who’s got some cover stories in women’s magazines as well as the usual music magazine pieces, and a new client who presents teleseminars and interviews on writing and marketing your work (learning a lot as I go along!).

And I also …

Ran my fourth Birmingham Half Marathon, with a personal best time!

Wrote some blog posts on starting your own business, including starting a proofreading business, pre-launched my new Libro Newsletter by telling people about it and inviting them to sign up, and placed some more guest posts.

Attended a Social Media Cafe, where I talked through a business problem with my peers – very useful.  I attended the Kings Heath Business Association AGM and will hopefully be helping out on their committee in the New Year, and I went along to the Entrepreneur meetup and met some more lovely, enthusiastic people with great business ideas.

Phew! I’ve also received the 22nd questionnaire response for my Iris Murdoch research project, and this month/December I will be applying to present a paper on it at the next Iris Murdoch Conference and writing up some results!

Coming up …

The Big Decision is coming up now: when to take Libro full-time. Working part-time while running the business is getting tiring, and where I haven’t had to turn any work away, I have had to turn down a few opportunities for networking and other events which could potentially drive some new business my way. I also want to be able to be more flexible for my clients as to when I can do their work, and have time for my partner and my friends! So … it’s decision time this month!

Libro offers copyediting, copy writing, proofreading, transcription, typing and localisation services to other small businesses, individuals and corporations. Click on the links to find out more!

 
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Posted by on November 2, 2011 in Business, Celebration, Copyediting, Jobs, proofreading, Transcription, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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What I’ve been up to in September

05 Oct

September is another traditionally busy month for Libro, although again, like in August, I’ve had a good range of non-seasonal work as well as the expected deluge of Master’s dissertations. So, what has this proofreader, editor, writer, typist, transcriber and localiser been up to in the past month … ?

Copyedited at least 21 Master’s dissertations and three whole or part PhD theses (including one which was dictated into Dragon software, giving some interesting new issues to look out for!).

Copyedited several texts that have been translated into English from another language by native speakers of the other language, to make sure they flow well and conform to either British or American English standards.

Transcribed tapes for my long-term journalist client (an interview with a writer), and some new clients including a Chinese company who has outsourced transcription of tapes by American career coaches to me, and a company involved with helping writers market themselves.

Edited and written text for websites for a cleaning company and a faith-based charity.

Edited various company policies and tender applications for another long-term client.

Written some articles on retail display shelving for a fairly new regular client who has kindly been Tweeting my praises on Twitter.

Localised online content for the UK market for a football game, an exercise company and a big corporation that I can’t name because I was working for an agency on that one.

Edited and proofread the usual Yacht Club publications.

In non-paid work news, I’ve also …

Written a website (a very simple one in WordPress) for a locally based charitable organisation.

And I also

Attended a Social Media Cafe, where I was told I was an “oracle” who kept connecting people with one another! and went to my first Kings Heath Business Association breakfast.

Phew! I’ve also received the 21st questionnaire response for my Iris Murdoch research project, and I should be back on track applying to present a paper on it at the next Iris Murdoch Conference and writing up some results soon!

Coming up …

More of the same, really … well, fewer dissertations, but I’ve got some PhDs booked in to finish off and then it’s ongoing work with my regulars and hopefully picking up some more bits and pieces. And, of course, planning when and how to take Libro full-time!

Libro offers copyediting, copy writing, proofreading, transcription, typing and localisation services to other small businesses, individuals and corporations. Click on the links to find out more!

 
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Posted by on October 5, 2011 in Business, Celebration, Copyediting, Jobs, proofreading, Transcription, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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What I’ve been up to in August

07 Sep

August is one of Libro’s traditionally busy months, along with September, mainly owing to the looming deadlines for student undergraduate and Master’s dissertations.  But this past month, I have been busy with much more than dissertations, although those have been active too.

Deep breath! Ready … in August I have …

Copyedited 28 dissertations / theses or parts thereof (sometimes people send me them chapter by chapter, with gaps of time in between while they write the next bit).

Copyedited some documents translated into English to make sure the (British or American) English was fluent-sounding and appropriate (another long-term client who’s been concentrating on a project translated out of English over the summer – it’s good to have him back!)

Proofread a few tender applications and company policies for a regular client.

Typed up 2 inverview transcriptions for my ongoing journalist client and one set of interviews for a student’s dissertation.

Polished a freelance training expert’s web text and copyedited several blog posts for her too.  Worked on web text for a retail shelving company.

Written 2 advertorials for my retail shelving company client to be published in September in a trade magazine.  Also written 5 features on local businesses in the Black Country for a local website.

Written up Terms and Conditions for a web designer based on previous Ts & Cs for his other services (to be checked by a lawyer, of course!)

Recorded myself reading a list of English names for a website where you input a name and hear someone from their country saying the name (!).

Localised webtext for a large software company and a dealer brochure for a cult automotive company, both working from American to British English.

In non-paid work news, I’ve also …

Helped  my mentee with his webtext, social media presence and hopefully found him a mentor in his particular line of business and written some explanatory text for a student starting up a new business, that can be used for webtext or a press release.

Helped at a Social Media Cafe and attended Birmingham Entrepreneurs’ Meetup and Social Media Cafe networking events; also attempted co-working at a cafe with no wifi (more on that later when I’ve written up the review!).

Had two guest posts published on other people’s blogs – this is something I love doing (so do ask if you’d like me to write something for your blog!) and hosting (so do ask if you’d like to contribute to this blog!) and published 4 freelancer/businessperson Saturday interview features.

Phew! I’ve also received the 20th questionnaire response for my Iris Murdoch research project, although I’ve given myself study leave for August-September so I can concentrate on Libro busy times rather than trying to write up research at the same time!

Coming up … more of the same really – I’ve already written some marketing materials, worked on some dissertations, started another transcription and localised a newsletter!

Libro offers copyediting, copy writing, proofreading, transcription, typing and localisation services to other small businesses, individuals and corporations. Click on the links to find out more!

 
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Posted by on September 7, 2011 in Business, Celebration, Copyediting, Jobs, proofreading, Transcription, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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What I’ve been up to in July

03 Aug

It’s the beginning of a new month – and Libro was 2 years old on Monday, so Happy Birthday Libro, first of all!  I’m doing better than I could have imagined when I set it all up in August 2009; well, we all know I love my job by now … and I’m building up a good base of regular clients but still with the time to do one-off projects as well.  The variety in my Libro life has increased dramatically; originally I was just offering proofreading and copyediting but now I do writing, transcribing and even good old copy typing for all sorts of people, from academics to journalists, working on websites to novels to advertising materials to … well, anything to do with words!

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to in July …

Well, first of all, I went on holiday! Just a quick week in the Lake District, staying here, which is a hotel I can heartily recommend, especially for those on special diets.  I had a bit of a break from Libro work; I did have a few bits of work in but I took a laptop and managed to get them out of the way in the early mornings (and I didn’t mind being interrupted slightly).  Apart from that it was all very relaxing, but a lot of walking meant I got enough exercise not to get twitchy, and I even took Matthew out in a rowing boat on Lake Windermere!

The rest of the month was nice and busy …

I transcribed two interviews for journalist Jude Rogers (and she kindly tweeted about my services to her followers – social media exposure really helps my business – which I think I’ll blog about soon!)

I carried on coaching my Taiwanese client through the final stages of her Master’s dissertation – not long to go now and I’ll miss working with her.

I did various bits and pieces for my lovely physiotherapist client, Kate, including a final proof-read of her new brochures and e-book and a section on her new colleague for her website.

My American PR company client sent me various projects, including the usual bi-monthly magazine and an advertising leaflet to copyedit and proof.

A previous client came back to me with another medical journal article to work on, with more to come …

And I wrote pieces on local businesses and a downloadable brochure about retail shelving for two clients who came to me through recommendations.

I’ve also been busy networking, attending the Birmingham Entrepreneurs meetup and the Social Media Cafe this month.  I’ve met lots of interesting people through these two regular meetings, and while networking often doesn’t generate direct sales or offers of work (although sometimes it does!), it’s worth remembering that everyone on whom you make an impression is likely to remember you and perhaps recommend you when they hear of someone who needs what you provide. I’ve also ended up with an unofficial mentee; I’ve been helping one of the entrepreneurs with his website, advertising materials and marketing strategies, which is a nice way of giving something back.

As we go into August, the dissertations and theses are starting to build up already (get your booking in now if you’re a student with a dissertation due in August, September or October!) and will join my regular clients’ projects in what are traditionally my busiest months of the year.  I’ve got some time booked off my part-time job towards the end of the month to make sure I’ve got the time to devote to Libro.

I’m concentrating on building up a set of troublesome pair and business-related blog posts so I can just publish as I go through my busy weeks, and there are still opportunities to take part in my Freelancer Chat interviews, which are proving popular with my interviewees and readers alike.

Libro offers copyediting, copy writing, proof-reading, transcription and typing services to other small businesses, individuals and corporations. Click on the links to find out more!

 
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Posted by on August 3, 2011 in Business, Celebration, Copyediting, Jobs, proofreading, Transcription, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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On Why I Love What I Do

27 Jul

I wrote this during graduation week at the University where I still worked part time at the time, and that’s a time of year I have always loved.  The expectation, the joy of the families, the relief that the hard work is over.  And during the past couple of years there’s been the added pleasure of knowing that some of the people whose dissertations and theses I’ve proof-read are among those happy bands of people throwing their hats into the air on the library steps at my University and at various campuses around the country.

It’s not just the students, either.  OK, I also had a lovely email from a client whose English I’ve been helping throughout her Master’s year.  She’s nearly finished her dissertation, it isn’t half bad, her written English has improved hugely as she’s worked hard through the year, and I’m proud of what she’s achieved – and she appreciates the care I’ve put into my work with her.

But I’m also proud of the novelists who get their precious words in print, whether in a “tree book” or electronically.  I enjoy working with people who struggle with their writing, whether English isn’t their first language or they face issues like dyslexia, and bringing their words and meaning to life with them.  And I’m always excited to see my name on an acknowledgements page in a book!  I get a real thrill from opening a favourite magazine and seeing a journalist’s article which they’ve created from the bare bones of an interview I’ve transcribed for them – but I’m also pleased when I help someone with a transcription that is never going to see the light of day anywhere but in a research paper.

I get pleasure from seeing my corporate clients grow their businesses with the help of blogs and press releases I have written.  They are so proud of the work they do, and I love the fact that I can fill in some of the areas in which they might not be so confident.  I don’t think I’ll stop being pleased when I see the words I’ve written filling someone else’s website, helping them climb up the search engine rankings and representing their voice as well as I can – even though there won’t be a credit to me on the website and sometimes I don’t even tell anyone I’ve written it!

I also love helping other entrepreneurs and organisations, both formally through helping out at the Social Media Surgeries and more informally at Entrepreneurs’ meetings in coffee shops and the Social Media Cafe every month.  It’s great meeting other people with such enthusiasm and drive, and wonderful to share ideas, tips and hints, in a spirit of collaboration rather than competition.  As part of that, I’m really enjoying putting together the interviews I’ve been posting on Saturdays for the past few weeks.

I became a librarian because I wanted to help people and benefit society in some way.  As I transition away from my library career and more and more into Libro’s world, I am happy to say that I feel I’m helping people and benefiting them and, yes, society, perhaps more than in my library work.  Libro turns two in August, and I will continue to work in a way that I feel is both comfortable (most of the time – a few challenges along the way make it more fun!) and ethical, and, well … I love doing what I do!

Libro offers copyediting, copy writing, proof-reading, transcription and typing services to other small businesses, individuals and corporations.  Click on the links to find out more!

 
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Posted by on July 27, 2011 in Celebration, Copyediting, New skills, proofreading, Students, Transcription, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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March and April

06 Apr

So, it’s time for a new “What I’ve been up to” post, since my readers seem to like those, and that covers the “March” bit of my title, but I also want to look forwards into the new financial year and say thank you to my clients for the past financial year. That’s the April bit.

First of all, what I did in March …
– Continued working on my Taiwanese client’s essays – the English is really improving in these; I’m proud of both of us for that
– Continued working for my US agency client on their client’s web pages and publications
– Finished writing the content for the two websites I’ve been working on for a while
– Continued working for my translator client, including a wide range of interesting topics
– Transcribed an interview for my ongoing journalist client and read a couple of articles she’s created out of interviews I’ve transcribed (which I find *fascinating*)
– Worked on my physiotherapist client’s blog posts, including tidying up the posts themselves, adding categories to those that didn’t have them and creating a set of tags for the posts and applying those to them too, copyedited her website and turned two e-books into one
– Did a transcription of a radio show about music for a previous PhD client who’s now working on a new project
– Copyedited several third year and Master’s dissertations on economics, one on art, and one on sports science
– Copyedited a chapter of a thesis on international law

Now, here’s the April bit. It’s the start of a new tax year, and also my new financial year. I’ve run my accounts for the year and am pleased with and proud of what I’ve achieved this year. And, while obviously I’m grateful to Matthew for his support (including technical support); and my friends for their understanding as I guiltily check the Blackberry while I’m out and about with them, or dash home to finish a project; and my copyediting and small business peers for their help and advice, I want to say a big thank you to my clients.

Dear Libro clients: Thank you for taking me on in the first place, either because you’ve seen my adverts or I’ve tweeted to you or however else you found me. Thank you for trusting the person who recommended me and approaching me. Thank you for responding to my questions quickly, for making decisions if I’ve needed you to make them, and for keeping me informed of your plans and when you’re going to send me things. Thank you for understanding that I do need to work around my day job (and eat and sleep occasionally!). Thank you for your kind comments, your references for my website or on LinkedIn or Facebook. Thank you for either coming back to me for more work, recommending me to your friends and colleagues, or both! I really enjoy the work I do, I love learning about all the different things you all write about, I love creating new text for you or helping you hone what you’ve created yourselves.

Here’s to a happy, busy and successful 2011-2012 for all of us!

 
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Posted by on April 6, 2011 in Business, Celebration, Jobs, Organisation, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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Happy Christmas from Libro!

22 Dec

Happy Christmas / Season’s Greetings / Happy Holidays / Happy Solstice etc., etc.

2010 has been a great year for Libro – I started in August 2009 but things only really took off in April when I was able to devote more time to marketing myself, and gained some long-term repeat customers. Since then I’ve worked on dissertations on supply chain management, theses about Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Taiwan, on religion, economics, typography and the EU, among other things. I’ve helped with websites on sustainable nappies, falafels and accountancy, copy-edited a couple of novels and some books about religion and politics, and several editions of a yacht club magazine, proof-read a Bible concordance and index and a few tenders for business contracts, typed up 80 pages of someone’s handwritten notes and transcribed hours of journalists’ interviews. I love the variety of tasks and subjects, the fact that I’ve learned so much about so many different topics, and meeting (or “meeting”) lovely clients from around the world.

2011 will hopefully be just as interesting and varied. I’ve arranged to go part-time at my day job, allowing me to devote more time to Libro and to claim back a bit of time for myself too. This should mean I can be more flexible and react just as quickly when projects come in, and take on more projects. I’ve already got some blog posts, newsletters, magazines and theses scheduled in for the New Year…

Thank you to all my clients and friends for their support in this first full year of Libro. Thanks to my friends, who’ve put up with me rearranging things or dashing home to sort out someone’s contents page, or staring at my emails on my phone when I should be enjoying my cuppa! And huge thanks to Matthew, IT support, proof-reading widower and pillar of strength.

I’m having a little “office party” today (Wednesday 22 December) to celebrate Libro, my clients and friends, and to look forward to a happy and successful 2011 for everyone. Do join me on Twitter or Facebook today!

 
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Posted by on December 22, 2010 in Celebration, New skills

 

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Now We Are One

01 Aug

I actually did my first piece of work for Libro on 28 August 2009, but I registered the company with the Inland Revenue just before that and had a start date of 01 August. So, Happy Birthday Libro!

What have I learnt in this first year? I’m proud that I’ve done it – I’ve been paid to do what I’ve done for people for free in the past. I’ve been successful in my work and gathered lots of lovely references. I’m confident working in different versions of Word and with pdf annotating software, and I’ve worked on lots of different projects, from Masters dissertations through PhD theses, non-fiction books and articles, novels, marketing materials and websites.

I’m particularly proud that I’ve helped people whose English isn’t their first language to express themselves. I’ve been able to aid the creativity of others by ensuring the infrastructure of language and grammar was there to support their work. I’ve kept to my principles, turning down work that wasn’t right for me, and continuing to do a little bit of free work for charity.

OK, the housework and reading might have suffered a bit, but I don’t think my relationship and friendships have, and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve been doing, which I think is the main thing!

Thanks to all my clients who have sent work my way and given me lovely references. Here’s to the next year of Libro!

 
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Posted by on August 1, 2010 in Celebration

 

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