Who am i?
My name is heather paisley
I was born in London, England’s capital city, grew up in Cumbria and now I live in Peel, on the west coast of the beautiful Isle of Man. One of my greatest joys is helping people to succeed in their aims and to reach their full potential. So, if you trust me with your work, you can be sure that I will treat it – and you – with respect. I will remember that this is something that you have worked long and hard at and that it is quite likely that you are very concerned about letting someone else have sight of, and even comment on, writing that means a very great deal to you. In particular, I want to encourage fledgling writers, who can’t afford to pay thousands. The worker is worthy of her hire, but we will be able to come to some arrangement that works for both of us. More on this topic elsewhere.
I have considerable experience in several different management, clerical and voluntary fields. I have worked in press and PR, as an editor and proofreader, and I’ve been a writer all my life. I’ve also worked in the NHS, as a Civil Servant, and in Finance. What you might call a ‘good all rounder’. I am a Church of England licenced lay minister.
My qualifications include an MA in Social Policy; a BA (Hons) in Business Studies; several courses from the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, including: Copyediting I, Grammar and Punctuation, Copyright, Word for Practical Editing and Proofreading I. I also have the ‘One Education’ Diploma in Proofreading and Copyediting; and their English Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar and Pronunciation course (passed with distinction); the OU’s Grammar Matters course; and the ‘Plain English Campaign’ Better Writing course. There’s lots of others, but you’ll get bored. I have a lot of experience of producing reports, minutes, newsletters, business cases and similar business-type applications. I can also advise you on your publicity plans and materials as well as copyright matters. I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading.
What am i like to work with?
Well, the first thing I want to make claim to is that I am NOT SCARY! I understand how terrifying it can be to let someone else comment on your work, whether it is fiction, non-fiction, a marketing flyer or your long awaited book. I aim to come across as an enabler, that is, someone who will work with you to help you to understand how what I may be recommending could improve your work. That might be in ‘readability’, spelling and grammar, continuity or just plain old repetition. And note that word. Recommending. It’s your work, it’s your choice. If you don’t agree with me, you don’t have to do it. Some of the people that I work with enjoy my occasional joke comments in the margins, but if that doesn’t work for you, that is absolutely no problem. In particular, I want to encourage new writers who can’t afford the high fees of many editors. If this describes you, get in touch. We can definitely work out a deal of some kind. My working methods include:
- MS Word review/track changes
- PDF review/commenting
- hard-copy hand-written manuscripts
You may be wondering how you can tell whether what I claim about myself is accurate. Well, the best way is to try me out and see for yourself. However, one thing that might show that I can assimilate facts and turn them into something that works is this website. I started it at the end of July 2022 with literally no knowledge about how to build a website. It was up and running as a workable website by the end of September 2022, working on it in the evenings and at weekends, with no outside assistance whatsoever, apart from what I learned from YouTube or the Word Press and Elementor help guides. That included writing all of the text myself. I’m pretty proud of my achievement.
Check out my testimonials below.
Will she, won't she?
As I’ve said above, my experience is wide and there’s not much I can’t turn my hand to. However, rest assured, if I don’t think I can do the topic, or genre, that you are writing in, I will tell you up front. In some cases, I would be comfortable doing the text of a document, but not the other parts such as, for example, mathematical formulae. I am a ‘native’ English speaker, working in British English. I can’t guarantee any other version of English, but I’ll give it a shot if you want me to. Just to get you started, here’s a bit of a list of areas I am offering, but it’s not complete. If what you want isn’t here, please ask.
- I have done a lot of fiction editing, especially historical fiction, and I seem to have a gift for continuity issues and spotting awkward sentence/dialogue construction
- I have a degree in Business Studies and a Masters in Social Policy so I am well used to academic needs and am happy to edit/proofread dissertations or other university work
- Both degrees plus wide managerial, financial, HR, business and PR experience give me a good understanding of editing the type of documents that are needed to support business needs, as well as working with copywriters, advertising documents/flyers and so on
- I worked in health for many years so am very familiar with that environment
- As an experienced mentor, I also offer a ‘developmental’ service to writers who want to grow their skills.
Having said that, there are some areas that I won’t work in. These include, but aren’t necessarily limited to, the following:
- Hard-core porn
- Very dark or deeply psychological thrillers (where the content is very nasty)
- Work involving very sadistic or masochistic themes.
Testimonials
I’ve used Dieudonne Editorial Services for more than two years now. Heather has edited all of my books and short stories published during that time and is also working on the earlier books in my series which I’ve been revising for paperback. I couldn’t be happier with both the quality of her work and the relationship I have with her as my editor.
There are two distinct parts to the work Heather does for me. Proofreading is a matter of detailed work to correct typing errors, misspelling and grammatical errors. For me, these are the silly mistakes made in the first draft, or during hasty corrections in the second draft. They’re small, they seem insignificant, they’re incredibly easy to miss and many independently published books are riddled with them. These are the mistakes that your eyes slide over when you read your manuscript again and again …
because it’s your work and you know what it SHOULD say, so that’s what you read. Heather picks these up and turns my work from a well-written manuscript to a professionally produced novel. She’s a perfectionist and will spot things that previous editors have missed.
Copy editing is more difficult to define and it’s this aspect of Heather’s work that I find the most valuable. In this stage of the process, she will go through the manuscript focusing on the meaning of the words. She’ll look at vocabulary and clarity to make sure that each sentence says what it is supposed to say. She looks at repeated words or phrases which bring down the quality of the writing. She’ll spot continuity errors, point out inconsistencies within the story or the document and highlight clumsy structure. She’ll ask questions about your style with regard to capitalisation and formatting and then make sure the manuscript is consistent all the way through. She does all of this exceptionally well.
What makes Heather stand out for me as an editor, however, is her style of communication. Hiring an editor, especially for a relatively new writer, can be an intimidating process but Heather makes it all very easy. She has a warm, friendly and very professional manner and is very good at checking exactly what you want and then delivering it. She’ll make suggestions if asked but will never try to change your distinctive writer’s ‘voice’. She is never harsh or over-critical and manages to make the editing process feel like an enjoyable collaboration. She’s also very funny.
I would recommend Heather to anybody. She can work with any style, she’s reliable and professional. She’s particularly keen on encouraging new writers. She’ll be honest with you but she’ll also be kind. I now have thirteen published books and the fourteenth is currently with Heather for editing. I can’t imagine using anybody else. Whether you’re looking for your first editor or wanting to make a change, I suggest you contact her for a chat.
