About me
My freelance work
I am a professional copy-editor, proofreader and tech-editor, and I have been working as a freelancer since 2011.
I am also an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (or CIEP, formerly the Society for Editors and Proofreaders, SfEP). I love variety and am always eager to work with new clients, on new topics and for new projects – please contact me to tell me about your content and your needs. Please visit Services to find out what I have to offer you, and contact me to learn about my availability to work on your project. Further information about my training, work history and interests is available below. I typically work on non-fiction texts for publishers, self-publishers, academics and individuals in the UK, Europe and worldwide – wherever you are based, we can collaborate. I work from a quiet rural location in north-east Bulgaria – the perfect environment for concentrating on copy-editing and proofreading work, with a passing goose or stork as the only occasional distraction. |
“I have assigned to Joanna several proofreading and editing projects .... She goes above and beyond what can be reasonably expected, because she puts her heart in her work.”
Pavel Tsvetkov, Diligence EOOD and top linguist with Bulgarian and English on www.proz.com
Pavel Tsvetkov, Diligence EOOD and top linguist with Bulgarian and English on www.proz.com
Training & Qualifications
I have completed several training courses offered by the SfEP (now CIEP) and Publishing Training Centre (PTC):
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You may view my CIEP Directory entry here, my PTC Freelance Finder entry here and my LinkedIn profile here.
I have a first-class Biology BSc (Hons) degree from the University of Durham, UK, and I was awarded the Helena Biosciences Prize for outstanding performance in my dissertation project by the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences.
My other relevant training, experience and continuing professional development include:
I have a first-class Biology BSc (Hons) degree from the University of Durham, UK, and I was awarded the Helena Biosciences Prize for outstanding performance in my dissertation project by the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences.
My other relevant training, experience and continuing professional development include:
- reading industry- and subject-related material including newsletters and blogs
- participation on forums, and attending industry-related meetings
- self-study of interactive online courses (from FutureLearn, Coursera and university departments)
- self-study of copy-editing and proofreading textbooks (Basic Editing by Nicola Harris and Proofreading Practice by Margaret Aherne)
- voluntary proofreading for Distributed Proofreaders, to prepare and publish free, out-of-copyright books in ebook format
“I wanted to let you know that I was impressed with your diligent proofreading and have implemented all of your annotations. You’re excellent at paying attention even to the smallest details!”
Sabine Kastner, self-publisher
Sabine Kastner, self-publisher
My work history
I love working with words, and I have been involved with text – and making it better – throughout my whole career.
I started out by working for New Science Press Ltd, publisher of the Primers in Biology undergraduate- and graduate-level textbook series (co-published with Oxford University Press, Blackwell Publishing and Sinauer Associates, Inc.). I received extensive in-house editorial training under the supervision of Miranda Robertson (formerly the chief biology editor of the Nature journal). During my 3-year employment, as an editorial assistant, project editor and senior project editor, I was exposed to all of the steps of the in-print and online book-production process, and I worked alongside many authors and publishing professionals.
Since beginning my freelance career in 2011, I have worked with a variety of clients, from self-publishers to translation firms to online and traditional print publishers. My main clients to date have been F1000Prime (part of Faculty of 1000, a member of the Science Navigation Group) – working on copy-editing and proofreading of short opinion articles by top-level research scientists, medics and clinicians about current biomedical research publications – and Crowood Press, primarily copy-editing and secondarily proofreading illustrated instructional books about knitting and art subjects.
I started out by working for New Science Press Ltd, publisher of the Primers in Biology undergraduate- and graduate-level textbook series (co-published with Oxford University Press, Blackwell Publishing and Sinauer Associates, Inc.). I received extensive in-house editorial training under the supervision of Miranda Robertson (formerly the chief biology editor of the Nature journal). During my 3-year employment, as an editorial assistant, project editor and senior project editor, I was exposed to all of the steps of the in-print and online book-production process, and I worked alongside many authors and publishing professionals.
Since beginning my freelance career in 2011, I have worked with a variety of clients, from self-publishers to translation firms to online and traditional print publishers. My main clients to date have been F1000Prime (part of Faculty of 1000, a member of the Science Navigation Group) – working on copy-editing and proofreading of short opinion articles by top-level research scientists, medics and clinicians about current biomedical research publications – and Crowood Press, primarily copy-editing and secondarily proofreading illustrated instructional books about knitting and art subjects.
My interests and hobbies
I relocated from the UK to north-east Bulgaria in July 2009. I now live on a village smallholding with my Bulgarian partner, and together we look after a vegetable garden, orchard, bee hives and livestock (recently including a pair of peacocks).
I have a number of hobbies, the most significant of which are knitting and crocheting. I must do one or the other every day; please find me – JoEmy – on Ravelry to see what projects I am currently working on. I also offer technical editing, copy-editing and proofreading services for knitting and crochet patterns.
I love everything to do with fibre and fabric so I also like to find time for tatting, making lucet cord and cord for Romanian point lace, making Turkish needle lace/oya, doing patchwork and quilting, working various forms of embroidery and needlework, and sewing clothes, accessories and household items.
Next on my list is to learn to spin with a spindle and a spinning wheel (80+ sheep live next door, so I have a local fibre supply).
I love everything to do with fibre and fabric so I also like to find time for tatting, making lucet cord and cord for Romanian point lace, making Turkish needle lace/oya, doing patchwork and quilting, working various forms of embroidery and needlework, and sewing clothes, accessories and household items.
Next on my list is to learn to spin with a spindle and a spinning wheel (80+ sheep live next door, so I have a local fibre supply).
Other hobbies and activities include:
• learning Bulgarian, for obvious reasons – plus, it's good to talk and Bulgarians are very friendly and inquisitive people • calligraphy, coloured pencil drawing, illuminated lettering, typography, botanical illustration, and watercolour painting • cooking, baking, preserving, and fermenting (I make great sauerkraut) • collecting proverbs, sayings and idioms, some of which later feature in my embroidery and calligraphy projects |
Want to hire me? Please visit my Contact page or click the button to email me directly:
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© 2016–21 Joanna Miles. All rights reserved.