Christine Steel

Skills

Onscreen copy-editing and proofreading, formatting and page layout, non-native English/substantive editing, Anglicising, website editing. Making order out of chaos!

Media

Government and consortia international development tenders, proposals and reports. Books, journals, newsletters, websites, distance-learning material. PhD theses and dissertations

Specialised software

Reference checking (Good Citations), consistency checking (PerfectIt3), various macros such as FREdit, online style guides and dictionaries

Qualifications and awards

BA (first class hons) Social Anthropology with Cultural Studies, Certificate in English Language Teaching for Adults – TEFL

Experience

I have been a full-time freelance copy-editor/proofreader since 2008, during which time I have increased my portfolio towards the commercial sector, especially in international development. Earlier experience in many overseas countries has given me first-hand knowledge of what is entailed within the development world, which helps enormously when it comes to interpreting some of the development jargon, and reproducing it in straight-forward English. I often work with non-native English authors.

Much of my work also involves making the finished article or report print ready. This can involve a complete reformat of styles, making style templates and guides, and even training NGO or consortia staff to use them efficiently. I really enjoy the challenge of showing the author's work in as clear and consistent form as possible - with their permission of course!

Training

Professional copy-editing (SfEP) 2012, Getting work with non-publishers (SfEP) 2012, Onscreen editing 1 & 2 (SfEP) 2011/2014, Introduction to web editorial skills (SfEP) 2011, Brush Up Your Grammar (2015)

Clients

Publishing: Bookcraft Academic (T&F, Routledge/Earthscan), Open Professional School (OPS), Newgen/Out of House (Manchester University Press, SAGE, Taylor & Francis), Scriptoria

International development: Agro Action (Germany), DEval, DfID, CTA/GDC Partners, GIZ/GTZ, IFAD, IP Consult, Itad, Landell Mills, Quality Institute (Spain), Tearfund, TheIDLgroup, Welthungerhilfe, UNDP, World Bank

Academic (universities): Brighton, Bristol, Imperial (London), Leeds, LSE, Newcastle, Seton Hall, Singapore, Sokoine (Tanzania), Sussex, Telemark (Norway), UCL, York

Subjects

International development/aid: rural development, climate change and environment, international law, non-governmental organisations, fisheries, water sanitation and hygiene

For publishers: climate change, environment/energy, gender and religious issues, philosophy and ethics, social sciences, TEFL/ESL/ELT

Academic: agriculture, climate change, environment, humanities, literacy, social/cultural anthropology

e-Learning: capacity building, health and medicine, management training