Stephenson, Jim

Experience: UK: Various book publishers, including J M Dent & Sons, Readers Union Group; also IBM, Harrison security printing group, Times Newspapers. Australia: Assistant editor Australian Computing magazine (McGraw-Hill); subeditor, Australian Doctor; freelance proofreader, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall (Aust), Weldons, Bay Books, Reed Academic, John Wiley & Sons, IDG, IDG Books, Butterworth-Heinemann, Cambridge University Press – correcting academic textbooks, etc. Plus: Senior proofreader for typesetting companies, advertising agencies, graphic designers, writers, and printers.

Qualifications: BA (English); British Publishers’ Association editors’ course in book production; London College of Printing book and magazine production course; [London] Communication, Advertising and Marketing Education Foundation Certificate in Communication Studies; in-house courses at The Times of London.

Computer capability: PC (Personal Confuser).

Services offered: Copy editing and subediting, desktop publishing, manuscript assessment and development, plain English rewriting, proofreading, structural editing, and some technical editing.

Type of material: Biographies, conference proceedings, dictionaries, educational books, fiction, non-fiction, journals, manuals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, PR material, brochures and advertisements, company reports, reference books, scripts, and training material.

Subject specialities: The humanities as well as sciences (e.g. computing); health, law, medicine, and music.

Special skills/interests: Very experienced and accurate proofreader and copy editor. Has passed Cambridge University Press’s stringent test for proofreaders, SBS’s test for TV subtitlers, and many other tests. Can also advise about design, typography, correct kerning, and so on.