Will DeRooy
intelligent editing

Testimonials and praise for Will DeRooy and Intelligent Editing

William has done great work for New Harbinger as a proofreader. He has a sharp eye and is very conscientious about doing the work on time, on budget, and to high standards. —Heather Mitchener, editorial director, New Harbinger Publications

Will's sharp eye for detail has found errors in my writing that had gone unnoticed by literally dozens of previous readers. His notes and markups are always clear, professional, and easy to understand. Will knows the rules of written English inside and out, but his talent for editing copy runs much deeper than that. Anyone can find a poorly placed semicolon, but only an editor as talented as Will can help make the end of the world sound hilarious. I highly recommend the copy editing services of Will DeRooy, and I look forward to working with him again in the future. —Marcus Alexander Hart, author

(In the Acknowledgments of Digital Infrared Photography) Will DeRooy, whose superb editing skills helped me immensely as I wrote this book. Will reviewed every chapter, making suggestions and comments that were invaluable. —Deborah Sandidge, photographer and author

As a writer, Will contributed tremendous creativity, along with natural writing ability and skill to adapt his writing style to the particular audience for whom he was writing. As an editor, he was attentive to details that must be covered for a publication to develop efficiently, effectively and successfully. He was always personable and worked well with all of our freelancers, designers, vendors and clients for whom we created the publications. He also did an outstanding job supporting my efforts. I would love to have the opportunity to work with Will again. Should you choose to hire Will, you will gain a valuable addition to your company, someone who gives freely of his intelligence and skill as a writer and editor. More importantly, you'll gain a loyal, thoughtful person who cares tremendously about quality. —Pam Roller, VP of Juvenile Publishing, Fantastic Media

William is meticulous, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to work with. —Kathryn Dean, Internet marketing consultant, ADvantage

Wow, you are a spectacular editor! Thanks so much for your help; your comments are precisely what I'd hoped. ... Truly: Keep doing what you're doing, Will! It's so nice to leave the catalog in the capable hands and under the watchful eyes of an expert. —Kirsten Longnecker, direct managing editor, Gaiam, Inc.

Thank you! Your comments have been just what I needed to be certain nothing got missed. I appreciate, too, your keen eye and writing skills. Nice work. —Kirsten Longnecker, direct managing editor, Gaiam, Inc.

I thought your edit was great! Very thorough. —Rebecca Finkel, design director, Big Earth Publishing

Your changes definitely brought life to Betty and made for a more entertaining read. I am certainly more confident in sending this out to publishers! —Nancy Stewart, author

Your work is really impressive—you obviously have a keen eye for punctuation, grammar, and design and a good ear for syntax. … Thanks so much for the terrific job and we'll look forward to sending more work your way! —Jennifer Jahner, editor, Westcliffe Publishers

What is intelligent editing?

"Intelligent editing" means I think more deeply about what I read than most copyeditors and proofreaders. I catch subtle errors that others miss, and I clarify writing that is more or less correct but can lead to confusion. It can make a big difference to your readers! Here are some examples.

The original:

Declutter your future from sentimental dust.

The problem: You can declutter, but you can only declutter the present. What the author is really talking about is preventing clutter from building up at all. And the idea involving dust seems only half-formed; let's keep it simple—we're either dusting or decluttering.

The edit:

Keep your future free of sentimental clutter.

When unemployed on a reservation, a Pima Indian becomes obese and diabetic. His forefathers in Arizona and Mexico scratched and hoed the earth all day to grow corn and beans and were thin and normal weight without diabetes.

The problem: The way in which this is worded is problematic; it may seem that people are being stereotyped. Even if research supports certain generalities, you want to be careful to recognize that there are individual variations in any population. (With that said, looking back at the edit now, I would probably insert "most" in front of "members.") You also want to avoid insinuating (or being accused of insinuating) that a group of people is lazy.

The edit:

Years ago, members of the Pima tribe (of modern-day Arizona and Mexico) had no weight problems; they scratched and hoed the earth all day to grow corn and beans. Today, with little work to be had on reservations and easy availability of processed foods, their descendants are prone to obesity and diabetes.

Possible prescriptions may include antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, levofloxin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, doxycycline, azithromycin, erythromycin, vancomycin)

The problem: I know that when different medications have a similar function, their names often share a common ending (as you can see with the "-mycins" above). The difference between "ciprofloxacin" and "levofloxin" signaled me to check these two names in particular.

The edit: levofloxin → levofloxacin

Most people who actually won't wake up tomorrow morning assume when they go to bed that they'll wake up as they always have.

The problem: At first glance, nothing. But there are many ways that this sentence could be clearer. Tomorrow morning sounds like it might mean a specific date—is that tomorrow from when this was written, or tomorrow from when it's being read? When they go to bed when? Every night? Tonight? What does it mean to wake up as they always have—or does the author mean they will assume as they always have? And why be vague about what it means to not wake up?

The edit:

Most people who will die in their sleep will go to bed that final night believing and assuming that they'll wake up the next morning, as always.

You might have picked up your coffee cup from your desk without interrupting your eye contact with your customer and brought the cup with surgical precision to your lips a thousand times.

The problem: As this book was written for a general audience, the percentage of readers who ever had a "customer" come to their desk might be very small. Maybe the reader is a schoolteacher, for instance. So I thought about changing "customer" to "visitor," but I thought, what if the reader was one of the many people who do not even have a desk at work (like a chef or a pilot) or any place where they might have had a visitor a thousand times? I figured that most readers probably do have a desk somewhere, at home if not at work, where they might drink from a coffee cup. What was most important was the author was trying to draw a picture of an automatic behavior that didn't require conscious attention; in the end, I distilled it to its essence. Cut out the third party.

The edit:

You may have picked up your coffee cup from your desk without even looking and brought the cup with surgical precision to your lips a thousand times.

They may not remember the symbols for oxygen and carbon dioxide on the periodic table of elements, but they are very curious and interested and typically try to come up with solutions to problems in creative ways.

The problem: Carbon dioxide does not appear on the periodic table of elements—because it's a compound, not an element. OK, so just say carbon. Or instead of referencing the periodic table, just talk about chemical symbols. But the symbols for carbon (C), oxygen (O), and carbon dioxide (CO₂) are all straightforward and thus easy to remember. We want something at least a bit harder, right?

The query:

... How about changing oxygen and carbon dioxide to sodium (chemical symbol Na) and potassium (chemical symbol K)?

Freelance editorial services

Substantive editing, 2¢ per word

Copyediting, 1.5¢ per word

Proofreading, $3 per page

My experience includes:

• Fiction
• Nonfiction
• Magazines
• Electronic media
• Educational materials
• Catalogs/advertisements

Is your subject matter highly technical or meant for a targeted professional audience? I have experience working on products for accountants and computer programmers and am not afraid to tackle dense or industry-specific language. I know when to edit and when to query.

What's more, I'm able to effect changes in HTML or XML, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, and Microsoft Word as well as on hardcopy. Experienced in using Word templates and Track Changes. Available for on-site work in the Denver–Colorado Springs area.

How can Intelligent Editing help you? Email me with a description of your project and what level of service you think you need. I may ask you for a sample of the writing, to determine whether I'm qualified to provide you with the superior service of which the work is deserving and in order to quote you a rate. References on request.

More about me

Education

I earned a B.A. in English (Creative Writing emphasis) with a minor in psychology from Metropolitan State College of Denver after studying at the University of California–Santa Barbara. I'm currently enrolled in the teacher education program at MSCD, pursuing Elementary Education licensure.

Areas of interest/knowledge:

• Accounting/Taxation/Auditing
• Literature
• Psychology
• History
• Geography
• Anthropology/Prehistory
• Paleontology
• Numismatics
• Education
• Marketing
• Science Fiction
• Children's Fiction and Nonfiction
• Comedy/Satire
• Weight training

Strengths:

• Project coordination: working with authors, illustrators, editors, licensors, designers, and printers
• Editing following the guidelines of The Chicago Manual of Style
• The ability to create engaging content for a younger audience as well as adults (I have published magazine articles for children.)
• A critical eye for detail
• Knowledge of printing processes and terminology
• An aptitude for learning new skills and new computer applications