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Victoria O'Dowd: Proof & Copy-Edit

16 Reviews
Recommended
Member 12+ Years
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Member since : 8 Jul 2013
Manually reviewed : 26 May 2020
Last updated : 16 Sep 2024

About Victoria O'Dowd: Proof & Copy-Edit


Based in Bingley, West Yorkshire, I am a freelance editor and proofreader with ten years' experience working on a wide variety of written material, including walking guide books, manuals, memoirs, fiction, academic journal articles, PhD theses, MA dissertations, brochures and website copy. I work with an equally wide range of people, from individual self-publishing authors to small independent publishers and large businesses.

How am I qualified to edit your words? I am an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) and a master's graduate in 20th Century English Literature. I also hold qualifications in proofreading and copy-editing from the Publishing Training Centre and the CIEP. As a strong believer in the importance of continuing professional development, I enjoy adding to my expertise by undertaking new editorial courses alongside my work.

I offer a flexible and friendly service, treating each piece of work on an individual basis – be it large or small – and I can provide you with a fixed per 1,000-word price so you will know the cost of the proofread/edit from the outset. If you're not sure whether it's proofreading or editing you need, I am more than happy to discuss your requirements by email or phone, so do not hesitate to contact me.

What do I do when I'm not editing and proofreading? Having a huge love of the great outdoors, and when not at my desk, I will often be found striding over hill and dale with compass and map in hand or indulging in another of my favourite pastimes: reading mountain literature.

I look forward to helping you with your next project.
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16 FreeIndex Reviews - Ranked 2nd out of 63 UK Copy Editing Services

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John Raffaldi
Bingley
Victoria was assigned to edit my manuscript for an upcoming guide I authored for a well respected walking holiday publisher. The book contains maps, elevation profiles, tables, photographs, and text requiring many facets of detailed fact checking to assure accuracy in the field. In addition to her grammar and fact checking work, I appreciated possible alternative wording she offered clarifying information when needed, as well as thoughts on content and subject structure improving readability. Through Victoria's attention to detail, knowledge, and tireless efforts the guide will be useful, accurate, and a pleasure to read exceeding the publisher's high standards. I look forward to working with Victoria on any future work and highly recommend her for any proof and copy-edit requirements you may have.
Matt Heason
Upper Padley, Grindleford
I worked with Victoria on a guidebook I have written. I wrote the text. She then proof-read it and checked for consistency and accuracy as well as the expected grammar and spelling. She was great to work with. Responded immediately and always very friendlily. Her attention to detail was brilliant. Can't recommend highly enough.
Sarah Banks
Bulmer
I was put in touch with Victoria by the publishers of my forthcoming book, Wild Guide North East England, which is one of a series of photographic field guides to the hidden parts of the UK and beyond. The book includes around a 1,000 places to visit, eat or stay. As such, not only did Victoria have to proof and copy-edit the huge amount of written content, she also had to meticulously check directions, map co-ordinates and fact-check every single listing. The editorial process for this book was quite intense, taking place over a few weeks. Victoria remained professional, patient and polite throughout. Although Victoria always took the lead with the editing role, her approach is very much a collaborative one and she involves the writer along the entire way, in a very subtle way. She has a natural understanding of what the writer wants to say, and if she feels this may not be clear, she always offers up a well-considered alternative - which always enhanced the copy. By the end of the editing process I felt that we had been on a journey together to create a piece of work that I hope we can both be proud of. I would not hesitate to recommend Victoria to writers of all sorts of books and other publications. Thank you again, Victoria, for all your hard work on my book.Moreexpand_more
K Dawkins
Leicester
I contacted Victoria to copy-edit my work and she has been a delight to work with on my manuscript. From the response time to updates to quality of work, I would recommend her services to anyone in the self publishing arena. Definitely worth it.
Vincent Olivier
Horsham
I was looking for a copy editor for my first novel, The Man Who Kept Dying, so I contacted several copy editors. The edited sample that Victoria sent back convinced me that she was the right person for how I wanted this part of the edition process to be. Her copy-editing skills lifted the quality of the novel without changing its meaning or style, yet made it a lot easier to read. And when I sent the edited manuscript to proofreaders, all commented positively on its quality – a true testament to the quality of the work produced. Victoria also provided an editorial report on top of the style sheet, which was invaluable to me as a new writer and I am sure would be to more seasoned writers too. She was also extremely patient as this is not a full-time project for me (and also not in my native language) and regularly kept me updated as she progressed with the copy editing and review of comments and proposed changes. Thank you once again for your professionalism.
Raya Harper
Bolton
Victoria is an absolute treasure to work with. I’m so fortunate I was able to hire her for my novel, and would gladly do so again. All of her suggestions were natural and she kept true to my version of the story, only improving not changing it. Her patience and dedication must be commended as she communicated with me throughout the process and aided me with even the most mediocre of tasks. She thoroughly read and understood the complexity of my plot pointing out key details I had missed. I would absolutely recommend anyone who wants to polish up their story to Victoria as I would absolutely love to work with her again.
Sheron Boyle
Leeds
Photo uploaded by Sheron Boyle
The Leeds Irish Centre used Victoria to do final checks on its anniversary book, '50 Years In The Making, Leeds irish centre 1970 - 2020. '. We were on a tight deadline and the book had many different sections to it. However, Victoria met the deadline and her work was superb. Her attention to detail and high standards meant we all felt so much more relaxed when it was sent to the printers. We have not had one criticism about the content or any errors! We are all thrilled by Victoria's work and would highly recommend her.
Steven Armstrong
Bingley
I have recently used Victoria to edit my work and I found her to be extremely helpful and professional. She always responded to my queries and requirements (via email) and was true to her word on the time scale. I will be using her again in the future.
David Earley
Bradford
I can highly recommend Victoria for the professionalism, patience and understanding she showed whilst proofing and editing my work over many months. She helped me a great deal with my book about my travels and was always there to advise and help me when I had any problems expressing my travel adventures on paper. I cannot thank Victoria enough. .
Heiki Soova
Keighley
 I would like to recommend Victoria O’Dowd as an editor as a result of her invaluable help, guidance and advice she afforded me in completing my family history Loss, Renewal and Reunion, which I have recently published. Due to my unusual and interesting background, it has always been an ambition of mine to write a definitive account of my family’s history, but due to a number of negative factors, several attempts at this had been mismanaged. This was unfortunate, as a great deal of material, both written and photographic, had been gathered, and it would have been a great pity had the project been abandoned. However, I decided to ‘go it alone’, and I am glad that I was eventually able to complete the work this year. That this has happened is entirely thanks to the invaluable help, guidance and advice I received from Victoria. I first came into contact with Victoria in March 2018 on the recommendation of a mutual friend, and from the outset she has encouraged and developed my ideas and memories, particularly those of my childhood and youth. On many occasions when I was struggling to make progress, she urged me on to complete the task.             She quickly learned to read my somewhat continental handwriting, my spelling mistakes and my turn of phrase and was adept at finding the appropriate words to convey my story. She grasped the essence of my family history and produced an articulate and engaging account of a small Baltic family’s journey from the 1800s to the present day.             I cannot imagine that anyone else would have had the patience to get involved with this project, but from the outset Victoria became a close, good friend to my family and helped me to produce a piece of work of which I am immensely proud.             Thank you, Victoria.             Heiki Soova.Moreexpand_more
Sabir Doski
Leeds
I saw Victoria as a professional proofreader, and the important things that she was very friendly and taking care of the work, I think she spending a much more time than what she get, also my supervisor was very happy for her editing.
Jinman Park
Brighton
I remmend you her copyediting service with professionalism because of…1. Perfect quality: Compared to my previous copywriters, she is definitely the best in terms of selecting vocabularlies and grammars. Moreover, she is good at making sentences much clearer. 2. Amendments check services: Until I satisfy, she amends my writings. 3. Understanding writer´s intention: She is good at catching writer´s intention despite my comparatively bad writing. 4. Kindness and customer oriented services: She is very kind and ready to listen to customer´s needs. 5. Time: She always finished works that I asked in time. If you have any queries, don't hesitate asking her! You will never regret!
Maggie Fo
Leeds
Victoria's proofreading is professional. Not only does she correct the grammatical errors, but also pays attention to the quality of the whole document, making sure it reads flow. Her service is also quick. I would like to recommend her service to other people for proofreading their theses.
Helena Malone
London
Victoria's attention to detail and professionalism on proofing my report was brilliant. Her recommendations were very constructive. I would have no hesitation in recommending Proof and Copy-Edit and I would use this service again in the future.
Stuart Campbell
Keighley
For my first novel I needed a professional eye to weed any anomalies of syntax and punctuation out of my manuscript. Proof and Copy Edit performed this task punctiliously and within a tight time frame. I would recommend them highly.
Andrew Crouch
Bristol
Victoria proofread and copy-edited my debut novel (Fairyland) to an extremely high standard. She has a very professional approach and a keen eye for detail. Her suggestions and amendments were invaluable to the flow of the narrative and made the story much more readable. I would highly recommend her services to anyone thinking of self-publishing.
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