Web pages and About texts
Home pages, service descriptions and About sections read through for clarity, repeated phrases, grammar and tone. The meaning stays yours; the sentences get shorter and easier to follow.
Editing and proofreading, online
Writing that says what the business means, in plain English
Carlos Silva is an independent editor who works alone, one document at a time. Small businesses send the pages, newsletters and descriptions they have written themselves, and get them back read closely, corrected and marked so every change can be seen.
The work
Four kinds of document make up nearly everything that arrives. Each comes back with the corrections visible and a short note on the choices behind them.
Newsletters and customer emails
Regular mailings and standard replies checked for tone, spelling and the small slips that creep into text written in a hurry. Templates are edited once so they can be reused.
Product and listing descriptions
Short descriptions for shop pages and listings, made consistent in spelling, units and wording across the whole range, so one product does not read as if another person wrote it.
Written guides and instructions
Handbooks, how-to pages and instructions for customers, put into plain steps with one word for each thing, so a reader following along never has to guess what is meant.
Editing is mostly deciding what to leave alone
A business writes in its own voice, and that voice is worth keeping. The hard part of the job is telling a real mistake from a habit that belongs to the writer, and changing only the first.
That takes a slow read, aloud where possible, and a clear note beside each change explaining why it was made. The writer then decides, line by line, what to accept.
- Tracked changes, never silent ones
- Your voice kept
- One spelling standard per document
- Names and terms checked against your own list
- A short note on each choice
- Files returned in the format received
How it runs
Three steps, all by message and shared document. Nothing is edited before the scope has been agreed in writing.
-
You send a sample
A page or two of the writing, with a line on who reads it and which spelling you use. It is read through and a short note comes back on what the work would involve.
-
The scope is written down
Which documents, which kind of edit, in what format and by when. You accept it, change it or stop there.
-
The edit comes back marked
Every change is visible and explained where it is not obvious. You accept or reject each one, and questions are answered in writing.
Agreed up front
The practical points, set out here so they need not be asked on every message.
- Who does the work
- One person. The editor who reads your request is the one who edits the document; nothing is passed on to anyone else.
- Where
- Online only, by message and shared document. There are no visits and no calls unless you ask for one.
- Your documents
- They are used for the edit and for nothing else. Once the work is closed they are deleted from the editor’s own files at your request.
- Languages
- The editing is of English text. Notes can be written in English or Portuguese, as you prefer.
- Scope changes
- Anything outside the written scope is raised before it is touched, and only done if you agree.
- Payment
- Nothing is sold or paid for on this website. Invoicing is arranged directly once a scope has been accepted.
Questions before a first message
If yours is not here, write it on the request page.
How long can a document be?
Anything from a single paragraph to a handbook. The scope is set on the length and on the kind of edit, and written down before any work begins.
Is this proofreading or editing?
Either. Proofreading corrects spelling, grammar and punctuation. Editing goes further into sentence structure and wording. The scope says which one is meant.
Will my text be rewritten?
Not unless you ask. Suggestions are marked as suggestions, and the original wording stays visible next to every change.
Who answers the request?
The same person who would do the editing, in writing, one request at a time. Nothing here replies automatically.
Is there a page you keep meaning to reread?
Send a short description on the request page, with the kind of document and who reads it. A reply comes back in writing, and nothing starts until a scope has been agreed.
Request a first read