Judith Ann Isaacs
Author, Publisher, Editor Academic Editing The best writers know that another pair
of eyes is essential at some point in the writing process. An editor can
ensure that you have adhered to formatting and style requirements, down
to every comma and paragraph indentation. Some graduate students have
no patience with this kind of detail work, no matter how competent their
writing. Others recognize that they have never learned an efficient writing
process. I have 10 years’ experience putting the finishing touches on
dissertations and theses and relieving writers of this last tedious step
on their way to an advanced degree.
Do you need an editor? You need an editor if you have experienced
any of the following: - looked at your dissertation/thesis for
years and can no longer discern if it makes any sense at all;
- forgotten everything your ninth-grade
English teacher taught you about grammar and punctuation;
- become frustrated with the multitudinous
(some would say unreasonable) APA rules -- or those of other style guides;
- threatened mayhem because you have no
idea how to create tables or perform other functions in your word processing
program;
- lost track of the organization plan you
started with and find you’re repeating yourself.
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What you can expect from me I will: - read your drafts to ensure that the dissertation
or thesis is logically organized. If I find what I believe are omissions
or discrepancies, I will bring them to your attention;
- edit for errors of punctuation, grammar
and syntax;
- check all citations to see that they
are formatted correctly and that they appear in the references;
- complete the table of contents when the
final draft is approved;
- format the entire document to meet the
requirements of your college/university;
- do a complete proofreading before you
submit the dissertation thesis for final approval.
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What I expect from you You will: - keep me informed of your progress and
requests from your committee members; and
- provide files to me with sufficient lead
time to meet your deadlines. Usually one week is enough time to prepare
one chapter; it is not enough time to complete several chapters or to
prepare a number of tables.
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What will it cost? My fee is $35 per hour. This includes all
the services described above plus the normal amount of phone calls, faxes,
and postage. If these incidental expenses begin to appear excessive, I
will let you know. Generally, you can expect to pay between $800-$1,500,
depending on the length and complexity of your dissertation or thesis.
Very lengthy dissertations (300 pages or more) or those that have a great
number of tables obviously will require more time. Also, if the editing
includes rewriting sections or designing tables, that adds to the cost.
In some cases, clients need text transcribed from handwritten or typed
notes. Straight word processing is billed at $20 per hour. If you do not
want all the services described above, your cost will be less. For example,
some clients choose to do their own word processing and contract with
me to proofread and mark changes on hard copy. This requires less time
than if I do all the word processing. I require a $250 deposit; monthly payments
of $200 and the balance due in full when the final copy is delivered to
you. Payment of fees means you are reserving my time, to the exclusion
of others, and payments are nonrefundable. I will provide monthly statements.
You will receive one printed copy of the final document and a copy on
disk. I retain copies of all files on disk for one year. back
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My qualifications I worked in K-12 public schools for 10 years
-- as a non-certified staff member at the district level, as a teacher
at the middle school and high school levels, and as program manager of
an alternative school. Prior to that I was coeditor of a weekly community
newspaper. I have taught a variety of writing classes at universities
and community colleges in the Puget Sound area, including teacher training
in journaling and the writing process. In 1996 I moved to northern New
Mexico, where I am director of a community library.
I teach a technical writing class online through Bellevue (WA) Community
College. My bachelor’s degree is in journalism, and
my master’s is in educational administration. I wrote and published a
middle school journalism curriculum, now out of print, and with a co-author
wrote Journals in the Classroom: A Complete Guide for the Elementary
Teacher (Peguis Publishers, 1991). A year after I moved to New Mexico,
I wrote and published Jemez Valley Cookbook: The Food, The People,
The Land, which was published by my company, Butterfly & Bear
Press. Currently, I am working on a mystery novel and a trips and trails
guide to the Jemez Mountains. back
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Free estimate To receive a free sample edit and estimate,
e-mail 4-6 pages from your literature review, plus one chart or table.
Send these as an attachment in MS Word to jisaacs@zianet.com.
Also provide the following information: - style guide required
- estimated total number of pages
- estimated total number of charts/tables
- schedule of deadlines
For further information
please contact me, Judith Isaacs, at the address, phone number, or e-mail
address below.Thank you for
your interest and I hope to hear from you soon! back
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