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Testimonials |
'You've done a FANTASTIC job of finding all the errors and things I missed. I've felt in such safe hands with you. Thank you for making my first copy editing experience so supportive.'
— Nic Wilson, writer, editor, Guardian country diarist
'It was a very satisfying experience with Tess. She was friendly and always willing to give a top service to her client. I would definitely recommend her editing and proofreading services to my other contacts and hope to return again for her services with other planned books. It was a job well done with attention to detail and very useful tips on punctuating children’s rhymes.'
— Gaynor Greber, author of Drogo Dragon
'Your professional guidance helped me a lot to edit and develop Hamish the Snow Fox. Your comments and suggestions are very helpful and insightful.'
-- Author of Hamish the Snow Fox and Larry the Capybara
'Tess copyedited my book, Extreme Imagination. It was a joy to work with someone so thorough and with such a keen eye for detail. It's hard to overstate the massive difference that good copyediting can make to a book, and I couldn't have been happier with Tess's editing. Her deep knowledge of self-help and mental health meant that she was able to highlight places where I needed to use more sensitive language, and she found errors and inconsistencies that I'd failed to pick up. I was left feeling that Tess genuinely cared about my book. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking for a copyeditor.'
— Kyla Borcherds, author of Extreme Imagination: A Guide to Overcoming Maladaptive Daydreaming
'From start to finish, Tess was a pleasure to work with. She was efficient and reliable, and approached my quite complex text with skill and sensitivity, making significant improvements to readability. I would recommend her.'
— Marcus James Sly, author of Ease and Skill: a User’s Guide to the Self
'I found Tess to be completely reliable, as well as intelligent, thoughtful and perceptive. She listened carefully to what was important to me and consulted me on all the details so that I had my say and could be sure she was doing things in the way that fitted with my style. Tess is obviously knowledgeable about the areas of personal development and mental health and her suggestions were thoughtful and sensitive and helped the writing to flow beautifully. She was very responsive to my questions and thought of many details that I hadn’t previously considered. Tess went above and beyond to do things professionally and accurately and I feel confident in the finished product.'
— Marianne Hill, author of Healing The Shadow – Deep Process Psychotherapy
'You did a superb proofread! Thank you so much. The author was really impressed too.'
— Sally Garland, Editor, Greenleaf Book Group
'You did such a good job with my book ... Thank you for your thoughtful and sensitive editing.'
— Jayne Storey, author of The Athlete's Ascent
'Your editing has really made the book flow. Thank you for your amazing attention to detail. I love what you have done.'
— Catherine Hobson, author of Take Away the Fear
'Very happy with Tess’s professional services on editing a rhyming story. Very good and swift communication, taking into account personal preferences about the editing approach. Honest feedback with helpful advice. Thank you!'
— Independent author
'Tess is one of Rethink Press's regular and most trusted editors, and she is always a pleasure to work with. Tess has a knack for getting to grips with a manuscript quickly and seeing not just the nitty-gritty detail but the big picture. She instinctively understands how to improve the flow for the reader and ensure the text adheres to house style, while retaining the author's unique voice. She is always open to feedback and, from her very first job for us, has constantly been willing to learn and grow with the company. I've worked with Tess on books in a number of very different genres, and she's approached every job with the same diligence and thoughtfulness.'
— Kathleen Steeden, Senior Editor, Rethink Press
'Tess does a great job copy editing for Rethink Press. Rethink books often need a lot of editorial intervention due to the authors not being experienced writers, but Tess has the knack for fine tuning and smoothing the writing, while keeping the author's unique voice. She always explains her edits to the author in a sympathetic way. She is a pleasure to work with - open to feedback, flexible and skilled. I recommend Tess!'
— Kerry Boettcher, Project Manager Rethink Press
'Tess has twice provided a thorough and thoughtful copy-edit for titles from Summersdale's diverse list. She kept in touch throughout the process to clarify any points she was unsure of, and delivered early in both instances. I was also impressed that she flagged any potential sensitivity issues and supplied a comprehensive style sheet. As such, we signed her up for another job on our new list!'
— Jess Zahra, Editorial Assistant at Summersdale Publishers Ltd
'Tess regularly copyedits and proofreads for StoryTerrace. Her great attention to detail in grammar, sentence structure and formatting has resulted in quality writing and customers frequently express how pleased they are with the results. Tess returns all work in excellent time, and I thoroughly recommend her outstanding editing services.'
— Editor at StoryTerrace
'Thank you so much for all your help and understanding. I really couldn't have proceeded without your help and knowledge.'
— Paul Last, poet
'Absolutely brilliant – your work is so detailed, clear and helpful and I really value your editorial recommendations, [which were] based on experience and which felt trustworthy and well thought-through. I’m so impressed with your work and will definitely work with you again!'
— Katharine Ugeux-Lewis, author
'Wonderfully thorough!'
— Summersdale Publishers
'Thank you very much for your thorough and sensitive copyedit... I was really impressed.'
— Summersdale Publishers
'Prompt, professional and personable. It's been an enjoyable experience working with Tess.'
— Phil Horey, poet, In Search of the Unwelcome
'I am really pleased with the work you have delivered. You’ve paid close attention to the brief and in-house style guide and asked great questions throughout the process. I look forward to working with you again soon!'
— Digital Theatre+
'You did a great job on your second copy-edit for Rethink Press. You raised excellent queries for the author and explained your editorial decisions clearly and concisely. I particularly appreciate the care you took in checking issues (eg around house style) with me during the edit, and your approach to ensuring references are presented consistently.'
— Rethink Press
'Thanks so much for your work on this. I was quite impressed. For your first time editing for Rethink you did a fantastic job. Your edits improved the writing and readability and I thought the level of intervention was just right. Your comments and queries were spot on.'
— Rethink Press
'The service that Tess has provided in the proofing on our book has been completely exceptional. Her attention to detail is PHENOMENAL. She has TAKEN AN INTEREST in the subject matter of the book and has gone out of her way to make sure the language used is completely appropriate for us - her ability to reword some of our phrases to make what we say sound better has taken my breath away. She has been a delight to work with, setting very clear guidelines. In the end we asked her to do more than we initially thought was needed and she undertook this with willingness and skill. I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone and there is absolutely no doubt that should the need arise, I will be using her again. I only wish I had found her sooner!'
— Judy King, editor, Dance to Re-connect: An introduction to the Harmony Method® by Nanni Kloke
'I was in the fortunate position of being approached by Tess Jolly, recently qualified as a proofreader, to undertake the proofreading of my recently written book, The Soul Asylums.
Tess undertook the challenge with positivity, commitment, enthusiasm, and a strong and dedicated work ethic. I am staggered at the work undertaken and blown away with the results, which I liken to a ‘deep clean’, ‘gloss’, and ‘polish’ of the original manuscript.
The forensic manner in which Tess approached the proofreading task makes the authoring and tracking changes as easy as writing by numbers, giving incredible confidence and belief to this author. She added volume and body to the copy through commas, intelligent suggestions, and consistent attention to stylistic detail. I learned a great deal about my own grammatical shortcomings – including my love for a capital letter and what an ellipsis is.
I would recommend Tess for any proofreading commission in the future, be it great or small, for the value she can add is beyond expectation.'
— Sheridan Hough, author, The Soul Asylums
'Tess had been recommended to me and I was grateful for her help in making consistent the American spellings in my fiction collection. She tightened a few idioms and phrases. It became clear to me that she was also reading for meaning when she queried a historical reference concerning the end of Prohibition in the US, which made me stop and think and do a bit more of my own research. I then altered a few lines of dialogue to incorporate the new information. When I read through the revised manuscript, I saw a polished collection and a more professional product. What more could I want? Now I’m happy to be the one to recommend her service.'
— Candyce Lange, author, Bachelors Road
'Tess has been proofreading for me for three months now and the difference is (to me) remarkable. Not only does Tess pick up on the smallest of style inconsistencies, but her knowledge and love of grammar and language puts me in very safe hands.
Reproducing poetry online is fraught with risk: formatting can change as email pings back and forth; the printed page in a book may be different to an online source; using text editor to move a poem from document to Wordpress may strip a poem of spare, but essential, italics; poems may have particular spacing and indentation that is ‘lost in translation’ – there is so much that can go wrong! Tess spots and fixes all of this, and more!
Just as importantly, with tight deadlines to meet, Tess has always delivered ahead of her promised time, and her correspondence with me has been unfailingly calm, reassuring, and very clear. Exactly what I want and need from a proofreader.'
— Anna Dreda, Wenlock Books
'Tess has worked on several articles for me and has always delivered exceptional service. She is detailed, methodical and always meets deadlines. Her editing suggestions are very helpful, and she is careful to keep these in line with the tone and style of the document she's reviewing. I will continue to use her services and wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to others.'
— Heather Bain, Director, Charistay Limited
'I want to heartily recommend Tess Jolly. Not only is she an amazing poet, but she is also a fabulous proofreader. I asked Tess to proof a few of my short fictions which I am tentatively starting to assemble into a collection.
She found a fair amount to fix: including a regrettable promiscuity with commas and the odd toe-curling typo (including the classic patios when I meant patois), the odd tautology and so on. It was great to feel the MS was now more watertight.
Little bad habits, invisible to you as the perpetrator, being made suddenly visible was a little like having a writing masterclass. I fully intend to use Tess’ eagle eyes on my prose projects from now on. I can wholeheartedly recommend her.'
peterkenny.co.uk/2021/02/20/proof-positive/
— Peter, Kenny, author
'Tess proofread a draft collection of linked short stories I was working on with its author. The book’s set in the US, and one thing we asked her to look for was American spellings. She did a brilliant, thorough job – both at picking up those anomalies and at spotting literals, inconsistencies and suggesting small simplifications of phrasing. Her notes were all spot on, as well as very clear and easy to follow.'
— Charlotte Gann, editor
— Nic Wilson, writer, editor, Guardian country diarist
'It was a very satisfying experience with Tess. She was friendly and always willing to give a top service to her client. I would definitely recommend her editing and proofreading services to my other contacts and hope to return again for her services with other planned books. It was a job well done with attention to detail and very useful tips on punctuating children’s rhymes.'
— Gaynor Greber, author of Drogo Dragon
'Your professional guidance helped me a lot to edit and develop Hamish the Snow Fox. Your comments and suggestions are very helpful and insightful.'
-- Author of Hamish the Snow Fox and Larry the Capybara
'Tess copyedited my book, Extreme Imagination. It was a joy to work with someone so thorough and with such a keen eye for detail. It's hard to overstate the massive difference that good copyediting can make to a book, and I couldn't have been happier with Tess's editing. Her deep knowledge of self-help and mental health meant that she was able to highlight places where I needed to use more sensitive language, and she found errors and inconsistencies that I'd failed to pick up. I was left feeling that Tess genuinely cared about my book. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking for a copyeditor.'
— Kyla Borcherds, author of Extreme Imagination: A Guide to Overcoming Maladaptive Daydreaming
'From start to finish, Tess was a pleasure to work with. She was efficient and reliable, and approached my quite complex text with skill and sensitivity, making significant improvements to readability. I would recommend her.'
— Marcus James Sly, author of Ease and Skill: a User’s Guide to the Self
'I found Tess to be completely reliable, as well as intelligent, thoughtful and perceptive. She listened carefully to what was important to me and consulted me on all the details so that I had my say and could be sure she was doing things in the way that fitted with my style. Tess is obviously knowledgeable about the areas of personal development and mental health and her suggestions were thoughtful and sensitive and helped the writing to flow beautifully. She was very responsive to my questions and thought of many details that I hadn’t previously considered. Tess went above and beyond to do things professionally and accurately and I feel confident in the finished product.'
— Marianne Hill, author of Healing The Shadow – Deep Process Psychotherapy
'You did a superb proofread! Thank you so much. The author was really impressed too.'
— Sally Garland, Editor, Greenleaf Book Group
'You did such a good job with my book ... Thank you for your thoughtful and sensitive editing.'
— Jayne Storey, author of The Athlete's Ascent
'Your editing has really made the book flow. Thank you for your amazing attention to detail. I love what you have done.'
— Catherine Hobson, author of Take Away the Fear
'Very happy with Tess’s professional services on editing a rhyming story. Very good and swift communication, taking into account personal preferences about the editing approach. Honest feedback with helpful advice. Thank you!'
— Independent author
'Tess is one of Rethink Press's regular and most trusted editors, and she is always a pleasure to work with. Tess has a knack for getting to grips with a manuscript quickly and seeing not just the nitty-gritty detail but the big picture. She instinctively understands how to improve the flow for the reader and ensure the text adheres to house style, while retaining the author's unique voice. She is always open to feedback and, from her very first job for us, has constantly been willing to learn and grow with the company. I've worked with Tess on books in a number of very different genres, and she's approached every job with the same diligence and thoughtfulness.'
— Kathleen Steeden, Senior Editor, Rethink Press
'Tess does a great job copy editing for Rethink Press. Rethink books often need a lot of editorial intervention due to the authors not being experienced writers, but Tess has the knack for fine tuning and smoothing the writing, while keeping the author's unique voice. She always explains her edits to the author in a sympathetic way. She is a pleasure to work with - open to feedback, flexible and skilled. I recommend Tess!'
— Kerry Boettcher, Project Manager Rethink Press
'Tess has twice provided a thorough and thoughtful copy-edit for titles from Summersdale's diverse list. She kept in touch throughout the process to clarify any points she was unsure of, and delivered early in both instances. I was also impressed that she flagged any potential sensitivity issues and supplied a comprehensive style sheet. As such, we signed her up for another job on our new list!'
— Jess Zahra, Editorial Assistant at Summersdale Publishers Ltd
'Tess regularly copyedits and proofreads for StoryTerrace. Her great attention to detail in grammar, sentence structure and formatting has resulted in quality writing and customers frequently express how pleased they are with the results. Tess returns all work in excellent time, and I thoroughly recommend her outstanding editing services.'
— Editor at StoryTerrace
'Thank you so much for all your help and understanding. I really couldn't have proceeded without your help and knowledge.'
— Paul Last, poet
'Absolutely brilliant – your work is so detailed, clear and helpful and I really value your editorial recommendations, [which were] based on experience and which felt trustworthy and well thought-through. I’m so impressed with your work and will definitely work with you again!'
— Katharine Ugeux-Lewis, author
'Wonderfully thorough!'
— Summersdale Publishers
'Thank you very much for your thorough and sensitive copyedit... I was really impressed.'
— Summersdale Publishers
'Prompt, professional and personable. It's been an enjoyable experience working with Tess.'
— Phil Horey, poet, In Search of the Unwelcome
'I am really pleased with the work you have delivered. You’ve paid close attention to the brief and in-house style guide and asked great questions throughout the process. I look forward to working with you again soon!'
— Digital Theatre+
'You did a great job on your second copy-edit for Rethink Press. You raised excellent queries for the author and explained your editorial decisions clearly and concisely. I particularly appreciate the care you took in checking issues (eg around house style) with me during the edit, and your approach to ensuring references are presented consistently.'
— Rethink Press
'Thanks so much for your work on this. I was quite impressed. For your first time editing for Rethink you did a fantastic job. Your edits improved the writing and readability and I thought the level of intervention was just right. Your comments and queries were spot on.'
— Rethink Press
'The service that Tess has provided in the proofing on our book has been completely exceptional. Her attention to detail is PHENOMENAL. She has TAKEN AN INTEREST in the subject matter of the book and has gone out of her way to make sure the language used is completely appropriate for us - her ability to reword some of our phrases to make what we say sound better has taken my breath away. She has been a delight to work with, setting very clear guidelines. In the end we asked her to do more than we initially thought was needed and she undertook this with willingness and skill. I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone and there is absolutely no doubt that should the need arise, I will be using her again. I only wish I had found her sooner!'
— Judy King, editor, Dance to Re-connect: An introduction to the Harmony Method® by Nanni Kloke
'I was in the fortunate position of being approached by Tess Jolly, recently qualified as a proofreader, to undertake the proofreading of my recently written book, The Soul Asylums.
Tess undertook the challenge with positivity, commitment, enthusiasm, and a strong and dedicated work ethic. I am staggered at the work undertaken and blown away with the results, which I liken to a ‘deep clean’, ‘gloss’, and ‘polish’ of the original manuscript.
The forensic manner in which Tess approached the proofreading task makes the authoring and tracking changes as easy as writing by numbers, giving incredible confidence and belief to this author. She added volume and body to the copy through commas, intelligent suggestions, and consistent attention to stylistic detail. I learned a great deal about my own grammatical shortcomings – including my love for a capital letter and what an ellipsis is.
I would recommend Tess for any proofreading commission in the future, be it great or small, for the value she can add is beyond expectation.'
— Sheridan Hough, author, The Soul Asylums
'Tess had been recommended to me and I was grateful for her help in making consistent the American spellings in my fiction collection. She tightened a few idioms and phrases. It became clear to me that she was also reading for meaning when she queried a historical reference concerning the end of Prohibition in the US, which made me stop and think and do a bit more of my own research. I then altered a few lines of dialogue to incorporate the new information. When I read through the revised manuscript, I saw a polished collection and a more professional product. What more could I want? Now I’m happy to be the one to recommend her service.'
— Candyce Lange, author, Bachelors Road
'Tess has been proofreading for me for three months now and the difference is (to me) remarkable. Not only does Tess pick up on the smallest of style inconsistencies, but her knowledge and love of grammar and language puts me in very safe hands.
Reproducing poetry online is fraught with risk: formatting can change as email pings back and forth; the printed page in a book may be different to an online source; using text editor to move a poem from document to Wordpress may strip a poem of spare, but essential, italics; poems may have particular spacing and indentation that is ‘lost in translation’ – there is so much that can go wrong! Tess spots and fixes all of this, and more!
Just as importantly, with tight deadlines to meet, Tess has always delivered ahead of her promised time, and her correspondence with me has been unfailingly calm, reassuring, and very clear. Exactly what I want and need from a proofreader.'
— Anna Dreda, Wenlock Books
'Tess has worked on several articles for me and has always delivered exceptional service. She is detailed, methodical and always meets deadlines. Her editing suggestions are very helpful, and she is careful to keep these in line with the tone and style of the document she's reviewing. I will continue to use her services and wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to others.'
— Heather Bain, Director, Charistay Limited
'I want to heartily recommend Tess Jolly. Not only is she an amazing poet, but she is also a fabulous proofreader. I asked Tess to proof a few of my short fictions which I am tentatively starting to assemble into a collection.
She found a fair amount to fix: including a regrettable promiscuity with commas and the odd toe-curling typo (including the classic patios when I meant patois), the odd tautology and so on. It was great to feel the MS was now more watertight.
Little bad habits, invisible to you as the perpetrator, being made suddenly visible was a little like having a writing masterclass. I fully intend to use Tess’ eagle eyes on my prose projects from now on. I can wholeheartedly recommend her.'
peterkenny.co.uk/2021/02/20/proof-positive/
— Peter, Kenny, author
'Tess proofread a draft collection of linked short stories I was working on with its author. The book’s set in the US, and one thing we asked her to look for was American spellings. She did a brilliant, thorough job – both at picking up those anomalies and at spotting literals, inconsistencies and suggesting small simplifications of phrasing. Her notes were all spot on, as well as very clear and easy to follow.'
— Charlotte Gann, editor
