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Jackie O’Donnell Editing Services
For All Your Writing and Editing Needs 6133 Maree Ct. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it San Jose, CA 95123
How You Know You Can Trust Your Work to Me I have over 35 years of experience editing in a variety of areas: PhD theses and Masters projects; business reports, plans, manuals, and other documents; reports for governmental agencies and educational and religious organizations; speeches and presentations; resumes; newsletters; and fiction. In addition, I currently have on the market one non-fiction book in paper version and four others in electronic form, with yet another due out soon.
My degrees include a BA with a major in English and double minor in Speech Communication and Western Philosophy. I also hold a Masters in Business Administration. I have taught writing and speaking skills for many years and have created and operated two businesses.
I believe that writing which communicates most effectively is clear, concise, accurate, and appealing, inviting a reader to read further. In other words, it says to the reader “The writer knows what he’s talking about” and “The material is understandable and interesting.” This means that it uses economy and variety of language as well as accurate English grammar, mechanics, and syntax.
What I Do This depends on what you feel you need. If your document is polished already and simply needs a check for mechanical errors (e.g., spelling, capitalization, punctuation), then you would request “Basic Proofreading.” However, if you want to check on your syntax, word choice, economy, and consistency, you would choose “Extensive Proofreading.” On the other hand, if you are in the process of honing your own writing skills, you may choose “Major Editing or Rewriting.” Prices vary accordingly (see “Services and Fees”).
Guarantee? No, I cannot guarantee that a manuscript I edit will be accepted for publication (or for an “A” grade!). I can guarantee that it will have a much better chance.
Get to Know Me If you are interested in knowing a little about me, look through the other pages of this website. You will learn about some of my passions, as well as my personal philosophy of life. You can sample my poetry or check out my books, too. Welcome!
Fiction
Financial, Technical, Other Non-Fiction
Revisions Sometimes, after you have received your edited text and you think you are finished with the project, you learn you need to add something or revise data. In this case, do your revisions and send the manuscript back to me to re-edit. Or, if the revisions are few and isolated in their own pages or sections, send me those, including the whole paragraph in which they appear so I can determine context. I will perform the editing at a 10% discount. You will be charged only for pages being edited. If you resubmit the entire work, highlight or type in red the changes you made which you want me to look at. This ensures that you are charged only for those pages I actually edit.
In a Hurry? Most jobs take 1-2 weeks, but I can give you a time estimate once I’ve seen your manuscript or document. I like to allow time for a thorough job. (That’s why I charge by the page rather than by the hour.) If you are under a time crunch, though, I will do my best to meet your needs. I can often get short drafts back to you in 1-2 days. Rush jobs will not require additional payment unless what is to be edited is long or difficult, which I will be able to tell by the sample you submit. In that case, I will tell you the additional fee and you can decide whether or not to have me do the job.
Special Rates for Work over 150 Pages: Varies with length and type.
When to Pay New Clients: You need to pre-pay. Once I have verified payment I will begin editing your work. Next time you will enjoy “Returning Client” status. Returning Clients: If you want to pay in full at the time you submit your writing, fine. Otherwise, pay 50% when you submit your work and the remainder on completion of the job. In that case, I will send a statement to you along with your completed project and expect payment within two weeks. If it slips your mind, please know I need to charge a 10% fee for any balance owed over 30 days from date of billing.
How to Pay (Options): We accept money orders, payable to Jackie O’Donnell and delivered to the address at the top of this page. Or click on the orange “Pay Now” button below to pay through PayPal. (If paying with a credit or debit card, you do not need to sign up for a PayPal account.)
Refunds: This is a service rather than a product which can be returned. Yet, you may not be totally happy with what I’ve done for you. If so, you must let me know within a week of receiving your edited material. Tell me exactly what you are unhappy with. I will do my best to satisfy you, for example, by reworking a section at no additional charge. If I feel that we have failed you in terms of our service, I will give you a refund.
I believe that your privacy must be protected. Short of a court-order or your written permission, I guarantee that I or anyone working with me will not allow access to any information you give us or to your manuscript or document. Nor will we sell, give, or use your private contact or other information except for the purposes of our transactions with you. However, we reserve the right—unless you direct us otherwise in writing—to use very short excerpts, without using your name, for “before” and “after” samples. After a period of time, your manuscript will be deleted from our system.
I’m looking forward to helping you turn your glimmering ideas into a true diamond. Jackie
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