I am a freelance proofreader and copy editor with a background in theology and religious studies. I have had seven years’ experience in the publishing industry, having proofread five manuscripts that have since been published (please see my Portfolio below). I also proofread presentation slides and submitted short book descriptions to The Bookseller’s Buyers Guide for Lion Hudson PLC.
I have an eye for detail and a reputation for the accuracy of my work. I am also a writer of fantasy short fiction, having had two works accepted for publication: ‘The Riddle of Shurá’ (Luvah: Journal of the creative imagination—Winter 2013) and ‘The Festering Mantle’ (The Old Moon Quarterly—Winter 2024).
Employment
March 2016 - Present, Marketing Consultant (freelance)
Islamic Text Society
Chief duties include: managing and editing the company website, proof-reading forthcoming manuscripts, managing the subscriber database, planning and scheduling marketing campaigns, analysing the results of marketing campaigns, liaising with current clients, as well as creating and emailing/posting promotional material to these and prospective clients.
• I proofread the following published titles for the Islamic Texts Society
o Poetry in Praise of Prophetic Perfection, Oludamini Ogunnaike (ISBN: 9781911141464; pub. date: January 2020)
o A Sufi Commentary on the Qur’an – Vol. I, Feras Hamza (trans.) (ISBN: 9781911141440; pub. date: July 2021)
o A Sufi Commentary on the Qur’an – Vol. II, Khalid Williams (trans.) (ISBN: 9781911141457; pub. date: November 2021)
• Skills learnt:
o Design/formatting skills
o Proof-reading
o Adobe Photoshop and InDesign 2017
o WordPress HTML coding
o Report-writing
o Social media marketing skills
o Research (internet-based)
o Market analysis
o Sales promotion/marketing
o Interpersonal communication
o Phone manners
July-August, 2015, Marketing and Publicity Intern
SPCK Publishers
This role involved the sourcing of contact details of reviewers for forthcoming titles, creating lists of appropriate bloggers and Twitter accounts to help endorse titles, and amending contact details on as well as uploading contract agreements onto the BiblioLive database.
• Skills learnt:
o Use of BiblioLive database
o Communication (drafting letters)
o Book promotion
o Research (social media sites)
o Identifying potential markets
o Time-Management
March-May, 2015, Sales Development Administrator
Lion Hudson PLC
This role was connected to the six-week
preparation for the company’s Trading Sales
Meeting. It involved the editing of and creation
of PowerPoint presentations based on new
titles releases, as well as creating Excel
spreadsheets for each title with metadata sent
by the client publishers.
• Skills learnt:
o Computer literacy (Excel, PowerPoint)
o Use of The Bookseller Guide database
o Use of the Vista stock database system
o Editing
o Design/formatting skills
o Customer communication
o Phone manner
o Customer service skills