Proofreading service

Reliable • Accurate • Fast

by David McMahon PhD

Are you keen to make the best possible impression with your writing?

Whether you're publishing a website, preparing a brochure for clients or writing a job application, naturally you want to appear as professional as possible. Creating a good impression is crucial to success.

Sadly, it's all too easy to undermine that good impression with bad writing. Failure to convey meaning effectively can destroy any prospect a piece of writing has of making the impact its author wanted – and can condemn him or her forever in the eyes of the reader. Lazy grammar, bad spelling and misplaced punctuation all contribute to this. So too does ambiguous or incoherent drafting.

Do you need someone you can rely on to make sure you've got it right?

Worry no more! Let me proofread your texts for you. I'm happy to take on work of all sizes, large or small, at very reasonable prices. Letters, brochures, signs, adverts, announcements, web pages, map legends, menus... whatever!

Rates per 1,000 words:

Proofreading (spelling, punctuation, grammar): £4
Editing (proofreading plus checking for sense): £8-£16, depending on complexity

(Minimum charge: £4)

British English is my mother tongue, but I'm fully conversant with other versions of English too, if you need proofreading in US English, Australian English, Canadian English or other variations.

As a British civil servant, I was responsible for preparing draft letters and speeches for Cabinet Ministers (and sometimes members of the Royal Family too), so I had to be able to produce texts in excellent, error-free English at short notice. You can have total confidence in the accuracy of my written English – not just in the spelling, punctuation and grammar, but in the conveying of meaning too.

How to get your text proofread

1. Send me the text as an email attachment (MS Word, OpenOffice or ASCII file (.doc, .odt, .txt), or the URL of the website you want proofread.

My email address: bewrite@britishexpat.com

2. I confirm receipt of your text, the number of words and the price, and let you know how long the work is likely to take.

3. You confirm that you're happy and want me to undertake the work.

4. As soon as the proofread text is ready, I send you an email with the invoice and payment instructions (through PayPal – if you don't have a PayPal account, they can also accept all major debit and credit cards).

5. You pay.

6. As soon as I receive the notification of your payment, I send you the proofread text.

About me

My name is David McMahon. I'm a native of the United Kingdom and a British/Irish dual national.

High-quality writing, often to tight deadlines, has been one of my strengths throughout my academic and professional career.

My career in detail

2004 to date: writing, editing, website design and development

1991-2004: HM Diplomatic Service

2001-04: New Delhi: First Secretary (Economic/Trade Policy/Environment) at the British High Commission, including speechwriting and policy brief drafting for Ministers and senior officials
1999-2001: London: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO): Head of Asia Policy Section in the South East Asian Department (Responsibility for regional policy). Involved preparing policy documents and letters for Ministers and senior officials.
1997-99: London: FCO: Economic Relations Department (dealing with debt and international development policy; included preparing FCO contributions to the 1997 International Development White Paper)
1993-97: Dhaka: Second Secretary (Political/Press & Public Affairs) at the British High Commission. Responsibility for editing High Commmission publicity material, as well as speech and policy drafting.
1993: London: FCO: Security Policy Department (Bosnia crisis)
1991-93: London: FCO: Soviet Department/Eastern Department (dealing with relations with the USSR and its successors)

1988-91: Research student at the University of Birmingham (Modern German History); PhD conferred July 1991 after presentation of an 84,000-word thesis.

1984-1988: BA student in Combined Subjects (German Studies and Modern History). Graduated in 1988 with First Class Honours.

Interests: Reading, writing, travel, building websites, politics, economics, science, technology