Anna Paterson

Anna Paterson – Editor

Professional editor with more than eleven years' experience. I particularly enjoy working on crime and mystery, travel and YA.

Overview

I am a qualified freelance copy-editor and proofreader with more than eleven years' experience. After living in London for more than forty years and balancing freelance editorial work with other employment, I moved to the south of Italy in 2017 and became a full-time copy-editor and proofreader. It's definitely warmer out here, and with five cats (three Italian, two British) and four dogs (all Italian!) every day is an adventure…

I trained with The Publishing Training Centre (PTC) and the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP). I work with publishers, literary consultancies and self-publishing authors. Publishers I have worked with include Black and White Publishing, Bradt Travel Guides, Bristol University Press, Grange Communications, One World Publications, Sandstone Press and Summersdale Publishers. Literary consultancies include The Literary Consultancy and Cornerstones.

I have copy-edited or proofread the following genres (and the list is always expanding): academic, art, biography & memoir, chick lit, crime & mystery, fantasy, historical fiction, horror, military history, outdoor, romance, science fiction, sport, thriller, travel, Young Adult.

If you are an author looking to submit your manuscript to an agent, for example, I offer both copy-editing and proofreading services that can help perfect your work. I enjoy working closely with the author and am always at the end of an email if you have any questions. At the end of the day, we both want to be happy with the end result!

If you are a self-publishing author looking to get your work out to a wider audience, I can help ensure that the manuscript is the best it can be. I'm here to help. I work on a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, so whatever your project may be, feel free to get in touch and we can take it from there.

I can work on hard copy using the British Standards Institution symbols (BS 5261C:2005), and I can edit on screen using Track changes in Word or the annotations on PDFs.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs Sports & Outdoors Travel
Fiction
Horror Mystery & Crime Science Fiction Thriller & Suspense Young Adult
Languages
English (UK) English (US)
Certifications
  • Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP)
  • Brush up your grammar (CIEP)
  • Copy-editing Progress (CIEP)
  • Introduction to Copy-editing (CIEP)
  • Mentoring Scheme in Proofreading (CIEP)
  • Proofreading Problems (CIEP)
  • BA Joint Honours in French and German - 2:1
  • A Level: French (A), German (A), English (B)
  • GCSE: English, Maths, French, German, Italian, R.E., Child Development, Geography, Biology

Work experience

Self-employed

Sep, 2009 — Present

I started copy-editing and proofreading in 2009 and my first job was a band biography. Since then I have worked on a wide range of genres and find it hard to pick a favourite!

I work with publishers, literary consultancies and self-publishing authors. Publishers I have worked with include Black and White Publishing, Bradt Travel Guides, Bristol University Press, Grange Communications, One World Publications, Sandstone Press and Summersdale Publishers. Literary consultancies include The Literary Consultancy and Cornerstones.

Portfolio

Stolen Lives

Louise Hulland

136,000 people in the UK are in some form of slavery. This is big business, generating more than £120 billion annually for criminal organisations across the world.Stolen Lives examines trafficking and slavery in Britain, hearing from those on the front line, i... read more
Everything is coming up roses for Robbie Munro, newly married and living in the country with wife and child. That is until his wife takes up employment abroad just as old flame, Jill Green, asks him to investigate the unexplained death of her partner. Suspecti... read more
Edmund Carson is back!After a two-year killing spree, Edmund Carson's notoriety and fame are beginning to slip. He now has to find new ways to attract the world's attention. For Edmund, killing is not enough; unconditional love - love for his work - is the ult... read more
Chris Townsend embarks on a 700-mile walk along the spine of Scotland, the line of high ground where fallen rain runs either west to the Atlantic or east to the North Sea. Walking before the Independence Referendum of 2014, and writing after the EU Referendum ... read more
Approaching his middle forties, Gavin Boyter wondered what his life was all about. A Scot living in London, single and with no kids, he was living for the job and the dwindling hope of a career in film. He had been a club runner all his life, pretty good but n... read more
The enthralling inside story of Scottish football's golden ageThe 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia mark 20 years since Scotland last qualified for a major football tournament. It's a poignant, painful reminder of the state of our footballing nation. Qualificati... read more
Where would you go to survive a deadly flu pandemic?An unstoppable virus. Humanity’s last stand has failed. In the aftermath of a devastating global pandemic, what would you do to stay alive?"Mad Max meets The Day of the Triffids", "Terrifyingly realistic", "A... read more
Institutes that breed murderers... A cure that falls into the wrong hands... Is the government involved? Who can you trust? A ‘survivor' of the Brown Institute, Detective Alex Keaton is full of rage as she battles with the demons in her head and struggles to q... read more
Climb into the mind of teenager Edmund Carson and live through the horror and suffering he single-handedly creates. Following his self-righteous demand for recognition, you hurtle towards a terrifying climax that will leave you stone cold.Brimming with hatred,... read more
Time Passages

M. Dermott

Young teenagers Archie and Gus can't believe their luck when they are cast as extras in a huge film production in the Cathedral.But their dreams quickly take a sinister turn when they come face to face with infamous characters from the past, plunging them into... read more
Crush in Paradise is a love story set on a tropical island with monkeys, hummingbirds, waterfalls and sugarcane ... it's a teen romance like no other! One innocent summer of first love, discovery, secrets and heartbreak all rolled into one. Flying to a Caribbe... read more
Celestial Bodies

Jokha Alharthi

An elegantly structured story of the history and people of modern Oman told through one family's losses and loves.
New Year dawns and something is rotten in the market town of Kingsleigh, with a body next to the bypass and pet cats going missing. When one turns up dead at Costsave, Ant and Bea start a new investigation but it’s harder this time, with so much going on in th... read more
Just turned 75, exiled film director Johnny Jackson heads home for one last blockbuster. But going home means revisiting the past, and Johnny's past is a disturbing place. The dead won't tell any tales, but someone else just might.
Run Like Duck

Mark Atkinson

A guide to running for the unathletic, told by a man who fell into the sport almost by accident. Progressing cautiously on a reluctant and unexpected journey to 100 Marathons (and beyond), he learned the hard way from years of getting it wrong. Unlikely to bre... read more
A compelling story of one man’s quest to solve a hidden mystery, of shady deals and shadowy threats - and discoveries that make him question everything he knows...Matthew Agnew, a school archivist, is conducting a tour of the historic parts of the school when ... read more
When Catherine moves several hundred miles away from her sister, Helen says, 'Phone calls aren't enough', but they make it easier to edit the truth. Helen can dismiss Gilbert and his enchanted Factory as 'weird' when she's never met him, and Catherine thinks H... read more
Written by Caribbean-based writer and photographer Paul Crask, this new, thoroughly updated third edition of Bradt's Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique is the only standalone guide available to this alluring Caribbean destination. With insider knowledge ... read more
Bradt's Abruzzo remains the only full English-language guide to this beautiful and increasingly favoured part of Italy. This new edition has been thoroughly updated to cover all developments since the last edition, reflecting the region's growing popularity fo... read more

Anna has 3 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Morgan H.

Morgan H.

Feb, 2024

Grateful to have someone of Anna's caliber on hand to run the lice-comb through my prose. I'm self-publishing and aware how depressed I would have otherwise been when I read the glaring typos and inconsistencies she picked up. I even had character names change mid-stream which she corralled and sent back. And yes, she includes a few suggestions to wordsmith your piece. All this at half the ...
Read more
Jess S.

Jess S.

Nov, 2020

Wonderful feedback from a timely and thoughtful editor! I would happily use Anna's services again.
Anna P.
Thank you for your feedback, Jess. It was a pleasure working with you, and I wish you all the best.
jessica B.

jessica B.

Sep, 2020

Great, ensures the author is happy every step of the way.
Anna P.
Thank you, Jessica. It was great to be involved in your book. I wish you all the best with it.

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