Overview
Hi, I'm Louis. I'm a copyeditor and proofreader with over twenty years of professional wordworking experience. I can help you polish up your text, squash the bugs, line up your spelling and punctuation, and ask the right questions.I've edited and proofread fiction for adults, teens and children, specialising in commercial and genre fiction, and also work on lifestyle books and corporate and educational documents. I was a commissioning editor at Random House South Africa and am now a writing tutor at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education. I am an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and part of their copyediting tutor panel.I've published nine thriller and SFFH novels myself and hold a doctorate in English literature. I know the editorial process from conception to sale and am sensitive to the needs of authors, publishers and clients.
Services
Fiction
Contemporary Fiction
Middle Grade
Mystery & Crime
Science Fiction
Thriller & Suspense
Young Adult
Non-Fiction
Humanities & Social Sciences
Writing & Publishing
Languages
English (SA)
English (UK)
English (US)
Certifications
- Copy-Editing 2 (SfEP)
- Proofreading 2 (SfEP)
- PhD English Literature
Work experience
Self-employed
Apr, 2009 —
Present
Running my own editorial business since 2009, I have edited and proofread scores of books including crime, thrillers and SFFH, children’s and literary fiction, travel, sport and lifestyle. I have also worked on a variety of books, articles, educational courses and documents for publishers and commercial, academic and private clients.
As an author I've published four novels under my own name, and as S.L. Grey, collaborating with Sarah Lotz, I've published five horror-thrillers in the UK, US and several international markets.
Oxford University
Sep, 2019 —
Present
I currently tutor online creative writing and drama writing courses for Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education.
Random House Struik
Jun, 2011 —
Mar, 2013
(over 1 year)
I was the commissioning editor and project manager of eKhaya, Penguin Random House South Africa's digital publishing imprint, until they were absorbed into PRH. The role involved every phase of producing books from submission all the way through to publication.
Writers' College
May, 2011 —
Jan, 2014
(over 2 years)
I designed and tutored the original three-module course on copyediting and proofreading for the SA/UK/NZ Writers' College and tutored their Write a Novel course.
Tshikululu Social Investments
May, 2009 —
Oct, 2011
(over 2 years)
I worked on a freelance basis editing CSI funding proposal documents to be presented to board meetings of major corporations such as Anglo American and De Beers. The documents needed to be produced to the exacting standards of a stringent and complex house style.
Exclusive Books
Mar, 2001 —
Apr, 2009
(about 8 years)
In this position I wrote, edited and produced all the Exclusive Books in-house, ad hoc and website publications, including brochures, newsletters and posters.
Exclusive Books
Jul, 1996 —
Mar, 2001
(over 4 years)
My position involved IT and financial management, staffing, training, buying and customer service at the flagship Hyde Park store of Exclusive Books, South Africa's major book retailer.
Portfolio
Dan works at a bookstore in a deadly dull shopping mall where nothing ever happens. He's an angsty emo-kid who sells mid-list books to mid-list people for the minimum wage. He hates his job. Rhoda has dragged her babysitting charge to the mall so she can meet ... read more
A modern day pirate story . . . Oliver Strange is helping his father collect frog data in Madagascar when he and his friend, Zinzi, come across a strange laboratory and a girl held captive. Then his father disappears. While searching for clues, Oliver and Zinz... read more
Oliver Strange’s life in London is all very normal until his father disappears in the wilds of the Okavango Swamps while collecting frog data. When Oliver goes in search of his dad, he is captured and things go from bad to worse. He soon discovers his knowledg... read more
Elijah Rolene is a lost man. Folowing the death of his wife, he quits his job as a police pilot and turns to prescription painkillers for comfort. Not content to watch him destroy his life, his veterinarian sister convinces him to help out at her animal shelte... read more
First there is the killing of the minister of energy. Then the cop investigating the murder commits suicide. Fearing a conspiracy, the minister’s lover hires pi Fish Pescado to find the killer. Then she goes missing. And Fish is being stonewalled by the cops b... read more
An African adventure set on the border between South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Escaping an England crippled by The Great War, twin brothers Edward and Derek Hughes head to South Africa. Inspired by their late father’s diary, they intend to help save the c... read more
CAPE TOWN: winter. A wealthy Native American couple, looking to invest in a local casino development. A German weapons scientist, on the run from a gang of Eastern European thugs. Ordinary enough security jobs for Mace Bishop and Pylon Buso, it seems, but when... read more
Regile is a zama-zama working illegally in an abandoned mine near Barberton. He has moved up the ranks and is now paid a salary to keep the other child workers in line. Towards the end of a three-month stint underground, a fourteen-year-old boy from Mozambique... read more
“They sit in the doors of the Big Mamma Pumas, feet dangling out, all gung ho. Sometimes you have a bad hair day in the big fat sky – come back with holes in you.”First nothing happens, on the border between Namibia and Angola, 1983. A platoon of servicemen at... read more
“Hillbrow, 1967. The New York of Africa. Someone wrote that the place would soon have more people per square kilometre than Tokyo. Everyone quoted that article to everyone. Some even cut it out and kept it folded in their wallets.”While other boys daydream abo... read more
The Springboks have had several post-isolation coaches, and if they agree on nothing else, they will concur that everyone in the job suffers enormous pressure. Unlike coaches from other rugby-playing countries, they also face many obstacles outside of the game... read more
As he presses a revolver to his head, Reece Cole sees his little daughter’s handprints on the windowpane. One last, painful reminder of her all too short life. But then he notices something about the handprints that defies belief. Something that verges on the ... read more
When a reclusive printmaker dies, his friend inherits the thousands of etchings and drawings he has stored in his house over the years. Overwhelmed by the task of sorting and exhibiting this work, she seeks the advice of a curator.What compulsion drove the pri... read more
They say the girls were witches. But Beatrice Scarlet, the apothecary's daughter, is sure they were innocent victims... London, 1758: Beatrice Scarlet, the apothecary's daughter, has found a position at St Mary Magdalene's Refuge for fallen women. The charity ... read more
Chilling near-future SF for fans of Black Mirror and True Detective.When Lucie Sterling's niece is abducted, she knows it won't be easy to find answers. Stanton is no ordinary city: invasive digital technology has been banned, by public vote. No surveillance s... read more
From Blumhouse Books, a haunting thriller about a troubled married couple whose vacation to Paris leads them into a nightmare. "Dark and deeply disturbing. I'm still shuddering."--R.L. Stine“An impressively compelling chiller… an ideal choice for late nights a... read more
Someday I’ll see the sky.I’ll climb the thousand steps.The gates will open and my family will be waiting,ready to take me home.Sixteen-year-old Ebba has never experienced life outside the underground bunker deep inside Table Mountain, known as the colony. But ... read more
Please Read Notes: Brand New, International Softcover Edition, Printed in black and white pages, minor self wear on the cover or pages, Sale restriction may be printed on the book, but Book name, contents, and author are exactly same as Hardcover Edition. Fast... read more
Louis has 9 reviews
Professionalism
Quality
Value
Responsiveness
S. L. A.
Apr, 2022
S. L. A.
Mar, 2022
Jack L.
Nov, 2021
Michael F.
Mar, 2021
Jenny C.
Jan, 2021
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