Employment and staff policies manual
Copy editing and proofreading of a staff manual on various employment policies and expectations.
Information on various types of copy editing and proofreading projects.
Brief description
Copy editing and proofreading of a staff manual on various employment policies and expectations.
Approximate length of content edited
10,000 words or more.
Notes on copy editing and proofreading this content
Copy edited and proofread a staff manual containing staff policies.
Work was completed for a UK non-profit organization.
Covered areas including working practices, protocols, processes, and behaviors.
Areas of expertise
British real ale vs. American craft beer: A short guide (full sample)
Copy editing and proofreading of a very short guide on real ale vs. craft beer.
An example of my editing and proofreading services.
It can be useful to understand exactly how my proofreading and editing services can help you. Below, you’ll find an article that I copy edited and proofread to give you an idea of how I can enhance your content. Please have a read, and if you like the content then please get in touch or get a quote.
About this content
Whether you are from the UK, the US or another part of the world, local brewing and beers are enjoying a surge of popularity. This article explores the differences between British real ale and American craft beer. Whichever side of the Atlantic people are on, the increase in local breweries producing delicious, tasty beer means there’s plenty of variety.
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The differences between British real ale and American craft beer
Beer has enjoyed a well-deserved renaissance on both sides of the Atlantic over the past few years. Craft and artisan brewing has become an incredibly important part of the beer scene.
Local breweries have sprung up all over the UK and the US, brewing a huge variety of unique, tasty, and varied ales and beers. There are now over 2,000 small breweries in the UK and over 6,000 in the US. This surge in popularity is good for beer drinkers everywhere, but you might be wondering: "What's the difference between British real ale and American craft beer?"
British real ale
Real Ale refers to cask-conditioned beers that are brewed and consumed in the UK. The term was coined by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in Britain in the 1970s.
American craft beer
The term American craft beer hasn't been around quite as long, but it's widely understood to mean the tradition of US microbreweries producing limited amounts of regional beers. That's not where the differences stop though, as there are plenty of other differences between the two drinks:
Real ale is generally made by aging beer in a cask and then serving directly from that cask.
Craft beers are often produced in stainless steel vessels and then sometimes have carbon dioxide added to provide more carbonation or fizz.
Typically, real ale is served at room temperature or slightly below (if the cask is kept in a cellar for example), whereas craft beer is almost always designed to be served chilled.
Real ales are generally not carbonated (although a few of them are, especially bottle conditioned ones), whereas almost all craft beers are carbonated.
There are profound differences in flavor between real ales and craft beers: real ales often have quite a malty, many-layered flavor, whereas craft beers tend to be hoppier and strongly flavored. This is by no means the case all the time, but a general rule.
Craft beers often have different styles to real ales. A good example is the American India Pale Ale (IPA) or the saison farmhouse ale, which aren't commonly available in the UK.
Both craft beers and real ales are generally produced locally, using traditional methods and are distributed in a limited geographical area.
What is important to know is that both real ales and craft beers can be superb. Whether you enjoy something British and malty, or something American and zesty, there's a brew out there on both sides of the Atlantic that will suit just about everyone's palate.
Whichever you enjoy, support your local breweries, enjoy their beer, and tell your friends!
Content originally written by Paul Maplesden, a freelance writer, and edited by me.
Investing in stocks — Asking the right questions (full sample)
Copy editing and proofreading of a guide to making investment decisions by asking the right questions about a business.
An example of my editing and proofreading services.
It can be useful to understand exactly how my proofreading and editing services can help you. Below, you’ll find an article that I copy edited and proofread to give you an idea of how I can enhance your content. Please have a read, and if you like the content then please get in touch or get a quote.
About this content
Find out how you can use analysis as a starting point for finding worthwhile investments. This article explores the questions that investors should ask to see if a business is worth investing in.
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Areas of expertise
Investing in stocks — asking the right questions
Good investment decisions are based on solid data, careful research, and keeping a cool head. When deciding what types of business you want to invest in, you need to be able to understand how their shares perform for investors, both individually and compared to other businesses, and compared to the market as a whole.
The easiest and most effective way to do this is to look at several different areas that relate to the business and the investment that you want to make. This fundamental analysis explores the data in the financial reports of every publicly listed company that trades on the stock markets.
Asking questions about business fundamentals
You can start your analysis by asking several questions about the business you want to invest in. Ultimately, you want to know if it is a good idea to invest in a specific business, compared to its competitors.
This type of analysis is only a tool and a broad one at that. It can give you insight into the workings, finances, and successes of a business, but there are far more factors outside a business's control that affect share price. That said, this will still give you a reasonable starting point. When you're looking at individual businesses and stocks, you'll want to ask the following questions:
Do you know the company's business and its area of operation? Some companies perform better in tight economic times, others are stronger when the economy is going well.
Can you identify strong companies in specific sectors? These will normally be household names like Disney in media, Procter & Gamble in consumer goods, Home Depot in home improvement, and Microsoft in computing.
Are company insiders buying or selling their own stock? People in the business buying and selling stock can be a useful indicator of the short- to medium-term prospects for the business. This isn't an exact science (they might be buying stock because it's cheap, or selling stock to finance something unrelated to the business) so use this alongside other information.
You shouldn't be investing money in a company that you don't understand. As an investor, you need to have an opinion of the future success of that business. It can also be very useful to look at the major competitors of a business and how they are doing; for example, if you were looking at Google, you might also investigate Yahoo or Microsoft as they have several competing products that do similar things.
You can also start your investigation with a sector or industry and find out who the largest companies are in that industry. Ultimately, you'll want to put your money into companies that are larger and stronger than their competition, unless you prefer underdog (value) investing or you think those other businesses are undervalued.
This type of analysis is a good starting point for finding worthwhile investments. Combine it with your other investing strategies to create longer-term opportunities to create wealth.
Content originally written by Paul Maplesden, a freelance writer, and edited by me.
Investment basics — Deciding to sell your investments (full sample)
Copy editing and proofreading of a short guide on when you might want to sell your investments.
An example of my editing and proofreading services.
It can be useful to understand exactly how my proofreading and editing services can help you. Below, you’ll find an article that I copy edited and proofread to give you an idea of how I can enhance your content. Please have a read, and if you like the content then please get in touch or get a quote.
About this content
Find out when or if you should sell your investments. Learn the reasons that you might or might not want to hold onto your money. This article also explores what to do when you do decide to sell.
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Areas of expertise
Investment basics — Deciding to sell your investments
You can sell your investments in the same way that you purchased them — through your investment account or brokerage account. There are a few areas to be aware of.
Be sure you want to sell
Carefully consider if you want to sell your investment; there's nothing that says you must sell.
You could hold onto an investment for your whole life, enjoying the interim returns and then leave it for your children or others to inherit.
Reasons you might not want to sell
You haven't met your goal on the investment yet.
You don't know what to do with the money if you do sell.
You may have to pay a higher rate of tax on your profits if you sell in the first year.
There may be penalties or extra fees associated with selling now.
Reasons you might want to sell
You've met your goal and you need the money.
You think that you'll get a better return elsewhere.
You want to invest the money elsewhere because your risk appetite has changed (for example you might want to move to safer investments as you get older).
You want to minimize your losses on the investment and don't want to wait it out.
When you do decide to sell
Check that you understand the fees you'll need to pay, tax implications, and any regulations or penalties.
Sell the investment at a time that's right for you.
If you're selling through an online broker, use a selling order to get the right price.
Content originally written by Paul Maplesden, a freelance writer, and edited by me.