Category Archives: General text

A word on Wordy

Posted on by

This article was first published in the March/April, 2011, issue of SfEP‘s magazine Editing Matters.

This article was edited by Richard at Wordy at 1:05 pm CET. The edit took 35 minutes and cost €8.42. Richard found over 40 errors in the text – all of them preventing me from getting my message across. This speed, price and quality makes for an excellent online service, and after one year in business I have a few thoughts on editing, on Wordy, and on what it takes to turn the two into something viable.
Continue reading →

Wordy Richtlinien für Lektoren – Deutsch

Posted on by

Für Wordy als Lektor zu arbeiten bedeutet, standardisierte Regeln und Richtlinien anzuwenden, also genau zu wissen, was man tun muss. Umgekehrt weiß ein Kunde genau, was er von Ihrer Arbeit erwarten kann.

Von Ihnen als Lektor für deutschsprachige Texte wird erwartet, dass Ihre Muttersprache Deutsch ist und Sie über ein sehr gutes Wissen bezüglich der Wortwahl, Grammatik, Zeichensetzung im Deutschen sowie der einschlägigen Regelwerke (vor allem DUDEN und DIN 5008) verfügen – und dass Sie dieses Wissen auch professionell anwenden.
Continue reading →

A note on quality…

Posted on by

This post is a development of a mail I sent out to the editors on Wordy last week. It has to do with the quality of our service, and what we should do to ensure it. After all, when all the nice things about the speed, price and accessibility of Wordy have been said – quality is what keeps us going forward, and customer coming back.
Continue reading →

Give your writing some credit and save 12.5%

Posted on by

Based on a lot of feedback, we are changing our monthly subscription model to pay-as-you-go credits:

  • Credits last one full year
  • Credits save you 12.5% on every order
  • Credits come in different packages of EUR 19, 39, 199 and 999
  • Each package has its own unique features (pick your own team of editors, add multiple users etc.)
  • Credits can be topped off with one click when you need to

Why credits? Because, like most people, you probably have pretty irregular needs for copy-editing and you’re not all that keen on seeing your account reset every month. Now you won’t. Simply go to:

http://www.wordy.com/pricing

Wordy editors are constantly outdoing themselves, which means pick-up times are now consistently under 3 minutes (and in many cases under 1 minute) while the turn-around time for 400 words is 20-33 minutes.

Looking forward to seeing you on Wordy.

Wordy Guide for Editors – US English

Posted on by

Wordy’s house style for U.S. clients is Chicago as outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. If the client does not specify a style, you should use Chicago. However, where another style is specified by the client, the requirements of that style guide override Chicago. For U.K. clients, the house style is that given in New Harts Rules.
Continue reading →

Distributing Wordy.com

Posted on by

For Wordy, to build a large, returning customer base is key to keeping all 130+ UK and US English copy-editors on the platform busy. And though it might sound self-evident, the irregular needs of most customers to use professional copy-editing simply demands a well-sized customer base. So, launching an online copy-editing service that works (and works really well) is one thing. Another is distributing Wordy through as many outlets as possible, making professional copy-editing one-click-easy to obtain. Here are some thoughts on distributing Wordy.
Continue reading →

Wordy Guide for Editors – UK English

Posted on by

Being an editor with Wordy means working from a standardised set of guidelines so that you know exactly what to do, and the client knows exactly what to expect from your work. Editors are expected to be a native speaker of English with a good, professional working knowledge of English language, grammar, usage, punctuation and standard editorial conventions as laid out in New Harts Rules for the UK and the Chicago Manual of Style for the US.
Continue reading →

Quality control of professional copy-editing

Posted on by

Lately I’ve been looking into how to control the quality of output from Wordy. I’m especially interested in companies and services that offer workflow regulated to the extent that they’ve obtained an ISO certification. Why? Because fixed standards and quality control mean much less hassle for editors and the support function, as well as happier, more confident clients. So how do we secure the highest quality in service without having to go to the extent of ISO certification just yet?
Continue reading →

Copy-editing subscriptions and tweaks galore

Posted on by

Something is happening at Wordy.com. We’ve committed a set of comprehensive copy-editing subscription plans and made numerous tweaks and adjustments to the platform. The tweaks should provide an even smoother user experience, but the subscription plans are really something else. Publishers, meet your future editing service.
Continue reading →

Subscribing to a copy-editing service?

Posted on by

Since Wordy’s launch we’ve been working on putting together a number of subscription packages that will be both practical and attractive. The difficulty is that Wordy’s present customers have some very diverse wants and needs with regard to the services we offer, so the traditional discount for volume has to be combined with whatever technical solutions customers require. In addition we would like to see Wordy implemented in a large number of CMS systems as soon as possible, so putting together custom packages with a high degree of flexibility in terms of services, users, payment schemes and methods of renewal is also crucial.
Continue reading →