About me


Hello! I’m Dr Katie Finnegan and I work as a non-fiction copyeditor and proofreader, specialising in the humanities and social sciences. I set up my editing business in 2012 after completing a PhD in sociolinguistics.

I trained with The Publishing Training Centre (PTC) and the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP).

I’ve worked on hundreds of different projects for publishing companies, students and academics.

I love the variety in my work – in any given week, I work on a range of different texts. I might be editing a linguistics book and proofreading a teacher education book while language editing a psychology paper.

I regularly work with multlingual speakers, helping to maximise the impact of their texts.

To find out more about the services I offer, please visit my pages on services for publishers, students and academics.

If you’re considering hiring me for your project, please feel free to email me at k.finnegan82@gmail.com.

When I’m not editing or proofreading, I enjoy watching the garden birds, spending time with friends and family, and walking in the hills of the Peak District.

Training and qualifications

  • Basic Proofreading (PTC)
  • Copyediting 1 (SfEP, now CIEP)
  • Editing with Word (SfEP, now CIEP)
  • Word for Practical Editing (CIEP)
  • Editorial Project Management (CIEP)
  • PhD in sociolinguistics
  • MA in historical language studies

Skills

  • On-screen markup: track changes, Word styles, PDF annotation tools
  • Software: Microsoft Office (including Word macros and PerfectIt), Adobe Acrobat
  • Editorial style knowledge (e.g. APA, Harvard, Chicago, MLA); able to apply any house style
  • Knowledge of BSI (BS-5261C) proofreading symbols