Communications
Professional
Chartered
Editing, proofreading, and writing services
small print
writ large
necessary stuff.
code of practice
As a members of the Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders (CIEP), we are bound to abide by their Code of Practice. This has been developed by the CIEP to encourage best practice in the industry, and as such, it is useful to proofreaders and editors and their clients. You can see the CIEP full Code of Practice here.
This is how CIEP sums up its Code of Practice
CIEP's Code of practice (CoP), ensuring editorial excellence, is a really useful resource for editorial workers – editors, proofreaders and project managers, whether working freelance or in-house – and their clients and employers. Its purpose is to establish standards of best practice for CIEP members and help them maintain them and to encourage good professional relationships.
Good communication between client/employer and freelance/employee is essential. Clear briefing and the agreement of terms are vital if high standards are to be maintained by both parties, and unsurprisingly they're emphasised by the CoP.
In addition, the CoP includes guidance on:
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the professional behaviour of both freelance/employee and client/employer
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standards for proofreading, editing and project management
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information on web editing, electronic file handling, email etiquette, confidentiality and computer security
The CoP is endorsed by the CIEP council. Although it is not a legal document, it is considered binding on members and Corporate Subscribers.
privacy policy
GDPR
Part of our contract with you is that we be a responsible business owner and comply with 2018 EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) in order to fully protect your information. The following is a list of what we do in respect of this.
Your personal data
In order to communicate with you efficiently and professionally it will be necessary for us to collect and store at least a modicum of your basic personal information, such as:
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name
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email address
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contact postal address
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details specific to your enquiry, e.g., the nature of your enquiry, whether you are an independent author or editor etc.
Why do we collect data from you?
We need the following, minimal information, such that we can:
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respond to your initial contact message via this website
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contact you prior, during, and after any work that we agree to do for you
How do we use this data?
We use the data we collect from you as follows:
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to contact you regarding your enquiry, for contract purposes, or in order to give an initial or updated quotation for my services
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to invoice you and to provide proof of my compliance with HMRC regulations
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to record your agreeing to the terms and conditions of the services we provide
Our promise to you
We will never distribute, lease, or sell your information to any third party unless you give us express written permission to do so.
How does data transfer take place?
We use Gmail,and Dropbox for all data transfer. Details of their respective privacy policies can be found via the clickable links provided.
How do we store your information?
We use a password-protected computer to store your files, and to enable being mobile when we work; we also use Microsoft OneDrive. This gives us secure (password protected) access - from say a laptop - to data that are stored on our main computer. We do not keep copies of your work on any device save for our main computer.
How will we deal with your files?
All original files that you pass to us remain your property. Versions of these files that you have commissioned us to work on (i.e., to change format, edit, or to add content etc.) are our property until you have paid for the work we have agreed upon. Once you have paid, these files become your property. We keep all files and emails relating to completed work on our secure computer. This is useful to us in keeping a record of past work in the event that we work together again. However, if you have strong opinions on our keeping these records and would like us to delete this information on completion of our collaboration please just let us know. If you have contacted us and for whatever reason decide not to pursue a project with us I may keep your contact information for business analysis purposes. This would remain private to us, but again, if you have strong objections to our keeping this information just let us know.
Our marketing strategy: how does it affect you?
It is possible that we may contact you again about obtaining further work. To do this we would need to keep your contact details, and work-related information you might previously have disclosed, on file. This information is for our own marketing and we will never share it with anyone else. Please let me know if you do not want us to do this.
We check and update this policy regularly.
May 2023
terms & conditions
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These terms and conditions apply to any work done for the Client by the Freelancer.
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The Client is under no obligation to offer the Freelancer work; neither is the Freelancer under any obligation to accept work offered by the Client.
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The Freelancer will provide service(s) as mutually agreed, confirmed in writing by the Client.
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The work will be carried out unsupervised at such times and places as determined by the Freelancer, using his own equipment.
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The Freelancer confirms that she/he is self-employed, is responsible for her/his own income tax and National Insurance contributions, and for paying VAT (where applicable) and will not claim benefits granted to the Client's employees.
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The Freelancer agrees to attend the Client's or other premises for necessary meetings, the time spent and agreed reasonable expenses incurred to be reimbursed by the Client.
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The Client will reimburse the Freelancer for agreed reasonable expenses over and above usual expenses incurred in the process of editorial work.
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The Client will pay the Freelancer a fee per hour OR per printed page OR an agreed flat fee for the job, plus VAT where applicable.
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The completed work will be delivered on or before the date agreed, for the agreed fee, which will be based on the description of the work required and the brief, both supplied by the Client.
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If, however, on receipt of the item to be worked on or at an early stage, it becomes apparent that significantly more work is required than had been anticipated in the preliminary discussion/brief, the Freelancer may renegotiate the fee and/or the deadline.
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Similarly, if, during the term of the Freelancer's work, additional tasks are requested by the Client, the Freelancer may renegotiate the fee and/or the deadline.
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If the project is lengthy, the Freelancer may invoice periodically for completed stages.
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Any content created by the Freelancer as part of the copy-editing/proofreading/project management process will become the copyright of the Client, unless otherwise agreed.
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The nature and content of the work will be kept confidential and not made known to anyone other than the Client and its contractors without prior written permission.
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The Freelancer guarantees that any work that she/he subcontracts on behalf of the Client will be completed to the same standard, schedule and budget and with the same conditions of confidentiality.
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If the Freelancer's work is unsatisfactory, the Freelancer will rectify it in her/his own time and at her/his own expense.
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Unless agreed otherwise at the outset, payment will be made within 30 days of receipt of the Freelancer's invoice, according to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 (amended 2002 and 2013).
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The information that the Client and the Freelancer may keep on record is covered by the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation. No more such information will be held than is necessary, at any time, to comply with those terms and with any compliance statement or privacy policy published by the Client and/or the Freelancer. Both the Client and the Freelancer agree that, where consent is required to hold or process such data, such consent has been requested and obtained and both facts can be demonstrated. Either may view the other’s records to ensure that they are relevant, correct and up to date.
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Either the Client or the Freelancer has the right to terminate a contract for services if there is a serious breach of its terms.
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If the Freelancer has made a substantial contribution to the copy-editing/proofreading/project management of the work, she/he will be entitled to receive one free copy of the work.
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The Freelancer may use the Client's name in her/his promotional material.
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This agreement is subject to the laws of England and Wales [or Scots or Northern Ireland law, as appropriate], and both Freelancer and Client agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the English and Welsh [or Scots or Northern Ireland] courts.