The Personal Side

I have always loved reading, and remember that moment as a small child when reading clicked into place for me. From that point, books were my best friends and I have always squeezed in as much reading as possible. There is also the pipedream of being a writer, which I hope will come to fruition one of these days. My first ‘serious’ job after leaving university was as a newspaper sub-editor, and it was a boost to find that my ease with the English language was in demand. I then went off on several tangents for many years, including spending 12 years working with government and other public grants to businesses, research organisations and the not-for-profit sector. I really enjoyed this work but books and words were calling me, and so it was that in 2012 I finally started WordBlink.

As a reader, I am especially interested in children’s fiction and travel memoirs. I love the layering in children’s books, so that there’s something for parents and children to enjoy. My favourite sorts of travel memoirs are those about people setting up home in other parts of the world, or doing cycling or walking trips. They give me room to dream and to think: what if?

The Professional Side

I specialise in non-fiction books for publishers and self-publishers in the following areas

Business

Environmental/Horticultural

Memoirs

Self-Help

I am fascinated by the rise of self-publishing and am keen to help authors self-publish as professionally as they can. I work for both trade publishers and self-publishers and think there is room for both in the big world of books.

I also regularly proofread Education, Marketing, Politics, Social Sciences and MBA dissertations and essays for English Second Language (ESL) students, and edit or proofread business articles, whitepapers, websites, job applications and other items for business clients.
Professional affiliations

I am a Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) and work to their Code of Practice. I am listed in their directory. I am also listed on findaproofreader.com and helpwithpublishing.com.

Editorial Training
Continuing Professional Development
  • The SfEP’s 2014 Conference
  • The Writers’ and Artists’ “Self-publishing in the Digital Age” 2014 Conference
  • PGCE Primary – University of Portsmouth
  • MA in Children’s Literature – University of Surrey Roehampton (Roehampton Institute)
  • BA (English, Linguistics) – University of Natal, Durban

Why Wordblink?

I wanted a business name distinct from my own name, because people find my name difficult to remember, spell and pronounce – so the chances of clients finding a website with my name would be ridiculously slim!

The name came to me simply because we blink all the time, so blinking is something I am doing while I’m editing and proofreading: blinking at words. And I am reading an awful lot of the time – so I am doing a lot of blinking at words! It’s possible to miss an error in the blink of an eye when you are checking your own work – and that’s why you need someone like me. I may not be able to finish your work in the blink of an eye, but I will read it carefully and thoroughly and examine it from all sorts of angles. You may be surprised at what I find.

I have been outsourcing proofreading work to Louise for over four years now and am extremely happy with her services. She is professional, dependable and always a pleasure to deal with. If you’re looking for an experienced proofreading service you can rely on, I highly recommend Louise!

NIck Jones, MD, Full Proof, www.full-proof.co.uk/

Having used services of Louise in proofing and copy-editing my essays, thesis and academic publications for more than a year, I can confirm that she is an outstanding professional with an eye for detail. She is very supportive, efficient and extremely reliable. I highly recommend her anytime. Thanks Louise for your support!

SJ, Student

A heartfelt thank you from Arve and I for doing such a thorough and conscientious job! We truly appreciate it. If ever we submit an MS to Routledge again we will ask to have you assigned as our copyeditor if at all possible.

Arve Hansen & Kenneth Bo Nielsen, co-editors of Cars, Automobility and Development in Asia

My experience working with Louise over the last year has been an absolute pleasure and a very educational process! Not only did she get my children's book edited, she also got it self published from start to finish, both in electronic form as an ebook on Kindle as well as in paperback form on Amazon. Louise did so much more for me than I could ever hoped for! She guided me in the right direction to liaison with third parties like the cover designer ... She did a lot of research and made sure I felt my work was in good hands! I could not have published my book without her and cannot speak highly enough of her professional services!

- Jacqueline Waterhouse, author of Princesses Don't Wear Glasses

Working with Louise was a real pleasure. Her professionalism and attention to details went far beyond her remit. Having my manuscript scrutinised by an industry professional was invaluable. I have no doubt that her input will take my writing to the next level and I look forward to working with her in the future.

Craig Briggs, Author of Beyond Imagination

I'd highly recommend Louise. She did an excellent job of editing and proof-reading my latest book to ensure consistencies in the text and making suggestions for improvements. With an excellent eye for detail, I'd not only recommend Louise for book editing, but also for articles, blog posts and proposals where accuracy is essential. So much so, that I've now recommended Louise to many of my clients who are going through a similar journey, and I also asked her to contribute to my book.

Karen Williams, Author of Your Book Is The Hook

Louise made an invaluable contribution to our Biodiversity Action Plan by providing highly professional and much needed proofreading skills. She worked closely with our volunteer group, provided good advice and her contribution is much appreciated. Her eye for detail is amazing.

Councillor Bob Ayer, Chairman, Petersfield Town Partnership

Louise did a fantastic job proofreading one of my blog posts; her eye for detail is amazing and her knowledge of punctuation is invaluable for someone like me who has a deplorable tendency to use run-on sentences. She went above and beyond her original remit though as, knowing I was looking into self-publishing, she put together a few pages of links to some very helpful sites. Her insider knowledge in this respect has proved to be very valuable.

- Kim Stevens

Louise recently proofread a complicated German translation of a book called Edible Cities for Permanent Publications. To say I was impressed with the thorough precision she completed the task with would be an understatement – I actually even took pleasure in the process of working through her corrections, excited at the turn of every page as to what tiny incorrect detail she was going to uncover next! I have no hesitation in recommending her work as being of the highest standard.

- Tim Harland, Permanent Publications

Louise proofread my dissertation last minute the evening before it was due! She was very kind and professional and managed to calm my fears. She has a keen eye and picked up on little mistakes, but above all she is excellent in ensuring that your use of acronyms etc remain consistent throughout. I would definitely use her services in the future again! You will not be disappointed.

- R, Social Sciences student

I'm always running around like a headless chicken. Sometimes I even end up overwhelmed by the pressure of proofreading my own work before publishing it online or sending it off for print. Meeting Louise and starting to get her constant support relieves the stress. Her expertise is second to none as she is always able to pick up all the mistakes that a layperson could never be able to identify. She is a reliable person who delivers efficient services that met my needs whenever I'm desperately in need. I would definitely continue working with Louise.

Esther Tendai Musiya

Louise ... kindly offered to proof read the newsletter I had put together for my charity, I Learn to Live – Ngifundela Ukuphila. Since then she has proofread some additional reports ... This has included correcting spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors, and she has also suggested changes to sentence structure and queried discrepancies in the information presented. She has shown herself to have a very sharp eye and excellent language skills ... Louise has also copy edited a non-fiction Christian book for The Scribe, my research and writing company. This included compiling a style sheet and ensuring the language and punctuation was in American English ... her work was extremely thorough and we would be happy to work with her again.

- Ashling McCarthy, The Scribe and I Learn to Live - Ngifundela Ukuphila


Louise did an absolutely great job proofreading my essay. She corrected everything in detail and proposed further changes. It is obvious that she has valuable knowledge and is extremely capable of providing an excellent proofreading service in a limited time. I strongly recommend her to anyone who needs a perfect proofreading service.

- ET, Student

Louise did exceptional and efficient work analysing and correcting the first ten pages of my novel. Her work was quick and her communication was excellent; she replied immediately to emails and has the capacity to deliver on a tight deadline. She was efficient in her corrections and made great comments about the text. Highly recommended.

- Zoé Henriques

Finding Louise has been excellent as she is such a professional, and her hard work and attention to detail during the time she worked on my book exceeded my expectations.  Louise has been of great help too, not just with regards to editing my novel, Buenos Dias Lucy London, but by going beyond the task originally expected of her, proving that she is not only dedicated to her work and clients, but that she has a passion for writing and editing.

- Iza MacLeod, author of Buenos Dias Lucy London

If I were to rate Louise I’d definitely give her 10/10. Since I’m still far from having mastered English I needed someone to correct and edit the text for my next game and Louise was definitely a great choice for that! She was really considerate about how I wanted every little detail to look like and did a great job to give me what I wanted. In addition she meets the time and her response is fast! And she ensured that I was satisfied with the work. I’ll definitely hire Louise again if I ever need a proofreader.

- Jonas Bouyer

Louise surprised me by the errors and inconsistencies she uncovered through her diligent proofreading of my novel Lusitania R.E.X.  The book had already been proofed by me and others but Louise caught matters that had eluded earlier and less effective efforts.  I should have hired Louise much sooner than I did but I am glad that subsequent printings of my book will benefit from her valuable input.

- Greg Taylor, author of Lusitania R.E.X 

As a first-time author, I feel fortunate to have located Louise as my copy editor. She completed proofreading and editing of my 203 page book titled Self-Employment - The Secret to Success, published in September 2014. She took my work and helped me transform it into a product that I could feel good about. I found Louise to be nice, helpful, professional and  consistent. She has an eye for detail. And her suggestions and critique were helpful during my re-write.  Most importantly, she gave genuine feedback and always answered my emails. I enjoyed working with Louise and  she is a pleasure to work with. I wholeheartedly recommend Louise to anyone who wants to take his/her creation to the next level.

- Lalani Jay, author of Self-Employment - The Secret to Success