Polish your documents and make them shine
Proofreading Service
Winston the Proofreader provides a proofreading service for written communication such as business documents, reports, newsletters, brochures, magazine articles and website content.
To help you communicate your ideas, I proofread documents to remove spelling, grammar, punctuation and formatting errors.
Proofreading areas
Spelling (including differences in Australian English vs UK or US English)
Grammar (for example, incorrect word choice: affect vs effect)
Punctuation (especially incorrect use of apostrophes)
Formatting (for example, inconsistent typeface size or style)
Document types
Business processes and procedures (for example, change and configuration management plans)
Technical documents (for example, asset protection plans)
Magazine articles
Newsletters
Website content
Engagement Process
The engagement process starts with a brief. This enables me to understand the document’s audience, length, timing, any applicable style guides and other details. This can be done in person, via email, or over the phone.
I usually work with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Adobe PDF document formats.
After I receive the document, I will systematically and meticulously check it for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting. Note that fact checking is not included. However, any obvious factual errors found will be noted as comments.
Payment is due upon completion of checking. Once payment has been received, I will send the completed document.
Depending on the format of the document, I will provide:
Two Microsoft Word documents, one with changes tracked and another clean copy with changes incorporated. Both documents will contain comments
A Google Docs file with changes marked up using the Suggest feature
An Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF file with comments
About Me
My name is Winston Leong and I am based in the Hills District of Sydney, Australia
Experience
Prior to establishing Winston the Proofreader, I was in the Information Technology industry for over 25 years. Before that, I worked in the Insurance industry for 10 years.
I have proofreading experience in a wide range of corporate and IT industry documents. These include process and procedure documents, planning documents for disaster recovery, change and configuration management plans, and access procedures.
I have also reviewed website content and have experience in editing for a car club. These documents include monthly email newsletters and a quarterly print magazine.
Education
I completed the Knowadays 'Becoming a Proofreader' course with a Distinction grade.
I have a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Sydney.
Car clubs
My special area of interest is the car club community. I have been a member of marque car clubs for Mazda, Honda, and Audi. At the Convertible Car Club, I was the newsletter editor. I am currently a member of the Porsche Club NSW where I am the magazine editor.
Frequently Asked Questions
My base rate is $0.02 per word. I offer discounts for documents over 5000 and 10000 words. Per-word pricing enables an easy up-front estimate of project cost.
No, I welcome documents of any length.
My native dialect is Australian English, and I have extensive experience with British and US English.
No, I proofread all documents personally. When doing research, search engines may return AI-generated results. However, these results are reviewed personally.
For most projects I will provide two documents: a clean version and a version with tracked-changes. For academic documents, I will provide a version with tracked-changes.
One round of revisions is included. You may make minor wording changes and have them re-checked.
Contact Me
Privacy Policy
Winston the Proofreader ABN 58 346 081 080 is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information (PI).
We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The APPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure, and dispose of your PI.
A copy of the APPs may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
What is Personal Information and why do we collect it?
Personal Information (PI) is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. Examples of PI we collect includes names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.
This PI is obtained in many ways including correspondence, by telephone, by email, from your website, from media and publications, from other publicly available sources, and from third parties. We don’t guarantee website links or policy of authorised third parties.
We collect your PI for the primary purpose of providing our services to you. We may also use your PI for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure. You may unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time by contacting us in writing.
When we collect PI we will, where appropriate and where possible, explain to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it.
Sensitive Information
Sensitive Information (SI) is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.
SI will be used by us only:
• For the primary purpose for which it was obtained
• For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose
• With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.
Third parties
Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.
Disclosure of Personal Information
Your Personal Information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including the following:
• Third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure; and
• Where required or authorised by law.
Security of Personal Information
Your Personal Information (PI) is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure.
When your PI is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy your Pl. However, most of the PI is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of seven years.
Access to your Personal Information
You may access the Personal Information (PI) we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your PI, please contact us in writing.
Winston the Proofreader will not charge any fee for your access request, but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your PI.
In order to protect your PI we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.
Maintaining the quality of your Personal Information
It is an important to us that your Personal Information (PI) is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your PI is accurate, complete, and up-to-date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.
Policy updates
This Policy may change from time to time and is available on this website.
Privacy policy complaints and enquiries
If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy please use the contact form on this website, or by email at winstontheproofreader@gmail.com