Completed in spring 2025 for my Principles of Technical Editing course, this assignment was to comprehensively edit a live document from a real-life client. The entire process consisted of writing a proposal for each client and providing substantive editing, copyedits, and comprehensive editing.

My editing process began by looking over each document and evaluating where each document needed attention. The first client, The Gene Roman Family Foundation, had a charity grant request that was to be edited. The second client, Malabar Feed and Farm, had two documents: their Employee Manual and Delivery Driver Manual.

Gene Roman Family Foundation Grant Request
Before my edits, this document had a noticeable amount of spatial errors and stylistic inconsistencies. It had little aesthetic appeal and suffered in terms of scannability. After my initial evaluation, I discussed the document’s needs with the client, and began to edit for scannability, readability, and grammatics. This consisted of re-wording and re-organizing a hefty amount of its content, followed by multiple rounds of copyediting and proofreading. The final document also incorporated stylistic elements that made it more suitable for its intended audience of potential donors to the charity.

Malabar Feed and Farm Employee Manual & Delivery Driver Manual
Upon first glance, it was clear that both employee manuals from Malabar Feed and Farm needed a lot of reshaping. Both documents were flooded with grammatical errors, inconsistent typography, and confusing changes in tone. As a result, the manuals were not scannable or easy to read, challenging their future and current employees.

After discussing the documents’ current conditions with the client, we decided that they needed to be more professional, organized, and consistent in all areas. The manuals include directions and essential practices for employees to follow, therefore they need to be as clear as possible. My process involved substantial edits to organize the documents’ structures. This included re-categorizing various employee expectations into more appropriate sections of the manuals. Additionally, I heavily edited the diction throughout both manuals to establish a friendly, yet professional tone. The process was completed with various copy edits and proofreads. Ultimately, the new manuals better fit the style of their company and display the information in a user-friendly manner.

My editing skills on the documents for both of these organizations demonstrate my ability to work with real-life clients to provide edits that follow their unique needs. The project’s final submission is organized into three sections for the three different documents I was hired to edit. Each section consists of the original document, the edited version, a proposal written to my professor, and a letter of transmittal to the client.

Malabar Feed and Farm’s documents were employee manuals, so I made the documents easy to skim through and look back on during a work day. The Gene Roman Foundation’s document is a church grant proposal, so I aimed to present the document in a professional, logical manner to make their non-profit more appealing to potential donors. The differences between the documents for each organization prove my focus on differentiating content for their respective audiences.

Overall, this project greatly improved my editing skills and introduced me to the process of working with a real-life client. The discussions with my clients were professional, yet impactful, as I made sure to remain in contact with them throughout the editing process. This allowed me to directly cater to their wants and be able to make necessary adjustments.