My background
My first career was 12 years as an RN in a wide range of patient care areas — in 3 countries. I gained invaluable insight into health risks, behaviours and outcomes.
Along with my MPH, I bring a broad awareness of the social determinants of health.
For over 30 years, I have had considerable experience with substantive editing, mostly in the health sector.
Flexible work style
Can work solo or with collaborators.
Happy to manage contracts at a distance (via email, phone, MS Teams, Zoom, Skype etc.).
Accommodating for differences in time zones.
The following statements reflect the criteria for projects I accept.
Prerequisites for Health
“The fundamental conditions and resources for health are peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable eco-system, sustainable resources, social justice, and equity. Improvement in health requires a secure foundation in these basic prerequisites.” — Ottawa Charter
The social determinants of health
“Many factors combine together to affect the health of individuals and communities. Whether people are healthy or not, is determined by their circumstances and environment. To a large extent, factors such as where we live, the state of our environment, genetics, our income and education level, and our relationships with friends and family all have considerable impacts on health, whereas the more commonly considered factors such as access and use of health care services often have less of an impact.” — WHO
I am registered supplier with the Government of Canada (ProServices and Supplier Information databases).
I have a Supply Arrangement under ProServices: 10.10 Technical Writer and 10.11 Communications Consultant
Security clearance: Reliability status
College of Nurses of Ontario (Non-practicing class)
Editors Canada (See my profile)
Usually I include a detailed list of costs, originally formulated in Excel.
It breaks down each task and includes consultation time, time and hours for each task.
For writing, editing and translation, the times are based on industry standards and on my own estimate of what the project will require.
It also includes any relevant assumptions for those tasks (e.g., for editing: Assumes one pass for copy-editing and all final material will be received before that task is done.)
Yes, I would be happy to discuss your project and process.
See the answers to the other questions for some ways I may be of use.
I am happy to work with you to see which tasks I could support you in doing in-house and which ones are more important to hire out.
To have staff do some tasks themselves, I offer tools to use.
To have staff upgrade certain skills, I deliver training. This increases their capacity for future projects as well.
For many publications, I can also be the designer and produce final copy in either Word. This saves you both time and money — for the initial project as well as future updates.
Yes!
I am the sole proprietor of Maude Downey Consulting (MDC). Depending on the contract, I may propose that I sub-contract certain aspects of a contract to colleagues with complementary skill sets.
However, I may also refer you to other providers altogether if that seems best for you.
The term editing covers a wide variety of tasks.
To help you define what you need, visit Editors Canada to consult their Definitions of editorial skills.
See also the FAQ: How does applying Maude’s 9 principles fit in with various editing tasks??
I can help you in various ways.
Planning phase
Invite me to attend planning meetings so I can offer tools and tips that may be of use to you in your project. Some of these may save you a significant amount of time and money and increase the overall quality of your inputs and outputs.
Documentation — English version
As I mentioned above, for many publications, I can also be the designer and produce final copy in either Word or InDesign. This saves you both time and money. As well, the advantage of having simpler products designer in Word is that you can easily update them later.me as designer
Documentation — French version
I can help you select a translator who agrees with principles of clear and effective communication.
If I have been the one to develop the English version, it is useful to have me also verify the French version against the original English.
I have considerable experience over the past 30 years living and working in French.
I also have the following credentials:
- BA concentration en langues et lettres françaises
- Exemption status with the Government of Canada
For document projects —
I do not write or edit final material in French. However, I do support this process by preparing a bilingual lexicon of key words and expressions. This is particularly useful for items that need to be standardized, or that are of a particularly sensitive nature.
I also verify translations of English documents and negotiate with the translator as required.
For training — I can deliver training sessions in French.
For translation — Depending on the content, I translate from French to English.
It is often very useful to contact a contractor like me early in your process.
I may be able to offer information and guidance that will help you with the following:
A more efficient process
Right task, Right role, Right time — See What does Right Task, Right role, Right time refer to?
Plan the most feasible and efficient timeline (timing and time allotted for each task, contingencies, etc.), taking into account internal and external factors.
Get help with some tips and tools for using Word and Excel to help manage your project more efficiently.
Aim for the best quality output within your budget.
A better final product — In a more efficient process, everyone has more time to do their best work
See FAQ: What does ‘Right Task, Right time, Right role’ refer to?.
Contact me early to avoid saying this later
“I wish we had contacted you sooner. We could have done …!”
For a more efficient process, keep in mind the following throughout the document lifecycle.
Right task — Is the task appropriate? For example, don’t waste time proofreading at an early stage.
Ensure everyone has time to do each task thoroughly.
Right Time —Is this the appropriate stage to be doing the tasks?
Prevent delays caused by tasks being done too early or too late.
Don’t waste time doing tasks on content that may not make it in the final product!!
Right Role — Is this the right role to be doing these tasks? Optimize everyone’s input. Make sure contributors do the tasks that reflect their particular responsibilities and strengths.
Depending on the nature of the project there are many options.
For virtual meetings — We can meet via Zoom, MS Teams, Skype etc.
I am quite flexible in terms of differences in time zones.
For in-person meetings — I can meet in Ottawa, Ontario and the surrounding region.
When verifying the French translation against the English text (or vice versa), we often find errors in the English. This can happen even if the English had been edited before going to translation. There are 2 main reasons:
The English text may be ambiguous enough to lend itself to more than one interpretation. This can occur even in text that is grammatically correct.
If the translator is not also a content expert and may not be aware of certain concepts — particularly if they are new or heavy with jargon.
To keep the process efficient for everyone, don’t send the English to the designer, printer or Webmaster until the concordance is done and any errors corrected.
This means that when planning the overall process, take care to give the translation phase enough of a turnaround time to adjust the translated and the original versions.