
Pamela Smith
Trading as: psproofreading
Based in: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Professional memberships
Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) – Professional member
Editors’ and Proofreaders’ Alliance of Northern Ireland (EPANI) – Member
Educational qualifications
BA (Hons), Music – Durham University
PhD, Music – Durham University
ISM Diploma in Management – Queen’s University Belfast
Training and professional development
Editing Fiction (Publishing Training Centre (PTC), 2020)
Editing Illustrations (PTC, 2019)
Advanced Copy-Editing (PTC, 2019)
Copy-editing Headway (Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), 2018)
Grammar at Work, Publishing Training Centre (PTC, 2018)
Progress in Editorial Skills (PTC, 2017)
Editing with Word (CIEP, 2016)
Proofreading 2 (CIEP, 2016)
Basic Proofreading by Distance Learning (Merit) (PTC, 2015)
Languages
Conversational French
Experience
Freelance proofreader/copy-editor since 2016.
Prior to becoming a professional editor and proofreader I had a 25-year career in the music business in Northern Ireland. Former employers include the Ulster Orchestra (education/outreach) and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (music officer); I also worked as a freelance consultant for, among others, the Arts Council (Ireland) and Queen’s University Belfast. I have worked as a freelance concerts manager for Belfast Music Society for the past 12 years.
My music background allows me to offer an editing specialism covering all periods of Western classical music history, opera, choral music, contemporary music and electroacoustic/computer music.
My other proofreading/copy-editing work has ranged from academic books on arts and humanities subjects to magazine articles on outdoor pursuits. I have also worked on marketing materials and policy documents for a wide variety of UK-based businesses and organisations, including proofreading copy for websites.
Services offered
Proofreading, copy-editing, proofreading music.
Media
Books, magazines, websites, postgraduate theses, marketing materials, corporate documents, concert programmes, CD booklets/liner notes, music scores.
Subject areas
Music, arts, humanities, social sciences, management, leadership, governance, corporate, general non-fiction
Clients include
Taylor & Francis, Newgen Publishing UK, Colourpoint Press, Queen’s University Belfast, Open College Network Northern Ireland, Radius Housing, Diocese of Down and Connor, Full Proof, Acis Productions, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, individual academics and postgraduate students.
Examples of work undertaken
Proofreading:
Collins: Lateness and Modernism: Untimely Ideas about Music, Literature and Politics in Interwar Britain (CUP, 2019)
DeLamater and Collett: Social Psychology (Routledge, 2018)
Greenhalgh: Music and Singing in the Early Years (Routledge, 2018)
Macken: Binding Space: The Book as Spatial Practice (Routledge, 2018)
Labuta and Matthews: Basic Conducting Techniques (Routledge, 2018)
Stillwell (ed.): The Routledge Handbook of Census Resources, Methods and Applications (Routledge, 2017)
In Sara Levy’s Salon (The Raritan Players, Acis Productions, 2017)
Fanfare and Filigree (Kleine Kammermusik, Acis Productions, 2017)
Confluence (Ensemble Collina, Acis Productions, 2017)
Policy documents for the Diocese of Down and Connor, including a handbook on safeguarding and child protection (2018)
Corporate marketing materials for Ford Masters Apprenticeship Programme, Olam Cocoa, Queen’s University Belfast and others (2017–18)
Online examination papers (ClarityEnglish, 2016)
PhD theses for students at various universities, including St Andrews, Huddersfield, Oxford, Cork, Trinity College Dublin, Queen’s University Belfast and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (City, University of London)
Copy-editing:
Numerous articles for The Parliamentary Review (for Full Proof, 2018)
Magazine articles for InTheSnow and LoveTheMountains (for Full Proof, ongoing since 2016)
Festival programmes for the BMS International Festival of Chamber Music (2009–present)