Testimonials

During the first round, Renell uncovered a serious lack of accuracy in my direct quotes and references. Although it was my responsibility to be accurate, Renell went over and above her brief, investigated sources, and corrected my mistakes. The references are now in a good state for future researchers.

The next two rounds went smoothly. Renell’s instructions were always clear and consistent, she answered any queries quickly and kept me informed about completion dates for the work in hand.

I am in awe of Renell’s skill. Her keen eye and meticulous application brought about a transformation in my rough manuscript. In the beginning, I felt unsure and something of an imposter but when the final editing was complete, I felt confident that I could now send the correctly formatted and polished manuscript to a publisher.

Renell’s generosity extended further than the copyediting work. She helped me with several other book publishing issues and technological procedures which were puzzling me.

Renell will definitely be my first choice for any similar work I might have in the future.

 When you are ready to publish your work, no matter how good you think the finished project is, Renell will make improvements, editing your work to a much higher level.

Renell’s research is without limit.

Renell does not change your work in any way, she just makes what you have written flow without hesitation. She puts you at ease with any correspondence and guides you through the process of becoming an author.

We think that words cannot express the gratitude we have for Renell’s help.

We soon came to appreciate Renell’s depth of knowledge and obvious professionalism. We had expected that from an editor, of course. What we did not expect was how thoroughly she immersed herself in the project, checking, researching, and generally getting onto the same page as us, so that we could work through the books together. We both think that she went way above and beyond anything that we had expected.

Although we have confidence in our writing skills, we acknowledge that we have learned a great deal from this process, and we are very grateful. Renell was always clear and consistent and provided a fresh perspective that helped us to develop our story. The result is even better than we hoped and we look forward to working with her again in the future.

With thanks and kind regards,

Renell would always suggest I look things up, and the research started. The smallest detail became a thing of enormous history, which lead to yet another area of research. Her passion for what she does flows in a continuous stream; all that is required is to just enjoy the journey, which I did.

Dear Renell,

I began my first-ever ‘big’ piece of writing – my memoir [name withheld until publication], late in 2018 to March 2022. It has been a labour of love and anguish to complete. I knew that it would be a tough path getting my work from ‘raw’ through to the ‘ready for publishing’ phase, as I think I said at the very beginning of my introduction to you, that I was no Eleanor Catton.

I sought out proofreading companies who I considered would ‘get’ my ideas and ‘hear’ my writing voice. I look for people who I figured wouldn’t want to bastardise my writing, as I didn’t want to lose the rawness and authenticity of what I’d felt and written online, and in my book. I’m aware that some proofreaders and editors can cut a manuscript to pieces — effectively losing an author’s voice. I was super-afraid, after all this is my first-ever serious manuscript, and I have barred my heart, soul, and life story onto the pages of my memoir. This, you know. 

Renell, in the beginning, I carefully studied your website. I wasn’t sure if you would be the right ‘fit’ for my work. But after reading over some of the testimonials on your website, I learned that you possessed great empathy, and had mastery in the profession of proofreading and editing. And, from learning this, I contacted you.

Our working relationship has progressed over the last few months, and we have emailed each other frequently (and had the odd phone call). My writing (including the swear words) hasn’t faze you one bit! When proofreading and editing my work; if ever you didn’t understand my writing and what I meant – you always asked and never ‘assumed’. You took the care to understand my ‘voice’ and perspective, and you were timely with achieving my edits. I have come to recognise the value in your advice, the patience and empathy you have extended, and the mana, knowledge, and integrity you possess which really is indispensable for a first-time writer.

 My initial judgement was wrong. On Sunday, I received my final edit and I was ecstatic that we had finally completed ‘phase one’. After a marathon read, I sat in my ‘writing’ chair and without realising had tears rolling down my face at my manuscript’s authenticity. It was clean, controlled, and read exactly how I had wanted it to read. I would not have accomplished that alone, without your help.

Again, I am truly grateful. I hope my letter to you will be a testimony of the work you have undertaken for me. It is with sincere appreciation that I write this. Thank you, thank you, Arohamai.

One thing I did not expect from Renell, after we started the editing journey, a journey during which I learned that I could not possibly fathom the depth of Renell’s editing skills, was how tenacious she would be to bring out the best in my writing. Renell is a soft-spoken, gentle lady with a big heart for abandoned puppies, but once she started to look at my manuscript, she turned into a fierce, dreaded principal, like the ones at school – her comments on the manuscript were incisive, to the point, and quite unrelenting.

It was almost like a novel-writing bootcamp, but in the end, it is all worth it! I had so many teachers from kindergarten to university in my life, but no one I respect as much as Renell!

Renell pays attention to every detail and has a sharp eye for the smallest grammatical mistakes and continuity errors — even down to the dialect a character is speaking. I look forward to working with her again.

However, I did have the comfort in knowing that this manuscript was the best it could possibly be and I offer my sincere thanks and gratitude to Renell Judais, my copy editor from Proof Perfect NZ for making this happen.

Renell was more than my copy editor, she rode alongside me on the emotional journey of cutting my darlings, reducing the word count, advising me on grammar and diction and most importantly, gave me support at a time when I was wobbly and losing confidence that I could ever be good enough. I put Renell under enormous time pressures towards the end but she never complained and kept my wobbly confidence intact.

At the end of this process, I submitted a manuscript which is the best that I could do, it looks professional, has been assessed by an expert who acknowledged that it could hold its own out there in the publishing world and I am one very grateful author for having her in my life.

In 2010 I took on a small voluntary project to compile a local history. The project spiralled out of control, resulting in three volumes of stories compiled over nine years. Consistency of style over that time varied wildly. Also, the nature of the content necessitated several thousand source references.

The last two volumes needed serious editing, but by whom? While editing services abound, how can you be sure of high quality? Seek professional advice, of course. Renell was recommended and it proved to be sound advice.

Within days we had agreed terms and time estimates. Renell was able to start immediately and for the next three months, it seemed I was her only client (I now know that was certainly not the case). Renell did a superb job improving the two manuscripts. And she even standardised the format of those thousands of source references. That alone warranted her fee.

Renell’s knowledge, professionalism and courtesy are without equal. I highly recommend her services. Thank you so much, Renell. You are a joy to work with.