About Mark Schaefer
I’m a professional wordsmith and a lifelong scholar of language. Throughout my career as an attorney, minister, teacher, and published author, language and its communicative power have been a central passion.
I am certified by the International Association of Professional Writers and Editors (IAPWE) as a writer and editor and am a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association. I have edited everything from school essays to academic papers to book manuscripts for publishing.
About the Process
There are a number of ways to begin our work together:
Submit an Intake Request
You can use our online forms to submit a request for our editing or resume services:
Once we receive your request, we will follow up about the nature of the work and any particulars.
Purchase a Service
If you know what you need and the work is straightforward and doesn’t need a lot of explanation, you can go ahead and simply purchase a service:
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Proofreading$0.02 - Copyediting$0.03
- Developmental Editing$0.06
- Translation$0.10
- Ghostwriting/ Contract Writing$25.00
- Resume (Entry-Level/0–2 Years)$70.00
- Resume (Mid-Level/3–8 Years)$90.00
- Resume (Senior Level/8+ Years)$125.00
- Resume (Executive-Level)$150.00
Once you’ve done that, you can provide supplemental information or documentation through our editing and resume intake portal.
Contact Us Directly
You can also email us directly or use our contact form.
Our Process is Tailored to Your Needs
Whether you contact us directly by email or use our intake forms, we work together to ensure you get the services you need.
The first thing we do is identify the scope of the work and the type of work you’d like done. For example, you might tell me that you have a 5,000-word document that needs simple proofreading. Or you might say that you have a 10,000-word document that needs in-depth editing and revision. Next, you’ll let me know what you need the work for. This helps me to ensure that the style and usage I’m editing are appropriate for your audience. From that initial description, I will estimate how long I think that will take me and what the likely costs might be. If those are acceptable, then we will proceed.
Customers
I have worked with students, professionals, and aspiring writers looking to ensure that their writing is clear and effective.
Ensuring the Best Result
Be as clear as you can as to your needs and expectations. Writing styles vary greatly depending on the audience, occasion, and genre. Being clear with your editor about what you need and what it’s intended for is the best way to ensure that your editor can help you get your writing into the shape it needs to be.
What Editing Will Do For Your Text
When a text is edited, it is not only edited for typographical errors, grammar, and punctuation—it is edited for style and flow. One of the biggest obstacles to clear writing is the lack of flow from one sentence to the next. Schaefer Wordsmithing makes sure your ideas are not lost in disjointed sentences but flow together with clarity.
Original Text
The word trebuchet comes from French. A trebuchet is a kind of catapult that uses a counterweight and a long arm to throw a projectile. Siege engines like catapults and trebuchets were often used in the Middle Ages until the widespread use of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet is superior to that of a catapult because it can hurl projectiles much farther than a catapult can. The traction trebuchet, operated by men, is one kind of trebuchet that originated in China. The Christian and Muslim kingdoms around the Mediterranean developed the counterweight or counterpoint trebuchet. This trebuchet used a counterweight to swing the arm.
Edited Text
A trebuchet (pronounced “tre-byu-shay,” from the French) is a kind of catapult that uses a counterweight and a long arm to throw a projectile. Trebuchets were used in the Middle Ages as siege engines until the widespread use of gunpowder. They had a superior design to that of a catapult because they could hurl projectiles much farther than a catapult could. Trebuchets came in two main varieties: the traction trebuchet, developed in China, which used men to swing the arm; and the counterweight or counterpoint trebuchet, developed in the Christian and Muslim kingdoms around the Mediterranean, which used a counterweight to swing the arm.
Even when writers have a strong vocabulary, good grammar, and avoid spelling mistakes, they can always benefit from editing to ensure that their ideas flow with clarity and effectiveness.