Editing and coaching qualifications

I always recommend Gale when I run creative writing workshops for other writers.

Melissa Addey, author, writing coach,

ALLi Campaigns Manager

It’s important that authors have faith in the editor they choose to work with. My clients can have confidence in my professional ethics and experience through the organizations I’m affiliated with and the positions I’ve held. I keep my professional skills up to date so that authors know I have the necessary knowledge to help them.

Professional memberships and experience

Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP)
Partner Member of Association of Independent Authors (ALLi)
Tutor. HarperCollins Author Academy (fiction stream)
Judge. Page Turner Awards
Tutor. CIEP's online Introduction to Fiction Editing course
Mentor. CIEP's Proofreading Mentoring Scheme
Director. Publishing Scotland (2012–2014)
30+ years of publishing experience, including in-house positions with Floris Books, Edinburgh, and Youth Bookroom, Hong Kong, as well as freelance positions in the UK with HarperCollins (various imprints) and Hachette (various imprints), among others, and in Hong Kong with Macmillan, SEPA and Asia Law & Practice
I have worked on 800+ books for independent authors and publishing houses, including award-winning novels.

Gale is a very professional and helpful editor with a superb understanding of the English language.

Nick Bradley, author

Training courses

Editorial Toolkit: Coaching Writers (Club Ed)
Editorial Toolkit: Book Doctoring and Ghostwriting (Club Ed)
Advanced Practice: Point-of-View and Perspective (Club Ed)
Blogging for Business (Business Gateway)
SEO optimization (Business Gateway)
Efficient Editing: Strategies and Tactics (CIEP)
Brush up your Grammar (CIEP)
On-screen Editing 1 & 2 (CIEP)
Training for Trainers (CIEP)
Going freelance and staying there (CIEP)
Authenticity reading for good representation (CIEP conference seminar)
Conscious and inclusive editing (CIEP conference seminar)
Editing memoir, life-writing and creative non-fiction (CIEP conference seminar)
Sentence-level editing for indie authors (CIEP conference seminar)
Training toolbox for Editors (CIEP conference workshop)
Editing sex scenes in fiction (CIEP conference workshop)
Editors and inclusivity (CIEP conference seminar)
Editing English: what are the rules? (CIEP conference seminar)
Efficient editing: how to make the most of your fee (CIEP conference workshop)
Copy-Editing (Publishing Training Centre, London)
Learn to love Editor’s Toolkit Plus (Hilary Cadman)
Twitter for Business (Business Gateway)
Facebook for Business (Business Gateway)
Marketing your Business on a Budget (Business Gateway)

Conferences

Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), Self-Publishing Advice Conference (online), 2021, 2022
Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP). Annual conference (online), September 2021, November 2020
SfEP North-East Mini-Conference, Newcastle, 2019
SfEP (now CIEP). Annual conference, 2019, 2018, 2016, 2014 & 2010
SfEP, Glasgow and Edinburgh Groups event, Linlithgow, 2018
SfEP, Mini Regional Conference, Edinburgh, 2017
Society of Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) and Society of Indexers (SI). Joint conference, 2015
SfEP, Glasgow Group and North-East Scotland Group, Edinburgh, June 2014. Professional Development Day
Publishing Scotland. Annual Conference, 2010, 2011 & 2013
Annual Kingston Publishing Conference, 2010

Academic qualifications

English Literature and Italian MA (Hons), University of Edinburgh
English Literature, French and German A Levels
English Literature AS level