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Jim Aikin: Professional Services

925-447-2906
P.O. Box 7, Livermore, CA 94551
(spam-blocker:) editor at musicwords dot net

I offer a full range of writing and editing services to the music technology community. I can create any of the following from scratch, or help you polish and refine materials you've generated in-house:

• Owner's manuals.
• Promotional materials (press releases, flyers, newsletters, etc.).
• Web page copy.
• User tutorials.
• In-house technical documentation.
• Artist interviews, liner notes, and music reviews.

While my primary focus is on writing and editing, I can do basic page layout and design and prepare digital graphics for publication. If you need a one-stop solution that includes professional graphic design and printer-ready image files, let me know: I'll be happy to subcontract the services I can't handle myself, coordinate the entire project for you, and assume responsibility for final delivery.

Technical writing. I can work with your engineering staff to produce thorough, well-organized, and readable documents, either for end users or for in-house use. All of the elements needed for your project (table of contents, screenshots, captions and sidebars, index, appendices, and so on) will be included in the files delivered to you.

Book Editing. I have recent experience working with several publishers, including Peachpit Press and Backbeat Books, on music technology titles. My services include developmental editing, technical editing, and copyediting.

Copyediting. I can work with existing documents or with other writers on your team to insure that your publications meet professional standards of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word usage. I will also suggest revisions where necessary to improve clarity, fix substandard phrasing, and get rid of wordiness. I'm happy to mark up hard copy or create a text file of notes, but a convenient work flow is for me to make changes directly in your Microsoft Word files using Word's "Track Changes" feature.

Website editing. If your webmaster needs help preparing copy for online distribution, I can expand my regular copy-editing services to include checking HTML tags, links, layout elements, and so on.

The Process:

On both editing and writing jobs, I will ask for a copy of your in-house style guide if you use one, or copies of a couple of similar documents that have already passed through your editorial process, in order to make sure my work closely matches your other publications.

Some potential clients have expressed concern about sharing information on upcoming products with a journalist. Please be assured, nothing I learn in the course of my work for your company will be shared with any of the magazines I write for, nor with any other client, until the information becomes publicly available from another source (usually your own press release). I'm happy to work with your standard Non-Disclosure Agreement, provided it doesn't impede my ability to work with other clients.

How much will it cost you? Make me an offer. On the basis of quality, experience, and technical qualifications, my work is worth $75 per hour or 75 cents per word, but few clients in the music industry have that kind of money -- at least, not to pay writers. Of necessity, my rates are negotiable. I'm happy to develop a bid for your project based on the details you provide. Whether the bid is based on an hourly rate or covers the entire project will depend on the type of project.