Testimonials
‘I have nothing but positive things to say. The difference for me vs previous proofreaders I've worked with in the past few years was the engagement throughout the process – asking questions as you went to limit the number of questions we needed to consider once you returned [the edited files]. The idea of using hashtags to link themes in comments is one I've not seen before but also liked. I found you extremely helpful and easy to work with and we're extremely appreciative of how you juggled things around to accommodate us at short notice after we were let down by someone else.’
Charity consultancy
‘[Hazel provided] extremely thorough copyediting, done to a very high standard. [It was] so reassuring to know that everything was completely taken care of in terms of grammar. Hazel also did excellent work in terms of checking for consistency, e.g. pointing out discrepancies on specific points in different sections of the report. She kindly took the time to explain the reasons for certain changes. This has helped us in terms of developing a more consistent house style.’
Healthcare non-profit
‘[The report’s funder] said that it looked like we had a really good editor working on the report and that they were really happy with the quality of it!’
Charity client
‘A full-length handbook, an in-depth report or a stubbornly difficult chapter – Hazel approaches each and every project with equal amounts of care and attention to detail that is second to none. She has been our trusted copy-editor for a number of years now, and we couldn’t hope for a better advisor on all things editorial. Not only that, but she is also an absolute pleasure to work with!’
John Martin, Publisher, and Gabi Zagnojute, Editorial Manager
Directory of Social Change
‘Bringing any publication to market is always a challenge and part of that challenge is never really knowing who you are going to end up working with. We have been delighted with the service provided by Wordstitch Editorial [now The Better Edit]. They have been consummately professional, have a can-do (and will-sort) attitude and they have protected us from a lot of the usual aggravation that can come as texts are prepared for publication. We have certainly seen many books that have been published riddled with errors, but we really are not seeing that this time. We would really like to work with you again. Thank you!’
Mark and Bernie Fishpool
Authors of Software Development in Practice (BCS, The Institute for IT, 2020)
‘Hazel has been my secret weapon for more book projects than I can remember. Seriously, I don't know how she does it; she spots things I would never have seen in a million years. I wouldn't even consider sending one of my books to print without Hazel working her magic on it first.’
Paul Choy
International documentary photographer and author
‘Hazel has worked as Project Manager on a number of large, multi-volume, print and online reference works produced by my team. She has a deep understanding of the publishing process and an analytical mind. She works closely to the brief, whilst also being unafraid to suggest intelligent improvements to processes and solutions to problems. She is always professional and helpful, striking a good balance between meeting the needs and requirements of the client and delivering a quality product.’
Louise Barnetson
Production Manager, Wiley Blackwell
‘Hazel has worked on some of our biggest and most difficult manuscripts. She negotiates their complexities with clear-sightedness, patience and diplomacy, and the authors are always delighted with the results. I feel complete confidence in putting projects of this nature into her capable hands, and I know that she will bring clarity and precision to even the most challenging situations. It is a great pleasure to work with her, and I look forward to every project I am able to send her way.’
Emily Lees
Senior Editor, Paul Mellon Centre
‘Hazel helped to make the manuscript more easily accessible and understandable than it would have been. She’s also razor sharp in having an eye for the structure and flow of the text. … There were specific parts of the manuscript where I was in doubt of whether I had explained myself properly – and parts where I surely knew I hadn’t. Hazel helped sort those parts out so I could rephrase and rework them. Those were very crucial parts of the manuscript, so I feel it became so much better and more congruent. I’d recommend (and have done so already) Hazel to anyone seeking an editor for their book project!’
Rasmus Houlind
Author of Hello, $FirstName (Omnichannel Institute, 2023)
‘Hazel is a gracious, gifted and professional editor with whom it is a joy to collaborate. She is an expert at polishing text and solving complex citation problems – even for a manuscript like mine, which quoted hundreds of diverse naval, historical, and genealogical sources from multiple time periods. I was greatly impressed by her focus, accuracy and responsiveness, and I highly recommend her services.’
Judy S. Purcell
Author of The Haddock Family of English Seafarers: Merchant mariners and naval officers, 1327–1941 (Coracle Group, 2025)
‘Hazel is an exceptional editor. She has an incredible eye for detail and makes suggestions for cuts and amendments to the texts which vastly improve the flow and strength of the prose. Her queries were always thoughtful and considered and have been extremely useful for the authors. This was a complicated project with lots of different elements, but Hazel handled everything in a calm and professional way which made the whole process smooth and stress-free. It's been a pleasure to work with someone as skilled as Hazel. Thank you.’
Emily Pedder
Director of The Book Edit and The Academic Edit
‘Hazel is extremely skilful and very easy to work with. Her knowledge and attention to detail give great confidence, and her proactivity in coming up with solutions to create clearer text makes her an ally of any writer.’
Professor Beth Breeze OBE
Co-author of Rich Expectations: Why rich people give (Directory of Social Change, 2025)
‘Hazel is one of the best project managers I have worked with in over 30 years of freelancing. She provides thorough, detailed briefs, and I am always confident at the start of a project that she has taken its measure and anticipated most of the problems that are likely to arise. Clear-headed and calm, she is an excellent project leader. She is good at making sensible decisions but also does not hesitate to modify a principle if something isn’t working. Hazel is always a pleasure to work with: she treats freelancers as collaborators and with respect, and often copy-edits alongside other freelancers on large projects that she manages.’
Jacqueline Harvey
Freelance copyeditor
‘Hazel was the proofreader for my book Genuinely Helpful: A Practical Guide to Effective University Websites. It was the first time I had worked with a proofreader and to be honest, I did have doubts at first on whether proofreading was really necessary. The text had already gone through a thorough copyedit – how many issues would still surface. I am so glad that I did engage Hazel. She is, first of all, a joy to work with. She sets clear expectations up front and then keeps all her commitments. But more importantly, she made the copy shine. As I went through her annotations, I could see how each one of them made the book a little better – well beyond catching typos and grammatical errors, she helped replace fuzzy language with crystal clear wording and made the book a lot more reader-friendly. So if you’re considering working with Hazel, don’t hesitate and set up a call with her!’
Guus Goorts
Higher Education Marketing Consultant and author of Genuinely Helpful: A Practical Guide to Effective University Websites (2024)
‘I had the pleasure of working with Hazel on two multivolume encyclopedias. Hazel is highly organised and efficient, consistently meeting tight deadlines. She possesses the clear communication skills and adaptability of a successful project manager that enable her to understand her client’s needs, plan several steps ahead, and proactively provide alternative solutions. She is extremely reliable and committed to producing a quality product. On many instances, she has gone beyond the scope of her role to add value to the project. No matter how complex or challenging the project was, Hazel always managed it superbly and I strongly recommend her.’
Genevieve Looi
Production editor, Wiley Blackwell
‘I have worked with Hazel on three books now – two were mine, the third and most recent was for an important client. Hazel is a delight to work with when one is short of time and naturally impatient. She is thoroughly professional and has the instincts to pick up a writer’s tone of voice and rhythm and match it through the value she adds to the manuscript. Her returned versions are easy to understand, adopt and go forward with.’
Tim Baynes
Consultant and author
‘I think I might be responsible for passing some of those “complex” projects your way! It’s definitely a relief to me that I know that manuscripts I send your way are in safe editorial hands, whatever needs doing. I highly recommend the work you do, thanks!’
Clare Christian
Editorial Manager, LID Business Media
‘It has been an overwhelmingly good experience working with you on the final stages of our massive International Encyclopedia of Anthropology. I’m particularly grateful for the meticulous care you have taken to support our many authors whose first language is not English; and for your patience and readiness to go “far beyond” in order to resolve my many queries. It has been a huge project, and I look forward with some trepidation to seeing the finished product online and in print.’
Hilary Callan
Director emerita of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland and co-editor of The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology (Wiley Blackwell, 2018)
‘It has been such an enjoyable process working with ... Hazel Bird (copy-editor extraordinaire).’
Neela Jane Stansfield
Author of Grants Fundraising (Directory of Social Change in association with the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, 2022)
‘It was a great pleasure working with you as your emails were very explanatory and the instructions were crystal clear.’
Swapna Srinivasan
Typesetting project manager, SPi (now Straive)
‘It was a privilege to have Hazel review and make recommendations on the draft of a book commissioned by a well-known publisher in the nonprofit sector. Her work revealed an extraordinarily quick understanding of a complex subject. Not only did she suggest grammatical and general content changes, but her recommendations for fundamental structural changes were spot on, as was her commentary on the deeper underpinnings of the whole book including the identification of some key gaps. I very much look forward to having the opportunity of working with Hazel again.’
Stephen Thorn
Consultant, Bayes Business School, Centre for Charity Effectiveness
‘Many thanks for all your help and if you can tell Hazel she is marvellous please. Loved some of her amendments, grateful for others (particularly the spots where I had said something stupid) and appreciated the amendments to my use of English!’
Caron Bradshaw OBE
Chief Executive of the Charity Finance Group and author of It’s a Nightmare with the Numbers (Directory of Social Change, 2024)
‘Thank you for the extremely detailed work you do on our reports. You not only make the text grammatically correct but you also improve the quality of the report with your thorough comments and questions for the authors. Also the check of the endnotes is very thorough and improves our work. We highly appreciate the commitment you reflect by sending queries during the editing process so that you can apply decisions to the entire text, and your effort to accommodate our challenging deadlines.’
Margarida Ferro
Office Manager, Flemish Peace Institute
‘Thank you very much for all your hard work. You have done a magnificent job with a complex and difficult book.’
Harry Sidebottom
Co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Ancient Battles (Wiley Blackwell, 2017)
‘Thanks so much for your help over the years – I’ve always been able to send the magazine to the printers with 100% certainty that there will be no typos, howlers or spelling mistakes included thanks to your thorough work on each issue!’
Dom Hall
Content Manager, Royal Osteoporosis Society
‘Thanks to ... Hazel Bird, copy editor, whose intelligent and thoughtful attention to detail has been nothing short of phenomenal.’
Sara Lister, Justine Hofland and Hayley Grafton
Editors of The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures, 10th ed (Wiley Blackwell, 2021)
‘This book would not have been possible without the publishing team ... including Hazel Bird for detailed editing, spotting possible issues, and asking insightful questions as we edited the text.’
Neil Taylor
Co-author of Professional Issues in IT, 3rd ed (BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, 2022)
‘You made our work read a million times better so for that I am extremely grateful.’
Public policy foundation
‘You’ve done an amazing job. I really appreciate the calm and accomplished way you’ve dealt with all the complexities and unusual challenges of the project.’
Production editor, Wiley Blackwell
‘Your copyeditor has done a fantastic job as the copy is quite clean, as you'll see from my mark-up.’
Proofreader of a book copyedited for a charity client