



Cutting the crap since 1981
I have over four decades of experience in the printing and publishing industry, during which I rose from in-house proofreader at a small printing office to chief copy-editor at a global publishing house.
In 2012, I was headhunted by a US multinational corporation for whom I localised and edited webpages, and I have several well-respected client companies that use my services exclusively.
For Business
For Students
Expertise
Experience
Producing clearly written documents inspires confidence in customers and employees. Foolproof improves the content of your online persona and business-to-business image.
Foolproof will ensure that your dissertation is in the best shape possible: your words will flow freely and your content will be comprehensible.
Abstracts, books, case studies, corporate literature, dissertations, journals, mail-shots, manuals, press releases, reports, slide presentations, theses, web content.
Over 42 years in publishing means that Foolproof is well placed to cast a critical and sympathetic eye over manuscripts, ensuring text flows rhythmically and looks the business.
Testimonials
Paul Fenton
As a first time author, working with Sylvia has been an incredibly positive experience. Her love and passion for language and the written word has given my book a clarity and a flow that it really nee… Read more
Charlotte Bourke
I first met Sylvia when she was freelancing at the British Council, a client she had over several years. She was a breath of fresh air in the studio, with a meticulous attention to detail, no-nonsens… Read more
Jeremy Westwood
Throughout the 10-plus years that I was Managing Director of Apa Publications, Sylvia was our most thorough and reliable proofreader. She was the one that our Editorial Director chose for the most com… Read more
Ariadna Tagliorette
I hired Sylvia to proofread and edit a project that I had to translate from Spanish into English. Her work was outstanding! She was easy to work with, fast and (importantly) met our agreed deadline. I… Read more
Sarah Shaw
If you are wondering whether to hire a copy-editor, my answer is yes; and if you are wondering whether Ms Foolproof is the one for you, my answer is double-yes. Sylvia has worked through the text of … Read more
María Scheibengraf
We hired Sylvia to copy-edit a very large website in a very short time, and the quality of her work was outstanding. She’s got great people skills, too, and communication with her is always smooth a… Read more
Martijn Linssen
I loved your comments. I immediately discarded them as whining nonsense – which made me realise that I’m really too far into this shit and that the audience is always right. You had great improvem… Read more
Tom Le Bas
I met Sylvia at Insight Guides when I started there in 1997 – when she’d only been in publishing for 16 years and was still learning the trade… She was very friendly and one of the few normal people i… Read more
Martin Sayers
Bless you, thanks Sylvia! All good – great suggestions and corrections, have implemented almost all of them. I was going a bit word-blind with it, so this has been a massive help. Invoice p… Read more
Dorothy Stannard
Sylvia is an eagle-eyed proofreader with an excellent knowledge of grammar and punctuation, plus good communication skills. She is reliable and flexible, and can be trusted to meet tight deadlines.

