Your guide to a better text
Aestel Editing offers proofreading, copy editing and translations in English.
About
Myrthe van de Worp earned her bachelor’s degree in English language and culture cum laude from the University of Leiden and went on to earn her master’s degree in Writing, Editing and Mediating from the University of Groningen. She also had the privilege of spending her third bachelor year at Liverpool University through the Harting Scheme.
She is specialised in editing academic texts, with personal experience in the Humanities. Her special interest goes out to Medieval Studies and Literary fields. Through her internship at Noordhoff Publishers she was able to accrue experience with the publication process from manuscript to proof, editing at every level with focus on both copy and typesetting. She will work with you to ensure a high-quality final product.
Our Services
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Copy editing
Our standard rate for a thorough copy edit is €36,30 per 1000 words.
Should your text need very little editing, or your text needs to be checked exclusively for grammatical and spelling errors the rate is €24,20 per 1000 words.
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Heavy editing
For texts that need extra care and heavy edits to reach their full potential our rate is €48,40 per 1000 words.
Substantive and structural editing can be discussed if desired. This will include feedback on the structure, style and tone of your text as a whole, along with the usual copy editing.
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Translation
We offer translations from Dutch to English at a rate of €0,13 per word.
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The process
We offer a free quote before each project. After reaching out, you will receive a quote, a time estimate and a fully edited first paragraph within 24 hours (Monday through Thursday).
We offer discounts for texts starting above 30.000, do not hesitate to contact us.
If your project is urgent we charge an expedited rate of 20%.
All prices given are including VAT.
The aestel
When King Alfred the Great set out to reform the education of England’s bishoprics, he sent each of his bishops a text he thought to be of great importance: Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care. He did not send these manuscripts by themselves, however, but had each accompanied by a so-called “aestel”. An aestel was a richly decorated pointing stick with which one’s place in a text could be kept on the page. Judging by the value of the aestels – the Alfred Jewel is fashioned in gold and decorated with enamel – and his intention to send one with each manuscript, Alfred was highly invested in the attention his bishops payed to their reading. He must have been, to undertake such a costly endeavour; the furthering of learning was of vital importance to King Alfred. He wanted his bishops to notice every detail, follow each flourish of the script, all the while keeping pace on the page with the help of their gifted aestel.
Whether the aestels actually made Alfred’s bishops more attentive to their assigned reading is anyone’s guess, but the idea of their guiding purpose is not simply a pretty bauble in our book. The aestel, to us, is a symbol of the drive for improvement. We tackle each text with that imaginary aestel in hand to give it the scrupulous attention it deserves, word for word and paragraph by paragraph until the full potential of the text is realised. In an age where AI-operated software is rapidly becoming the norm in text editing, we strongly believe that it continues to be the human touch that yields the most profound written work.