EXAMPLE

May 1999: The Meeting of the Minds

Track the development of the first paragraph of the invitation letter to join Worldwide Business Club, www.wbc.com. by examining the exchanges between client and editor. Proofreading changes are noted in red. Content changes by both editor and client are noted in italics.

Client’s Original Instructions

Please proofread the following and email us the corrected text. Thank you.

Client’s Original Paragraph

(WORLDWIDE BUSINESS CLUB) is a virtual market place of business communities from over 78 countries. We are expanding very rapidly and seeking new members to JOIN the Club for priority entry.

Editor’s Notes

Remove parentheses which enclose subject. Try direct approach with imperative mood. Change preposition "for" to "with" for standard usage.

Editor’s First Revision

WORLDWIDE BUSINESS CLUB is a virtual market place of business communities from over 78 countries. Be part of our rapid expansion and JOIN the Club with priority entry.

Client’s Reply

I have edited and proofed text, as per following: You wrote: Be part of our rapid expansion and JOIN the Club with priority entry." I think "Be part of…" was too direct and not polite. I changed it to "We invite you to be part…" Do you agree? Please proofread and edit again the entire following text.

Client’s First Revision

WORLDWIDE BUSINESS CLUB is a virtual market place of business communities of Importers/Exporters/Manufacturers, etc. from over 78 countries. We invite you to be part of our rapid expansion and JOIN the Club with priority entry.

Editor’s Response

I agree with your polite rephrasing. In the first paragraph I see you decided to expand on the phrase "business communities". I removed "etc." because it is a catchall end tag that de-emphasizes, and I substituted commas for each solidus (slash) to give each group separate recognition.

Editor’s Second Revision

WORLDWIDE BUSINESS CLUB is a virtual market place of business communities of Importers, Exporters, Manufacturers and Trading Companies from over 78 countries. We invite you to be part of our rapid expansion and JOIN the Club with priority entry.

Client’s Reply

Re: Etc…If we do not write etc., then the membership is limited to Importers, Exporters, Manufacturers and Trading Companies, which I do not want. We have members who are lawyers, tax consultants and business management writers. My idea of including etc. is for those type of non-Importers, Exporters, Manufacturers. Either I take out completely Importers, Exporters, Manufacturers and Trading Companies or add something else. "Join the Club Today" will underline the necessity of joining immediately and secondly act as a rationale for the word "priority".

Client’s Second Revision

WORLDWIDE BUSINESS CLUB is a virtual market place of business communities of Importers, Exporters, Manufacturers and Business Professionals from over 78 countries. We invite you to be part of our rapid expansion and JOIN the Club Today with priority entry.

Editor’s Final Response

Excellent! The term "Business Professionals" includes all of these individual members. The last seven words are honest and upfront; you are not trying to puff up and con people by implying only they are privy to "priority" membership.