Hi, I’m Joaquín Selva. My first experience with editing was helping my Nicaraguan dad polish his English writing for professional purposes, and it has been my passion ever since.
I studied behavioral neuroscience in college, where I did research that led to multiple co-authorships in peer-reviewed journals. I also studied other psychological fields as well as history, linguistics, and philosophy. After graduating I worked as a freelance writer for a few years, and you can see my writing portfolio on my personal website.
Still, my passion was with editing and proofreading, and I have spent the last few years as a professional editor. I have edited and proofread scientific papers in every field imaginable along with personal essays, creative fiction, and job applications. I have also helped people get into the academic programs of their dreams with the expertise of my academic wife, who has her own experience in admissions offices.
As a card-carrying member of the National Writers Union, I know the power of the English language, as it has become the default language of the Internet. I also know that not everyone is an expert in English writing. My promise to you is that I will strengthen your writing as much as possible while still retaining your natural voice. After all, you should not have to be an expert in English to get your work published or to get your dream job.
Why Textamend?
You write, I edit.
Sure, most word processors have spellcheck, and there are also more robust services like Grammarly. But hiring a professional editor like me gives you the freedom to focus entirely on writing. Let me worry about the boring stuff.
Textamend makes it easy to buy editing or proofreading services, with transparent pricing and a familiar online store setup. Some editors make you wait for a quote before you can move forward, but with Textamend you can typically just put in an order and then relax. If for whatever reason I cannot get your paper back to you within your chosen deadline, you will get a full refund.
Textamend also offers 50-word free samples. If you like my work on the sample, you are also guaranteed that I, Joaquín Selva, will personally handle your document every single time. You cannot get that from a larger editing firm.
My aim with Textamend is to give everyone access to top-notch proofreading that is still affordable. Whether you are not a fluent English speaker or just need help making your writing even better, I look forward to working with you.
Mission
As both an immigrant and a native English speaker, I know that being able to write English at a professional level is itself a privilege. Portions of all Textamend revenue go toward the following organizations supporting literacy, well-being, and justice:
NYC Books Through Bars (monthly book drives with Freebird Books)
Finally, I also volunteer at Distributed Proofreaders, which aids in the digitization of works in the Public Domain for inclusion in the Project Gutenberg archive. If this is something you might be interested in, you can learn more at the link. Most of the work involves making sure that OCR-scanned text matches the original writing, so you do not have to be an expert proofreader or editor to help!