Many words can tell a story. Fewer words can tell a better one.
Does your copy need a professional edit to jump off the page? Could publishing expertise bring your report to life? Have a story to tell but need a wordsmith? With eight years’ experience as a journalist and four spent managing publications in the research and development space, AWF Publishing can help with what you’re trying to achieve.
Melbourne-raised and Netherlands-based, Aidan Watts-Fawkes is a writer, editor and publisher who wants to ensure your project resonates with its intended audience. Whether you need a long-form report, book or manuscript edited, a series of impactful articles written, or a key report managed from inception to publication, rest assured knowing your copy is in accomplished hands.
Want more information about me, my background and how my expertise may align with your project? Or simply want to talk through a project to ensure you’ve got all bases covered? Send an email to aidan.watts-fawkes@outlook.com and let’s chat. Resume and competitive rates provided on request.
Unlock the power of the written word
Thorough copy editing for accuracy and credibility
A forensic edit of your copy, be it a 400-word article, a journal article, an annual report or a book, can be the difference between your audience remaining engaged and moving on. I can tighten and refine your writing so it flows well and is grammatically accurate, helping you deliver your message in a more direct way.
Impactful writing that will resonate with your audience
Transforming reports from words on a page into the final product — tight copy, clean tables and graphs, striking design — is my bread and butter. You can trust me to bring your documents to life in a way that puts your key messages front and centre. Alternatively, let me coordinate the graphic design and publication of your showpiece pieces in collaboration with your team and an agency.
Report management from inception to publication
The true value of science is only realised when the knowledge is in the hands of a changemaker. And for that to happen, the findings need to be communicated in a way that resonates. My experience in R&D publishing means I can turn your scientific breakthroughs into impactful articles, how-to guidelines, fact sheets or other materials,
Portfolio
Publications
Presenting data in infographics
There’s no denying it, data can be bland. Unless statistics and spreadsheets are your passion, it’s hard to get excited by rows and rows of (often large) numbers.
However, data tells a story — and these stories are worth telling. Understanding what that story is and conveying it through bold infographics is something I can help your organisation with.
These two examples (here and here) started with numbers on a page, the results of research into the value of the Australian thoroughbred breeding industry, and the importance of honey bee pollination to the Australian economy. The end result was concise summaries that thoroughbred breeders and beekeepers could use to showcase their industry to the broader community.
Project involvement: Content conceptualisation and development, including writing; proofreading and editing; coordination of graphic design; management of the publication process.
Graphic design: Sunday Collective (Wagga Wagga, Australia)
A farmer’s handbook to on-farm carbon management
One of the trickiest parts of editing instructional guidelines and handbooks is ensuring the copy flows well amid changes in ‘voice’. One page might contain factual information presented as a third-person narration; on the next, the author could be speaking directly to the reader with important guidance.
This was the case with this publication, the go-to handbook for Australian farmers seeking to embark on a carbon farming journey, authored by the team at Ryzo. A key task was ensuring complex information about emissions reduction and carbon sequestration was presented in an accessible way, and that the audience felt supported by the guidance and advice provided.
Project involvement: Proofreading and editing; coordination of graphic design; management of the publication process.
Graphic design: Sunday Collective (Wagga Wagga, Australia)
Fact sheet: The global sustainability reporting landscape
An important skill I bring to producing fact sheets and other information materials is knowing what will and won’t work when the content goes through design — and why. Ensuring your audience remains engaged is key. When it comes to information provision, that’s a mixture of compelling copy and striking but not overwhelming graphic design.
This fact sheet, authored by the Lifecycles team, showcases my approach: an easy-to-read overview that contextualises the issue; an info box with key take-home messages; and a simple, clean graphic that complements the text. Breakout text is another useful tool to ensure your message is front and centre.
Project involvement: Proofreading and editing; design conceptualisation; coordination of graphic design; management of the publication process.
Graphic design: Sunday Collective (Wagga Wagga, Australia)
Data tells a story — and these stories are worth telling.
Understanding what that story is and conveying it through bold infographics is something I can help your organisation with.
Farm case study: Australian chicken meat
This project, a collaboration between AgriFutures Australia, the Australian Chicken Meat Federation and the Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia, developed learning resources for high school students covering the chicken meat industry. The project comprised two booklets — a student resource and a teacher guide — and was the most complex publication I led at AgriFutures.
As well as multiple rounds of proofreading and editing, key tasks included understanding the authors’ vision; conveying that vision into practical guidance for the graphic designers; integrating digital materials (via hyperlinks, QR codes) into the designed PDF; iterating over multiple drafts; and quality control of the final version.
Project involvement: Proofreading and editing; coordination of graphic design; management of the publication process.
Graphic design: Liquorice (Melbourne, Australia)
Industrial Hemp Variety Trials annual reports
The IHVT program, coordinated by AgriFutures Australia, was a series of agronomy trials of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) at various latitudes and climates across Australia. Each year, the research teams would produce a report detailing their trial methodology and documenting their results.
This publication is a prime example of what I do best: thorough editing to tighten and refine copy; and formatting improvement within Microsoft Word to ensure data tables and graphs are clean, and that the report reflects well on your organisation. An additional task was to inject a consistent voice across the suite of reports, to ensure information from each trial site could be compared.
Project involvement: Proofreading and editing; formatting enhancement within Microsoft Word; management of the publication process.
Portfolio
Australian chicken meat industry turns to behavioural science
The Australian chicken meat industry is using behavioural science to more deeply understand its people in a bid to maximise research uptake and improve industry collaboration.
Behavioural science is a multidisciplinary field that seeks to understand the broader ‘system’ of factors that influences how people act and behave, and how to work with communities to bring about positive change.
National behavioural science organisation, Evidn, is leading innovative work to identify how knowledge can be best delivered to, and implemented by, those at the heart of the industry.
Read more here
Melissa taps into her potential at Commonwealth Games
Melissa Tapper will make history when she steps into Glasgow’s Scotstoun Sports Campus today.
As the first Paralympian to represent Australia at the able-bodied Commonwealth Games, the Hamilton table tennis export knows her efforts will make headlines.
The attention is hardly of her wanting. All Tapper has done is realise a dream, born when she took up the sport aged eight and discovered she was pretty good at it.
But the fact she’s had Erb’s palsy — paralysis of the right arm caused by nerve damage — since birth makes her story the more remarkable.
Read more here
Energy reductions the key to unlocking feed cost savings
West Australian sprintcar driver Daniel Harding knows the impact suicide can have on others.
Two friends of his family have taken their lives. Those left behind, including Harding and his brother Trevor, had to grapple with the question: why?
“It’s obviously a shock when it happens to someone you’re close with or involved with,” Harding said yesterday, shining a light on an oft-stigmatised subject.
“It’s one of those things people don’t want to believe will happen to them or around them.”
Read more here
Writing
Energy reductions the key to unlocking feed cost savings
Metabolisable energy levels in the diets of young meat chickens can be lowered without impacting bird performance, according to comprehensive new research published by a University of Sydney team.
The finding, contained in the results of a multi-year study led by Dr Mehdi Toghyani, could save the Australian chicken meat industry millions of dollars on feed ingredients annually amid an environment of fluctuating input costs and global market dynamics.
Read more here
Profile and services
Aidan Watts-Fawkes is a writer, editor and publisher who wants to ensure your project resonates with its intended audience.
Background and career
BComm (Professional Communication) at RMIT University, Melbourne. Graduated with distinction in 2007.
April 2008 — July 2009: Western District Newspapers, Camperdown, Australia
July 2009 — May 2012: Colac Herald, Colac, Australia
May 2012 — October 2015: The Standard, Warrnambool, Australia
March 2016 — September 2017: Greenways Publishing (casual role amid two years spent travelling)
June 2018 — November 2020: Department of Premier and Cabinet, Adelaide, Australia
February 2021 — May 2025: AgriFutures Australia, Wagga Wagga, Australia
Services and expertise
Proofreading and editing: Entrust me with refining your copy to ensure it can have the desired impact. I have extensive experience editing 400-word articles, 80-page reports and many pieces in between. Complementing my language skills is my deep knowledge of Microsoft Word, scientific writing conventions and the publishing process.
Publication management: Producing a high-quality report requires more than just writing compelling copy. Editing, sourcing photography, identifying core messages, conceptualising the final product and collaborating with a graphic designer are fundamental to the process.
My four years spent leading AgriFutures Australia’s publication efforts mean I am well placed to transform your reports from words on a page to a professionally designed product ready that reflects well on your organisation.
Writing: With eight years’ experience as a journalist, and the past four spent reading scientific reports on a daily basis, I know what’s required to showcase your work in a way that has on-the-ground impact.