Text und Lektorat

What Text und Lektorat does

Text und Lektorat is a sole proprietorship offering German-language editorial services, operated by Dr. Eleonore Föhles from a home office in Viersen, Germany, since 2009. The firm's service portfolio spans proofreading (Korrektorat), substantive editing (Lektorat), publishing project management, ghostwriting and promotional copywriting, expert manuscript reviews (Gutachten), final editorial review (Schlussredaktion), and writing coaching (Schreibcoaching). The customer base is split across three horizontal segments — publishers, agencies and corporate communications departments, and individual authors — with a publicly cited reference list of 20+ named organizations including Bayer AG, the EVZ Foundation, Droste Verlag, EGGERT GROUP, and several advertising agencies.

The underlying technology stack is intentionally minimal: edits are delivered via Microsoft Word using track changes or via PDF annotations, with the website hosted on IONOS. There is no proprietary software, no AI tooling, no mobile app, and no API. Service delivery is direct and asynchronous, with clients submitting texts by email and the proprietor returning annotated files by agreed deadline; the offering explicitly complies with Duden orthographic standards and is GDPR-compliant, including a formal data processing agreement with IONOS. Dr. Föhles is a member of the Verband der Freien Lektorinnen und Lektoren (VFLL), the German professional association for freelance editors.

The business model is a pure professional services model with time-based billing at 58 EUR per hour plus statutory VAT, a 45 EUR minimum for small orders, and project-based fixed pricing available upon review of full text. A free trial of two standard pages is offered to new customers as a customer acquisition mechanism. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer with no intermediaries, channel partners, or resellers; the website, direct phone/email contact, and professional reputation within the German publishing industry function as the primary demand-generation assets. The venture is unfunded, has no parent company, and operates with a single billable resource.

Name

Text und Lektorat

Legal name

Dr. Eleonore Föhles

Website

https://text-lektorat-foehles.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Text und Lektorat is a freelance German-language editorial services sole proprietorship in Viersen, Germany, operated by Dr. Eleonore Föhles since 2009, serving publishers, agencies, corporates, and individual authors with proofreading, editing, project management, ghostwriting, and writing coaching billed at 58 EUR/hour.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Editorial and Proofreading Services

NAICS

Document Preparation Services (561410), Document Preparation Services (56141)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Editorial & Production Services (Copyediting, Proofreading, Formatting, Typesetting) (MPAJAJAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Manuscript Development Services (Coaching, Developmental Editing) (MPAJAJAF), Ghostwriting & Collaborative Writing Services (MPAJAJAI)

Keywords

• Editorial services
• Manuscript proofreading
• Ghostwriting services
• Writing coaching
• Publishing consultancy

Headquarters

HQ city

Viersen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Professional Editing Services: Time-based billing for editing, proofreading, ghostwriting, writing coaching, and project management services. Hourly rate of 58 EUR plus VAT. Minimum fee of 45 EUR for small orders. Project-based quotes provided after reviewing full text.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Text und Lektorat is a freelance editorial-services practice offering proofreading (Korrektorat), manuscript editing (Lektorat), ghostwriting, writing coaching, expert opinions (Gutachten), final editing (Schlussredaktion), and project-management support. The principal, Dr. Eleonore Föhles, delivers these services to publishers, agencies, corporate clients, and individual authors in the German-speaking market. The business has been active since 2009 and bills at a published hourly rate of 58 EUR plus VAT, with a 45 EUR minimum.

Product overview

Text und Lektorat is a freelance editing and proofreading service operated by Dr. Eleonore Föhles since 2009. The company offers a unified portfolio of editorial services under one brand, serving three main customer segments: publishers (Verlage), agencies and companies (Agenturen und Unternehmen), and individual authors (Autoren). Services include Korrektorat (proofreading), Lektorat (editing), Projektmanagement (project management), Ghostwriting und Texten (ghostwriting and writing), Gutachten (expert reviews), Schlussredaktion (final editing), and Schreibcoaching (writing coaching). All services are provided as professional service offerings with no software products or digital platforms involved.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers18 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Acrolinx: Enterprise content quality platform used by large companies to enforce style, terminology and grammar standards at scale. Adjacent in serving enterprise editorial needs (including corporates like Bayer AG) but offers a software platform rather than bespoke human editing.
• Grammarly: Global AI writing assistant covering spelling, grammar, tone and style. Relevant as a technology alternative for clients weighing whether to outsource basic proofreading to a freelancer like Text und Lektorat versus using automated tools.
• Textbroker GmbH: German content and text-services marketplace connecting clients with freelance writers and editors. Overlaps on editorial and copywriting services for publishers and agencies, but operates as a scaled platform intermediating many freelancers rather than as a sole-practitioner service.

Emerging players

• LanguageTool: AI-based writing assistance tool founded in Germany for spelling, grammar and style checking in German and other languages. Competes most directly with the Korrektorat and basic Lektorat services by automating the surface-level proofreading this business is built on.
• DeepL Write: AI-powered writing assistant from the German company DeepL for rewriting, tone adjustment and grammar improvement in German and other languages. Competes with proofreading and light editing services by offering automated alternatives at lower cost.

Regional players

• Phrase (PhraseApp): Localization and translation management platform serving enterprise content workflows in DACH and globally. Adjacent as an enterprise-grade alternative for companies outsourcing editorial and language work, though focused on translation rather than editorial services.

Direct peers

• Supertext AG: Swiss-headquartered editorial, copywriting and translation services company serving DACH-region publishers, agencies and corporates. Directly comparable as a professional editorial services provider in the German-language market, though operating at greater scale with a multi-editor model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Text und Lektorat