Courses: Self-Paced
Self-paced classes can be accessed for eighteen months after purchase and allow you to go at your own pace. Read the materials and do the lessons when you have time. There is no instructor feedback, but exercises and answer keys help you understand how to put the principles into practice.
DE 1: Foundations of Storytelling
$90 (Members: $81) | How to edit novels | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Beginner This class starts at the beginning: what a novel is, how genres work, how readers read. You’ll learn not just the definition of story conflict but how to identify it when you see it. You’ll learn what GMC stands for…
DE 2: Principles of Developmental Editing
$90 (Members: $81) | How to edit novels | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Beginner This class covers the ABCs of the practice of developmental editing of fiction: understanding the developmental editor’s role how developmental editing differs from other types of editing and feedback questions to ask when developmental editing the mechanics of developmental editing…
DE 3: Writing Effective Editorial Queries
$60 (Members: $54) | How to write editorial queries | 2 lessons | Self-paced | Beginner In developmental editing, much of the guidance we provide to authors takes place in the editorial queries. This self-paced class provides information about best practices for developmental editors, particularly for fiction. The class includes a thorough description of effective…
DE 4: Writing the Revision Letter
$60 (Members: $54) | How to write a revision letter | 3 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate The revision letter, which provides the overview of your main editorial findings and suggestions, is a crucial component of the developmental edit, but they are easy to get wrong – including the wrong information, prioritizing the wrong revisions,…
DE 5: Manuscript Evaluation
$60 (Members: $54) | How to do a manuscript assessment, evaluation, or critique | 3 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class teaches you how to add the additional service of manuscript evaluation to your menu of offerings. This is a great option for authors not ready for a full developmental edit who just need…
DE 6: Evaluating Your Effectiveness as an Editor
$60 (Members: $54) | How to evaluate your editorial skills | 2 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate As a freelancer, you don’t have a boss or coworkers giving feedback about your performance. If you work primarily for indie clients, your clientele may not even know what effective editing looks like. What if there are better…
Class Package: DE 1 through 6
$350 (Members: $315) | How to become a developmental editor | 15 lessons | Self-paced | Beginner This class package bundles together all six self-paced Essentials of Developmental Editing classes for a lower price than purchasing each class individually: DE 1: Foundations of Storytelling DE 2: Principles of Developmental Editing DE 3: Writing Effective Editorial…
Naked Editing: Self-Paced Version
$60 (Members: $54) | Learn what a developmental edit looks like | 3 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class is meant for writers and editors, new and experienced, who are interested in following along as a developmental edit unfolds on a complete fiction manuscript. It is a reading-intensive class. Note: Recent current events force…
So You Want to Be an Editor
$90 (Members: $81) | So you want to be an editor | 6 lessons | Self-paced | Beginner If you’re thinking about becoming an editor, you probably have an eagle eye for spotting spelling errors that show up in print or online, or you’ve always wanted to work with books and authors in some way,…
Point-of-View and Perspective for Editors
$100 (Members: $90) | How to edit for point-of-view and perspective | 5 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class goes beyond the basics of head-hopping to dive deep into problems in perspective and POV. It goes past simple distinctions such as first versus third to dive into close third versus omniscient third versus limited…
Understanding Goal-Motivation-Conflict for Editors
$80 (Members: $72) | How to edit for goal-motivation-conflict | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate When it requires three cups of full-strength coffee to get past the first chapter of the novel manuscript you’re editing, you’re probably dealing with a story that lacks goal-motivation-conflict (GMC). Unlike in our personal lives, in fiction we need…
Call to Adventure: Editing the Opening (self-paced)
$50 (Members: $45) | How to edit novel openings| 2 lessons| self-paced| Intermediate Readers are judgy. When they’re deciding whether to read a book, they often give the author only a few pages – sometimes not even a whole chapter! This class is designed to show editors how to help authors sharpen their openers. This…
Editing Sagging Middles (self-paced)
$50 (Members: $45) | How to edit the middle of a novel | 2 weeks | self-paced| Intermediate We’ve all read them: manuscripts where the engaging opening yields to a mired-down mess. We call that the sagging middle. The tension depletes, the characters lose their way, even the antagonist is bored. The stakes evaporate, characters…
Payoffs: Editing for Powerful Story Resolutions
$80 (Members: $72) | How to edit for powerful story resolutions | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class is called “Payoffs” for a reason, and that’s because readers want their investment in a story to be paid off. They want to feel rewarded after they close the book. They want to feel it…
Beginnings, Middles, and Ends Course Bundle
$130 ($117 for members) for three separate courses. Save $50 by purchasing the Beginnings, Middles, and Ends Course Bundle. The course bundle includes: Call to Adventure: Editing the Opening (normally $50) Editing Sagging Middles (normally $50) Payoffs: Editing for Powerful Story Resolutions (normally $80)
Editing Mainstream and Upmarket Fiction
$80 (Members: $72) | How to edit mainstream and upmarket fiction | 4 weeks | Self-paced | Intermediate What is mainstream fiction? How is it different from genre fiction and literary fiction? And what is this thing called upmarket fiction? Where does that fit into the literary world? In this class, we’ll explore those questions….
Notes on Editing Memoir
$40 (Members: $36) | How to edit memoir | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class is informational-only, meaning you will not complete assignments based on the lessons. I do recommend that you read a few published memoirs as you work through the material. Notes on Editing Memoir will help you understand the distinction…
Explorations: Editing Literary Fiction
$90 (Members: $81) | How to edit literary fiction | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class explores the concept of literary fiction and what to consider when editing such novels. It discusses what we mean by “literary fiction” and how it differs from genre fiction (if it does). It looks at perspective, the…
Beginning Copyediting for Fiction
$100 (Members: $90) | How to copyedit fiction | 4 weeks | self-paced | Beginner In this class, you’ll learn the basics of copyediting fiction, including: understanding the primary goal of ensuring consistency throughout a ms how copyediting is different for fiction versus nonfiction using The Chicago Manual of Style to make editorial decisions the…
Intermediate Copyediting for Fiction
$100 (Members: $90) | How to copyedit fiction | 4 weeks | self-paced | Intermediate This class picks up where Beginning Copyediting for Fiction leaves off. It assumes you know the basics of using The Chicago Manual of Style to make editorial decisions, how to write editorial queries, and how to write (and use) a…
Exploring and Editing the Odder Byways of the English Language
NEW! $90 (Members: $81) | How to edit unusual sentence-level concerns | 4 lessons| self-paced| Intermediate During the last holiday season, Target ran an ad with the phrase “Mine, all mineeeeee!” and I had to close my eyes and count to ten instead of asking them if their ad agency had ever thought of hiring…
DE Detective
$90 (Members: $81) | How to use sentence-level clues to track down developmental problems | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class is meant for working with fiction authors. When a manuscript has obvious problems, they’re, well, obvious. The overemphasis on backstory has slowed the pacing to a crawl, the POV hops from head…
Beginning Line Editing for Fiction
$100 (Members: $90) | How to line edit | 4 lessons| Self-paced| Beginner This class introduces you to the main concepts of line editing, which is sentence-level editing intended to help polish an author’s prose. Line editing is in very high demand among indie authors, so it’s an excellent skill to learn. But be warned:…
Intermediate Line Editing for Fiction
$100 (Member price: $90) | How to line edit | 4 lessons| Self-paced| Intermediate This is a class about exploring how the use of effective, evocative language can support storytelling; it is not a class about where the commas go. (That’s Beginning Copyediting for Fiction.) This class digs into more complex line editing issues, moving…
Line Editing: Dialogue
$50 (Members: $45) | How to line edit dialogue| 2 lessons| Self-paced| Intermediate Line editors often feel confident about line editing a narrative – removing unnecessary actions, trimming down descriptive info-dumping, brightening up boring prose – but when it comes to dialogue, they feel less sure of what they’re doing. This class is intended to…
Editing Narrative Nonfiction
$90 (Member price: $81) | How to edit narrative nonfiction | 4 lessons| Self-paced| Intermediate In this class, you’ll read four published works of narrative nonfiction that take different approaches to storytelling. Written lessons describe what to consider when editing narrative nonfiction. You’ll write a total of four revision letters covering developmental problems you noted…
Editing Short Stories and Novellas
$90 (Members: $81) | How to edit short stories and novellas | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class discusses the basic expectations for various types of short fiction, ranging from flash fiction up through novellas and focuses on how DE differs when it is applied to short fiction and novellas as opposed to…
Editing Science Fiction and Fantasy
$90 (Members: $81) | How to edit science fiction and fantasy | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class discusses the basics of the developmental editing of science fiction and fantasy novels. The class covers: basic conventions of the genre (reader expectations)—what to do when authors violate these and how to tell when they…
Editing the Romance
$90 (Members: $81) | How to edit romance novels | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate In this class, you’ll learn the basics of the developmental editing of romance. The class covers: basic conventions of the genre (reader expectations)—what to do when authors violate these and how to tell when they have differences among various…
Editing Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
$90 (Members: $81) | How to edit mystery, thriller, and suspense novels | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class walks you through the principles of developmentally editing the related genres of mystery, suspense, and thriller. It covers: Understanding genre conventions Helping authors create a strong central conflict Keys to building tension and suspense…
Editing Horror (with James Gallagher)
$50 (Members: $45) | How to edit horror | webinar | Intermediate Veteran horror editor James Gallagher leads this one-hour webinar for people interested in learning how to edit the horror genre. (This is a recorded version of the webinar, not a live version.) The class covers the fundamentals: What is horror? Brief history of…
Genre Pack
$180 Genre Pack: Buy 2, Get 1 free. Get all three self-paced genre classes (Editing Science Fiction and Fantasy, Editing Mystery/Thriller/Suspense, and Editing the Romance) for just $180 (regular price: $270) You must purchase this bundle to get the deal (don’t buy any of these separately).
How to Edit Query Letters, Synopses, and More!
$90 (Members: $81) | How to edit query letters, synopses, and more | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class is meant for editors who would like to offer additional services to authors beyond manuscript editing. In this class, you’ll learn how to edit: query letters and story synopses for authors planning to follow…
Editing Novels in a Series
$90 (Members: $81) | How to edit novels written as part of a series | 3 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate Editing series work is complex. You need to edit for all of the usual issues as well as series-related issues, such as the protagonist being an only child in Book 1 and having four…
Evolution of a Novel
$90 (Members: $81) | How the novel revision process works | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate For writers, editors, book coaches, and critique partners interested in learning about the revision process. Follow along as an author shows how her vision for a novel changes from the original draft to the final published version. Identify…
Finding (and Landing!) Indie Author Clients
$80 (Member price: $72) | How to land indie author clients | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate If you’re looking to build a sustainable freelance editing business, this class is for you! I’ve designed it for editors who have landed a few clients but want to figure out how to create a consistent flow…
Starting Your Editing Business
$90 (Members: $81) | How to start your editing business | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate This class helps new editors start and grow their editing business, whether copyediting, developmental editing, coaching, or some combination. Each lesson includes information on topics such as: finding your purpose identifying your potential clients conducting a personal skills…
Marketing Toolkit: SEO for Editors (self-paced)
$50 ($15 for members. Members, please use the coupon code that’s available in the Membership Program classroom to enroll.) Webinar recording. This Marketing Toolkit webinar was presented by Club Ed’s SEO maven, Jenny Raith. The webinar covers: SEO definition and resources understanding keywords developing a keyword strategy researching keywords the role of content creation and…
Marketing Toolkit: Social Media for Editors (self-paced)
$50 ($15 for members. Members, please use the coupon code that’s available in the Membership Program classroom to enroll.) Webinar replay. This webinar, designed specifically for editors, discusses: finding the best social media outlets for marketing your editing business tapping into the type of social media you enjoy doing using different types of posts to get…
Marketing Toolkit: Content Marketing Strategy (self-paced)
$50 ($15 for members. Members, please use the coupon code that’s available in the Membership Program classroom to enroll.) Webinar replay. This marketing webinar, created specifically for editors, covers: what content marketing is and how it works creating a unique selling proposition (USP) how USP can and should impact content creation connecting content creation to SEO…
Club Ed for Editors membership program – yearly
Need some help finding clients, making better money, and staying productive? Or would you just like to feel a little less alone as you go about your day? The Club Ed Membership Program for Editors is meant for freelance editors at every stage of their career, from those exploring what editing is to those who’ve…
