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Judging your editorial skills

One of the challenges with working with indie author clients is they aren’t always the best judges of what constitutes good editing. They may think that because an editor has left very few comments on their manuscript, the editing is fine and their manuscript must be in good shape. But maybe the editor is just…

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How do you know if you’re a good editor?

I was lucky enough to learn to edit from staff editors who gave me encouraging but useful feedback on how I was doing my work. And over the years I’ve worked with a lot of colleagues who aren’t shy about saying what I’m doing well and what I’m not doing so well. But not all…

Making a connection in your letter of introduction

I’m a big fan of reaching out to potential clients directly to let them know you exist. The letter of introduction (LOI) is a time-tested way to market, and as a freelance editor, I’ve used it successfully to sell my services to book publishers and packagers. I don’t use LOIs to target indie authors as…

How outbound marketing works for freelance editors

Freelance editors often focus on what we might call indirect marketing and inbound marketing – that is, letting people know about their work through social media, blog posts, SEO, networking, and similar activities. Since freelance editors rarely have a marketing background, these approaches feel appropriate and doable. And that’s fine as far as it goes!…

Help Potential Coaching Clients Get to Know You

Because coaching is expensive, personal, and requires trust, it’s unlikely that a random client will see your website and immediately sign up for services. They need to get to know you first. And this is a good thing! There are some people I’m not a good coach for because our personalities and approaches don’t mesh…

Two major misconceptions about coaching writers

As developmental editors, we often have authors come to us when their manuscripts are not actually ready for a developmental edit. I’ve known editors who turn such clients away, saying exactly that: “Your manuscript is not ready for a developmental edit.” But writers wouldn’t be coming to us if they didn’t need help! So, coaching…