It’s important for editors to recognize that authors have different stages of ability: Most of our author clients are at Stage 1, 2, or 3, and how we shape the edit will depend on which it is. If we expect an author at Stage 1 to be able to spot their own errors, we aren’t…
Editors with some experience often come to me with concerns about sustaining their business. They’re usually in a particular niche, such as copyediting mystery fiction, and they’ve stalled in some way – they don’t have quite enough clients and they’re not making quite enough money. But we know that niches are a great way to…
I’m on LinkedIn quite a bit because it’s a good place to talk about Club Ed. Sometimes on LI people share stories about why they want to quit their jobs. While I am well accustomed to bad boss behavior, this recent one made my jaw drop: “I’m at a funeral and my boss is texting…
If you’re interested in editing – whether copyediting or developmental editing – it pays to become used to a few basic editing resouces. What’s Your Style? Most of my clients have wanted me to follow The Chicago Manual of Style with some variations, and that is standard for book publishing, so it pays to become…
As a developmental editor, you’ll occasionally (maybe even frequently) encounter clients who need more than what you can offer in a developmental edit. Sometimes they don’t have the skill to do the necessary revision or they simply don’t have the time to do the writing. In these cases, instead of sending the client off to…
Occasionally I hear from editors who’ve gotten stiffed by a new client (and sometimes by a returning client!) and want to know how to avoid it. Because my publisher clients are all reliable, the main thing I do to prevent problems is to expect full payment in advance from indie authors. Not everyone can do…
Some years ago, I taught copyediting for the University of California San Diego (long before I ever moved to sunny California myself) and often I would get students who asked, “So, does this apply to copyediting fiction, too?” And the answer was, “Yes, but no.” Yes, you need to apply consistent standards throughout the manuscript….
The other day, I reached out to a company that offered a product priced for (a) nonprofit companies and (b) corporations with up to 15,000 employees. As you can imagine, (a) was cheaper than (b) by a significant degree—think $250 versus $2000. As a small business owner who uses a few subcontractors to handle things…
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…
A question I’m commonly asked is “how do I get started in freelancing?” I never answer this question because it’s so complicated whole books have been written on the subject. But today I’m going to answer it because once I’ve done so, I’ll just start sending people the link. Here are the basic steps to…