How can someone effectively combine writing and editing skills to make a good living? By establishing what I call a “hyphenated career”: becoming a writer-editor! Combine Writing and Editing Skills In my book The Business of Storytelling, I talk about how to create a writer-editor career, where you use what you learn as a writer…
“Waiting for a hare to appear” is an old Taoist story. Taoism is a philosophy of the middle way, of not forcing effort, of observing nature and trying to stay in tune with it. Sometimes people take the wrong message away from Taoist teachers, and the hare story is an example. The story goes like…
I was recently a guest on Fabio Cerpelloni’s podcast, Open Draft, and we talked about writing and editing. He distilled our conversation down to 5 key tips for writers (and editors): 1. You won’t win every fight. And you won’t please every reader. 2. There’s no formula to being a successful writer, but mindset matters…
Once upon a time, I trained in the martial arts. When I was a brown belt, I hit someone pretty hard and broke his rib. We were supposed to demonstrate excellent physical control, and accidentally breaking someone’s rib does not equal excellent physical control. I felt terrible for causing him pain and for not having…
Let me tell you about that time I worked 650 hours to earn $7500. This was last year, so it’s not like it was a newbie mistake. What happened? How to Price Your Editorial Services Takes Thought In fact, I think #5 was probably the biggest factor in this snarl. If I hadn’t felt rushed…
In April, I made $4500 in one day. Ten years ago or so, I made $30,000 in one month. Wouldn’t it be nice if that meant I earned $1.6 million a year? Or even just $360,000 a year? When people throw earnings around to impress you with how much you can make if only you…
Building your editing business requires finding clients. As a newer editor, this can be challenging, so where do you start? I suggest you begin by asking yourself a few questions. Building Your Editing Business: Decide Who You Are as an Editor Inventory What You Already Know Put It Together Tips for Editors & Writers
Learning how freelancers can use the Pareto Principle to level up their marketing game offers great business-building wisdom. How Freelancers Can Use the Pareto Principle The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, is a ratio used to describe certain economic and business situations, such as 20 percent of the people have 80 percent…
Setting client expectations at the very beginning of a working relationship is necessary to provide the best editing services when working with authors. Setting Client Expectations: What Does the Client Want? Because editorial functions can go by different names, the first rule of freelance editing (whether developmental or otherwise) is to figure out what your…
Whether you’re a developmental editor, a copyeditor, or a line editor, avoiding scope creep is necessary so you can deliver your best work to clients. Avoiding Scope Creep for Editors When we edit novels, much of our work involves evaluating the problems in the manuscript and suggesting possible revisions for the author. If Joe’s character…