how to start your editing business.
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Basics of a Book Editor Contract

These basics of a book editor contract will help ensure you cover a few important considerations when setting up your editing business. Just the Basics of a Book Editor Contract I’m not going to get into the ins-and-outs of contracts, since I’m not a lawyer and crafting a legally binding contract is best left to…

Summer Study: Editing Experimental Fiction
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Growing a Developmental Editing Mindset

Editors, may I offer some suggestions on growing a developmental editing mindset? Beginning developmental editors sometimes ask me how “awful” books make it onto the New York Times bestseller list, and how can we worry about what makes a story “good” when obviously quality doesn’t matter to readers? How do “bad” books make it through…

Advanced Developmental Editing for Fiction.
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Developing a Story Editor Attitude

Developing a story editor attitude is not about being right or wrong, but more of a subjective approach to helping authors create their best writing. In story development/developmental editing, there’s really no such thing as being “right” about an issue. When you’re doing copyediting at least you can say, “Chicago recommends the use of the…

how to start a freelance business
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Why Providing Clear Guidance Matters for Editors

In the Club Ed membership group, we were discussing a (published) how-to book aimed at writers. One of the editors mentioned how the information was presented in a confusing way and that this made it difficult for her to continue reading. Then she remarked, “My mind is generally in a state of burden.” I don’t…

beginning line editing for fiction.
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Editing for Timeline Consistency

One of a book editor’s services is editing for timeline consistency, a common developmental concern. Here are some tips for tracking story timelines! Problems with Editing for Timeline Consistency A common developmental concern is a problem or error in the timeline of a story. Usually the copy editor is expected to track the timeline very…

different types of editing
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Editorial Distinctions: Different Types of Editing

Knowing the different types of editing will help you understand how they can often be fused together in a freelance editor’s project. The 3 Different Types of Editing Developmental editing (abbreviated DE or dev) looks at the big-picture concerns of a manuscript (ms). For nonfiction, we would ask: Is the structure logical? Is the argument…

beginning copyediting for fiction
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Avoiding “Here’s How I Would Write it” as an Editor

Have you used the “here’s how I would write it” editorial query? In making editorial suggestions, editors sometimes drift into “here’s how I would write it” territory, which is something I discourage. Authors don’t care what you would have done. They want to learn what they can do that will make their manuscript better. What…

happy birthday club ed
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Club Ed Turns Six!

I established Club Ed on a bleak winter day on the Kansas prairies, dreaming of blue skies and sunshine. That was in 2018, and now it’s 2024, and I’m about to celebrate Club Ed’s sixth birthday. Pretty spectacular for something I wasn’t sure would last out the winter. The following year, I packed up The Chicago…

how to start a freelance business
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10 reasons to start your freelance business in 2024

Ever wondered if you should start a freelance business? If you’ve ever thought of chucking your day job, I’m here to encourage you! 10 reasons to start a freelance business in 2024 1. You’re tired of being laid off every four months. 2. You’re fed up with having to ask permission to be sick, see…