Editor Spotlight – Elyse Lyon
I’ve been asking a few newer editors to share their tips about creating successful editing businesses. This week, Elyse Lyon responded with her thoughts. – Jennifer Lawler
My background is in creative writing/literary fiction and EFL (English as a foreign language) teaching. That background has absolutely helped me in understanding clients and providing services that better meet my target clients’ needs, but they were really no help in getting work. Because I moved countries so many times after college, I didn’t have a professional or even personal network when I started working full-time as an editor rather than just dabbling in it here and there from a less-than-professionally-educated position.
What really made a difference to me was getting the best training I could, and then devoting as much time to it as I could. I also read books about editing and followed as many editing groups as I could, which gave me my first job leads that really paid off. Because I was highly trained before I got hired, my skills were quickly noticed, and I was given more and better work very quickly.
For me, taking low-paid packager work to begin with paid off. I know a lot of people really don’t approve of that, and you do have to be very careful not to get trapped in a cycle of doing a lot of that work because it’s easy and it’s there. But for me, I was making a livable (if not fabulous) full-time income within a few months, and the environment (working with other editors and learning from each other) was absolutely key to developing my skills and confidence. It also led to more and better opportunities, and I genuinely don’t know where I’d be without it, especially being the primary earner in my household.
I didn’t do as much networking as I might have early on, and I rather wish I’d done more, but even the little I did was key. For me, the value of networking is really about gaining skills and inspiration rather than getting work opportunities. Knowing how other editors are navigating their careers helps immeasurably as I continue to grow my business.
