The Concierge (Blog)

Newer editors often struggle with imposter syndrome, which is the feeling that they’re not really good at their work and pretty soon everyone will see right through them and point their fingers and laugh. I’ve struggled with this (imposter syndrome, not pointing fingers and laughing) off-and-on throughout my career, as do most people who want…

This is the season when a lot of people, including me, spend a fair amount of time thinking about our goals for the new year. Over the years, I’ve used various frameworks for thinking about what I want to do, what I want my business to do, and what I want my life to look…

My daughter likes the idea of dogs more than she actually likes the reality of them, sort of like me and home ownership. So we both enjoy these things safely at a distance. “What a cute house!” I say as I walk on by. “What a cute dog!” she says as she walks on by….

Once upon a time, I was a magazine editor, and every year the January issue would include some form of “New Year, New You!” article. I probably used that exact title more than once. People often use the beginning of something to start a new habit, such as learning a new skill. The start of…

I’m a daily reader of the ChumpLady website, which is a great resource for people who are dealing with cheaters in their romantic relationships. I read it not because I’ve ever lived with or left a cheater but because it offers incredible insight into narcs and other personality disordered types, which I have had to…

Once upon a time, I would write and publish a blog post and then I would write and publish another blog post, and then another and so on until I had a lot of blog posts. It was a great deal of work, and not always rewarded. Some posts got attention, some didn’t, but in…

A colleague recently mentioned an encounter with a proofreader who’d been hired to proofread a laid-out book (that is, in PDF form). The proofreader asked for the Word file to work from. That’s not how proofreading a laid-out book works. A friend had a client who wanted a developmental editor who could edit in Scribner….

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…

I’m reading a fairly popular thriller author’s newest novel, and I’m finding it a slog because while the story holds up, she really needed a line editor to pare back her worst habits. Here’s an example (I’m inventing this but it conveys the general problem): Janet clutched the steering wheel. The rain was pouring down!…