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The perks of being a freelance book editor

If you think you might enjoy becoming a freelance book editor, read on! This site is intended for freelance developmental editors (DEs)—that is, DEs who aren’t employed by publishing companies but run their own businesses. This allows much more flexibility for the very many people in the world who need it. (More than forty percent…
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Editorial terminology

Use the right words to prevent client confusion The other day I saw a writer upset that their editor promised several passes through their manuscript but in fact only did one. It was a classic case of miscommunication of editorial terminology. What the writer expected was for the editor to provide feedback through several revisions….
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What makes a good editor?

Writers often assume that being an editor can’t be all that different from being a writer. But writing and editing are two very different skills. What makes a good editor is not the same as what makes a good writer. Being a writer has certainly helped me understand what the writing and revision process is like…
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Freelance Book Editing

If you’re interested in being a book editor, you’d probably like to have a clear idea of what a book editor does! Freelance book editing covers several different types of editing, which are covered below. What does a book editor do? Since I’m a freelance book editor and I teach freelance book editing, I’m going…
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How to stop attracting the wrong clients

“I’m not teaching the whiners anymore.” A friend of mine who also runs an online education company said this to me a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about the direction we wanted to take our respective businesses. Personally, I don’t get the kind of students you’d call whiners—that is, people who complain…
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Framework for fiction editorial query

A good rule of thumb for a fiction editorial query is to make statements, not ask questions. By focusing on making statements, rather than questions, in your editorial queries, you begin to unpack your assumptions about what literature is, what makes a story good, and so on. I often recommend using the three-party query template…
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Turning an editorial question into an editorial query

It’s very common for newer dev editors to write editorial queries that say things like, “What is Joe’s motivation?” but that does not give the author sufficient guidance to do the revision so it is not an effective editorial query. But it is a perfectly fine place to start. The first thing to do is…
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