The Concierge (Blog)

Blog Archives

Recent Posts

Beta reading as training for DE

Many self-publishing authors look for beta readers to give them perspective on their novels before they go to a professional editor for further help. An author doesn’t need a developmental editor to say the whole storyline is implausible and they yawned from beginning to end. Any reader of fiction can probably relay that information. Doing…
More Info Beta reading as training for DE

Story Editing as a Second Career

When I teach developmental editing classes, I get a lot of students transitioning from other careers. They’re often lawyers, social workers, and teachers – though I’ve also taught actors, accountants, and engineers, among others. What they have in common is that they love stories and want to explore whether book editing (story editing/developmental editing) is…
More Info Story Editing as a Second Career

How to Read Like an Editor

Book development editors don’t read books the way readers do. To sharpen your developmental editing skills, learn to read like an editor does (instead of the way a reader does). When you’re a reader, you enter the author’s world. You willingly suspend your disbelief in order to experience this world. That doesn’t mean you won’t…
More Info How to Read Like an Editor

Client Red Flags, Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve broken my list of red flags into two. Here’s the second list: The Disappearing or Disorganized Client Clients who wander off during the early stages of discussing their project are likely to wander off during the part of the project where they’re supposed to do some work…
More Info Client Red Flags, Part 2

Client Red Flags, Part 1

Since we want to weed out potentially troublesome clients before they make our lives miserable, it’s a good idea to have some weed-killing processes in place. For example, requiring a nonrefundable deposit means that a client is more committed to the edit (and paying the final invoice) than if you don’t require any upfront investment….
More Info Client Red Flags, Part 1

Fire bad clients

I often encourage freelance editors to work with corporate clients, such as book publishers and packagers, in order to provide a more stable workflow and better-paying work. Indie authors may be great fun to work with, but one author typically won’t come to you ten or fifteen times a year with more work, the way…
More Info Fire bad clients