Join Club Ed Conversations

Back when I was active in martial arts, I used to teach a class or two a week for my instructor. He (and I) knew that one of the best ways to get better at a skill is to try to teach it. This is a humbling process because it points out all the things…

For editors interested in getting freelance work from book publishers and packagers, a crucial resource is your colleagues. I don’t mean you should pester random acquaintances to ask their publisher clients to hire you. I do mean you should: Ask what they did to land their first publisher/packager client. While a freelance editor is probably…

You probably landed here because you like books. Maybe you’ve always wanted to be an editor or maybe you think it would be a good side gig to get into. But you don’t know exactly what being a good editor means or how one would go about acquiring the necessary skills to do it well….

Recently I read a LinkedIn post from a proofreader who is interested in becoming a developmental editor (DE). They said something along the lines of, “I’ve been studying classic works of literature and although I can’t practice development on them because they can’t be improved, they do teach a lot about effective writing.” And while…

Siobhán is a freelance developmental editor who spends her life reading children’s books, watching scary films and drinking unicorn gin. She lives in Surrey, England, with her graphic designer husband and four-year-old son who wants to be a Pokémon when he grows up. Siobhan works directly with authors of middle grade and YA genre fiction, specialising in…

Where do freelance editors get work? Who is the market for freelance editors? If you’re interested in freelance editing, these are probably the top questions on your mind. The answer is that freelance editors work (1) directly with authors (usually called indie authors if they’re self-publishing) and (2) with publishing companies and book packagers. For…