Choosing a Niche for Freelance Editors

An important decision is that of choosing a niche for freelance editors. Often newer freelancers will come to me saying they’re not sure how to get clients. They’re willing to do just about anything for just about any price to get things rolling, so where can they find someone who needs an editor? The answer…

Making setting an extension of character development

Authors have a tendency to prefer focusing on character and/or plot at the expense of setting/world-building. (The exception is some SFF writers, who focus on setting and forget about plot and character.) So as editors we will often call that out and say something like, “Add a little description here. Otherwise it’s like Miles and…

Identifying Your Potential Clients

Once you’ve gotten some experience and are ready to find clients, you need to think about identifying your potential clients. Who is your audience of potential clients? It can’t be everyone who needs an editor because there is no way to find “everyone.” But there is a way to find, say, romance novelists. You can…

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How to Choose a Literary Agent

A recent question from a writer has inspired my thoughts on how to choose a literary agent. The question: “I have an agent who is new interested in my manuscript. Based on her existing clientele, I feel I have a good chance of sparking this woman’s attention. I also have a well-known agent sitting on…

Giving clients a reason to hire you

Editors often talk about how much they love stories as if this is a reason why someone should hire them. But loving stories is kind of a bottom-line thing, like having a medical degree is the bottom-line for being a physician. No one is going to hire you because you love stories. They’re going to hire…

What topic should your information product cover?

You’ve probably heard that to get people to sign up for your newsletter list, you should create an information product of some sort (an ebook, a white paper, a collection of templates) to give away in return for their signing up for your newsletter. This is certainly a tried-and-true strategy (and I do it myself…

Querying your novel

If you’re interested in trying to land a traditional publishing deal, you need a plan. You will have to be prepared to query many agents. Getting started I always recommend starting with a list of 100 agents who represent work in your genre. I recommend making the list of 100 ahead of time because the…

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The Process for Developmental Edits

The 3-Step Process for Developmental Edits The process for developmental edits is very straightforward and easy to follow. It includes these three basic steps: Step 1: First Read-Through The first step in the process for developmental edits is doing a first read-through. During the first read-through, I recommend just reading the ms for content. You…

Story Pattern and Story Structure

Recognizing Story Pattern and Story Structure Let’s dive in to a discussion showcasing story pattern and story structure. One common story pattern in fiction is the quest, such as this example: Huckleberry Finn is a quester; Dante (The Divine Comedy) is a quester; Charles Marlow (Conrad’s Heart of Darkness) is a quester. A reader seeing…