A few years ago, my daughter Jessica had several consultations with her neurosurgeon. One day, as the nurse made an appointment for a follow-up visit in six months, she asked, “Do you need a written excuse for work?” And for one mad moment I couldn’t make any sense of what she was saying. I heard…
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…
It’s common for newer developmental editors to focus on critiquing rather than editing an author’s work. Developmental editing (also called story editing or content editing) does contain elements of critique but it is more than that. To do a good developmental edit, I have to immerse myself in the story world, to try to understand…
Setting expectations from the start helps keep the project you’re doing from becoming never-ending. If you agree to do one round of editing, that does not also include three hundred hours of personal coaching while the author is trying to finish the revision. It’s very common for the scope of an editing project to change,…
This is the season where goals are on people’s minds, mine included. That said, it’s perfectly fair if your primary goal is “I would like not to be so exhausted by external circumstances in 2022” but sometimes it can be energizing to make a little pile of things that are under your control and do…
Editors sometimes focus on selling services (“I copyedit fiction, particularly genre fiction like romance and mystery”) and there’s nothing wrong with that if your clients know what you mean. For example, if you’re pitching book publishers or packagers, they don’t need to be told that copyediting includes making sure a manuscript adheres to house style….
Editors who are just starting out or who are moving in new directions usually have an idea in mind of the work they want to do. Often this starts out as a very broad concept: they want to help novelists write better stories. Then they realize this is too broad – where do you find…
I’ve taught adult learners for over twenty years and I’ve devoted considerable time to thinking about and exploring what goes into effective instruction. One of the challenges with teaching is that just because you’re good at a particular skill—whether it’s basketball or oil painting—that doesn’t mean you automatically know how to convey the information effectively….
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…
Editors marketing their services often hear a lot of guidance about getting clients, some of it . . . well, let’s call it naïve. Just the other day I came across a LinkedIn post on how your first year in business you should give everything away for free and only after that should you start…