The Club Ed Certificate in Developmental Editing of Fiction Program
Applications to the Certificate Program are currently closed (as of October 1, 2024). To be notified when applications reopen, please sign up for the Club Ed newsletter here.
Developmental editing is not an entry-level position. You have to understand the principles of storytelling and the use of effective editorial techniques to do it well. The Club Ed certificate program is designed to help you develop these skills.
You can apply for the Certificate retroactively – we’ll credit the classes you’ve already taken!
Benefits of a certificate of completion
Clarity
Offers a clear course of study that will help you be ready to work with paying clients
Skills
Prepares you to add a skillset to your existing editing business
Tools
Ensures you have the tools needed to get work from discerning clients
We can’t promise that you will be hired because of this credential. We can promise that you’ll be a far more confident and knowledgeable editor after you’ve completed the certificate program. The purpose of the program is skills-based and education-focused: it is meant to help you be ready to do the work. This is not an accredited program. It is intended strictly for professional development.
The Club Ed program focuses on editing works written for adults, and in particular genre fiction, as this is where most fiction editing work can be found. If you are interested in editing primarily children’s literature (including middle grade), this program is probably not the right one for you. However, young adult (YA) shares enough commonalities with fiction for adults that the principles of editing for both are similar.
How the program works
1
(See all classes here)
You must take the instructor-led Beginning and Intermediate Developmental Editing of Fiction classes OR the self-paced DE 1-6 (Foundations of Storytelling, etc.) series.
2
You must take three instructor-led classes covering specific developmental problems. These are:
- Editing for World-Building and Setting
- Editing for Character Development
- Editing for Plot and Story Structure
3
You must take four electives of your choice. Choose from self-paced and instructor-led:
- DE Detective (self-paced)
- Essentials of Conflict (self-paced) *RETIRED
- Editing for Point-of-View and Perspective (self-paced) *RETIRED
- Copyediting and Line Editing of Fiction (self-paced)
- Editing the Romance (self-paced)
- Editing Mystery/Thriller/Suspense (self-paced)
- Developmental Editing of Nonfiction (self-paced)
- Starting Your Editing Business (self-paced or instructor-led)
- Getting Editorial Work from Publishers and Packagers (instructor-led)
- How to Edit Query Letters, Synopses, and More (self-paced)
- Editorial Toolkit: Coaching Writers (instructor-led)
- Editing Short Stories and Novellas (instructor-led or self-paced)
- Explorations: Editing Literary Fiction (instructor-led or self-paced)
- Explorations: Editing Memoir (instructor-led)
- Editing Science Fiction and Fantasy (instructor-led or self-paced)
- Editorial Toolkit: Book Doctoring and Ghostwriting (instructor-led)
- Evolution of a Novel (self-paced)
- Editing Novels in a Series (instructor-led or self-paced)
- Beginning Copyediting for Fiction (instructor-led)
- Intermediate Copyediting for Fiction (instructor-led)
- Beginning Line Editing for Fiction (instructor-led)
- Intermediate Line Editing for Fiction (instructor-led)
- Finding (and Landing!) Indie Author Clients (instructor-led)
- Editorial Toolkit: Creating Classes & Information Products (instructor-led)
- Summer Study: Editing Experimental Fiction (instructor-led)
- Editing Mainstream and Upmarket Fiction (instructor-led)
- Editing Women’s Fiction (instructor-led)
- Fall Study: Editing Narrative Nonfiction (instructor-led)
- Understanding Goal-Motivation-Conflict for Editors (self-paced)
- Payoffs: Editing for Powerful Story Resolutions (self-paced)
- NEW! Advanced Line Editing for Fiction (on demand)
- NEW! Advanced Copyediting for Fiction (on demand)
- NEW! Editorial Toolkit: Beta Reading
Note that Naked Editing (in any version) does not apply to the certificate. Similarly, Notes on Editing Memoir does not apply to the certificate.
4
You must take the instructor-led Advanced Developmental Editing class OR the self-paced Developmental Editing Practicum.
5
For all instructor-led classes, you must complete all assignments to be considered as having taken that class. If you missed doing an assignment during such a class, you can turn in missed homework using the Missed Homework Makeup product.
6
You must signal your intent to complete the program by asking to enter the program. (There is no charge.) You have three years from the time of your application to complete the requirements for the certificate. When you’re finished with the program, you can request your certificate by sending a list of the classes you’ve taken that fulfill the requirements. (See email below.)
7
You must agree to abide by the Kindness Policy.
Note: If you’ve already taken Club Ed classes, some of these can be applied to the program requirements. List the Club Ed classes you’ve taken when you fill out the application and we’ll let you know which requirements they can be used to fulfill.
If you have taken Beginning and Intermediate Developmental Editing through the EFA, regardless of the instructor, you can bypass the first requirement – but talk to us first (Info@ClubEdFreelancers.com).
The cost of the complete program is about $2,200, depending on the class choices you make. Classes can be purchased a la carte, and you can pay for classes as you are ready, not all at once – unless you choose to take advantage of a certificate package. The program is intended to be completed in about a year, taking about one class a month, but you can take up to three years from the time of application to finish the program.
