Today's my birthday, so I want to do something a little more casual and talk about what I have found are the best and worst parts of working in my niche. If you're new to this blog (welcome!), I ghostwrite and copy edit books (for more detail about my niche and how I chose it, … Continue reading Pros and Cons of Working in Books as a Freelancer
What is Copy Editing? Copy editing is a bit of a gray area in the editing world. No one seems to agree 100% on what distinguishes it as the editing level/step between developmental editing (big picture edits) and proofreading (cosmetic edits). There has also been a decline in its use. Some newspapers have laid off … Continue reading Copy Editing Tips and Tricks
My first job after graduating college was copyediting a novel (Not sure what copyediting is? Check out this post on Editing Types.). The position started out as an unpaid internship but turned into my first paid freelancing gig. I constantly second guessed myself and feverishly checked the Chicago Manual of Style for every little thing, even … Continue reading The Rewards of Freelance Editing
One of the main reasons many people hesitate to send cold pitches is they're afraid that a CEO, company representative, or individual is going to get angry with them for sending an unsolicited email out of nowhere. Let me first say that this is a very rare occurrence if you're sending a true cold pitch and … Continue reading What I Learned from a Nightmare Pitching Experience
Running your own business is HARD. Things you never really thought of when deciding you wanted to be your own boss keep popping up like an obnoxious fifth grader grinning in serial killer fashion and shouting, "Hi! Hey! Hi! Look at me, lady, look at me!" inches from your nose so you can smell … Continue reading To Contract or Not to Contract
I recently got an interesting response back on one of my blind pitches. Through the pitch, I asked an author who had a mystery series in the works—let's call him M—if he would like a copy editor. His response was that he was interested but since he was the PIC, he wanted to be able to … Continue reading Who Does No. 2 Work For?: The Editor, Writer Relationship
*This is a post I wrote for my LinkedIn followers, but I thought with so many good writers here on WordPress that this would be knowledge worth sharing so that you don't get screwed over on your first try at self-publishing. The Danger of Cheap and Fast Today I was approached to take on a … Continue reading Cheap and Fast is Never a Good Sign: How to avoid crummy freelance editors
Okay, so now that I've covered why writers should edit, the different types of editing and the challenges of editing, it's time to get down to business and talk about some of the best ways to find paid editing jobs. Freelance Sites: Whether it is a site where you create a profile or simply a … Continue reading How to Land Editing Gigs
Editing is a great way for writers to make money using their natural skills. If you are a good writer, you are a heavy reader, and heavy readers can detect problems in writing quickly and naturally. However, good editing isn't just about reading material and making changes on those gut feeling and opinions. A good … Continue reading How to be a Good Editor: The Challenges of Editing
When you apply to an editing job, you need to know exactly what type of editing the client wants. The client may not know the difference, but you should, in order to charge the appropriate rate. The three types of editing are Proofreading, Copy Editing, and Substantive Editing. There is some overlap between the definitions, … Continue reading Know Your Editing Types
