Working from home can feel unsettling and scary. These 10 tips can help you make the adjustment easier and quicker.
Editing Success: New Year’s Resolution Follow-Up
Six weeks into the new year, and the crowd at the gym is starting to thin out as New Year’s resolutions fall by the wayside. It doesn’t take long for most folks to lose momentum.
Breaking into Copyediting, Part 4: When You’re “Mostly” Qualified
Copyediting is a great second career for word lovers, but getting started can be a mystery. I started this series by exploring how to get training and how to continue that training. Last week, I shared several tips for applying to editing jobs, encouraging readers to apply only to jobs they’re qualified for. Not being
Breaking into Copyediting, Part 3: Getting Your First Editing Job
In this series, I’ve been digging into how to get started in copyediting. In part 1, I outlined the knowledge and skills you need to get started. In part 2, I discussed how you’ll need to continue your education to move into the journeyman stage. But how do you get that first editing job? Do
Breaking into Copyediting, Part 2: Continuing Your Training
In part 1 I outlined the basic knowledge and skills you need to become a copyeditor. The list is long, but even the longest training programs (university certificate programs with several courses) can be finished within a year. And once you’ve done the training, you’re ready to go, right? Well … Editing is a craft.
Breaking into Copyediting, Part 1: Training Required
There’s a popular idea that if you’re good at spotting typos, you can be a copyeditor. Spotting typos shows an eye for—and an interest in—details, and that’s a great start. But there’s so much more to catch. A colleague recently shared some typical editing math. Given 15,540 words in a book chapter (62 manuscript pages)
Freelance Editors, Stop Discounting Your Rates
Q. This is kind of a copyedit, but I don’t have to edit footnotes. What should I charge? A. Charge your copyediting rate. Q. This is a developmental edit, but it’s a second pass. What should I charge? A. Charge your developmental editing rate. Q. This is mostly a proofread … A. (say it with
How to Grow Your Editing Business with Referrals
One goal of my editorial services business is to gain more clients who are similar to my favorite clients. A while back, at Communication Central’s annual conference, I attended “Rev Up Your Business with Referral Power” presented by Jake Poinier, aka Dr. Freelance. Poinier outlined how I can find those desired clients. Why Referrals? I
6 Tips to Fact-Checking as a Copyeditor
Fact-checking is often an added task to a copyeditor’s already long list of duties. 6 tips to doing it better.
Making the Case for Copyediting
Last week, one of my corporate clients asked me to do a rush proofread on a PDF file. Time was short, but the team publishing the document had reviewed and approved all the text. There had been no copyediting stage, however.
Oh boy.
