FAQs
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
To be honest, it was sort of an accident. I've been providing informal editing services for years, but they all fell under what I called my "4F Plan": Friends and Family For Free. I helped a friend work through a couple of novel manuscripts. I edited newsletters and meeting minutes for my mom's HOA executive board. I proofread papers for friends. I would "consult" for my dad (who does a fair amount of writing in his job) over grammatical issues. I wrote and edited the company newsletter, which went out with every paycheck, for five years when I worked for an eldercare agency. My sister's occasional newsletter usually found its way to my inbox before it got sent out en masse. So I did plenty of the work, just rarely for pay. That all changed when I was laid off from my job as digital systems administrator for the eldercare agency I mentioned. I'd been with the company for 7 years, as office staff/telecommuting for five, and I found myself at loose ends. I'd picked up the occasional freelance editing for Regent University by then, and my writer friend encouraged me to make the leap. It didn't take me very long to decide that I wanted to do what I loved, making better use of my college English major than verifying shifts and processing payroll, and I took the leap. I've not been sorry.
- What types of customers have you worked with?
My most recent work has been for Regent University, providing copy editing for their online scholarly journals. My goal there is to make sure that the technical aspects of the articles conforms to the journal's standard, and correct any mistakes I find. This is mostly technical work. I check for spelling errors, word choice errors, clarity, punctuation errors, and format. Non-scholarly work is a different type of editing. Fiction requires more than a technical analysis; the story must make sense from beginning to end, and I evaluate things like the general timeline of the story, the details of a character's life that are frequently mentioned, the flow, whether or not I think a character is acting out of character, point of view, and a host of other things. My ultimate goal, with every project, is to make the author's writing the best it can be.
- What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
Find an editor you can work well with. The ability to have a good and comfortable relationship with your editor is important, because you have to trust that your editor knows what she's doing with your "baby." If you're able to talk with your editor, discuss what you want and/or need of his services, and can walk away from each conversation (be it cyber or live) knowing your editor is working towards your best writing, then you have a good editor.