Since my humble beginnings as a proofreader, my business has evolved every year and now includes a full suite of editing services plus book coaching. These changes were informed largely by my clients, whose needs were diverse on the surface, but they all boiled down to one core desire: the courage to publish. At first, as a proofreader, I trumpeted the elimination of manuscript errors as a veh[...]
Confession: I’m an editor who sometimes doesn’t want to own the term “editor.” “Editor” doesn’t mean much out of context. It could refer to the editor of a magazine, a video editor, or a wordsmith like me. The problem is, even when people understand what kind of editor I am, they don’t always know what I do or the transformation I provide for a manuscript. Let me back up[...]
Have you written a book but don't know how to get your manuscript ready for publishing? Does the thought of showing your work to someone else intimidate you? Many first-time authors know how hard it was to write their book. The editing process seems daunting too, and you might be tempted to rush through it so you can just publish the dang thing already! I sat down for a heartfelt chat with[...]
Do you want to self-publish a book, but you think you can’t? Is the task of writing an entire manuscript too overwhelming? I was there too. I’d written long-form creative fiction before, but I thought I’d never be able to write nonfiction longer than your garden variety 1,000-word blog post. Well, I’m almost done writing my first nonfiction book, and I’m now at 21,000 words—and[...]
Why should you hire a proofreader? I’ve already written an article all about why you should hire a copyeditor. Do you really need to hire a proofreader as well? The answer is yes! Proofreading is an essential step in the editing process. Don’t skip it! The good news is, the same person can copyedit and proofread for you (hello), so you don’t have to hire two different people. But keep[...]
Are you considering hiring a copyeditor to help you elevate your writing, but you’re wondering: Do I really need a professional copyeditor?What does a professional copyeditor actually do?How will a professional copyeditor elevate my writing? This article is all about the responsibilities of a copyeditor. A lot of terms get thrown around incorrectly (such as “editor” and “proofreader[...]
The internet has made self-publishing possible when it was once unthinkable. It has never been easier to write a blog post or even an entire book and post it online for anyone to read, and all this in your total control, without any gatekeepers. But what about self-editing? If we self-publish, can we also self-edit? Sure! I do it all the time for my own blogs. I don’t necessarily recommend i[...]
I have heard countless authors, when looking to hire an editor, say: “I need a proofreader to edit my book.” Hold up. Editing and proofreading are not one and the same. In fact, editing is a vague term that can mean a couple of different things. Sometimes people even use the term “editing” to mean “proofreading.” Do you know the difference between editing and proofreading?[...]