A BLOG FOR EDITORS, PROOFREADERS AND WRITERS

WordTips offers lots of tricks, tips and ideas on how to make the most of Microsoft Word. If you're editing or proofreading in Word, this site will have something for you.

The site includes information on all aspects of Word including, but not limited to: Bullets and Numbering, Customizing Word, Fields, Footnotes and Endnotes, Formatting, Headers and Footers, Macros, Master and Subdocuments, Shortcut Keys, Styles, Tables, Templates, and Tools.

There are two versions available:

You can also sign up for a free subscription to WordTips or WordRibbonTips.

With the release of version 2 of PerfectIt, it seemed the ideal time to put some questions to Daniel Heuman, managing director of Intelligent Editing. I've been a PerfectIt user for some years and I'm looking forward to upgrading to the new version. 

Visit the Intelligent Editing website for more information about PerfectIt. You might also like the PerfectIt User Forum, where you can ask questions, suggest improvements and download style sheets.

In the meantime, if you're open to complementing your editorial eye with useful ancillary tools, and want to learn a little more from the developer, read on ... 

Louise Harnby: For the benefit of those who’ve never used PerfectIt, Daniel, tell us a bit about what it does.

Daniel Heuman: PerfectIt is a consistency checker. Just as you have a spell checker for spelling, and a grammar checker for grammar, PerfectIt checks documents for consistency mistakes. For example, if you hyphenate "copy-editor" in one location in a document, it’s important to make sure that’s consistent throughout. So PerfectIt checks consistency of hyphenation, capitalization, abbreviations, numerals in sentences, list punctuation and many other things.

PerfectIt also helps check points of style. PerfectIt can be customized with house style preferences and used to check those. For example, one editor programmed PerfectIt to check WHO (World Health Organization) style and made that available to all users. Anyone wanting to check WHO style can just load up that stylesheet and PerfectIt will check for over 1600 preferences. From "hyponatraemia" (not "hyponatremia") to "corrigenda" (not "corrigendums"), that’s an invaluable resource to anyone working with the style.

Finally, PerfectIt helps tidy up documents. It checks that abbreviations are defined, that users haven’t left notes to themselves in text (e.g. "NB: insert figure here") and it can create a table of abbreviations (automatically locating all abbreviations and their definitions) in seconds.

LH: I was discussing all things business to a friend of mine who’s a marketing manager. He writes a lot of quite lengthy reports for internal and external use. I suggested PerfectIt to him and his response was: "I don’t see the need for something like that – there’s a spell check on my PC and I’ve got a good eye.” What would you say to him?

DH: I’d probably scream “oh-my-god-you-are-wasting-your-life!” Actually, that’s not true … I’m English, so I’d probably roll my eyes and walk away!

The truth is that there are two reasons why he should be using PerfectIt. The first is speed. How long does it take him to find one inconsistency? He needs to read through his entire text, locate each word that is capitalized and check/remember to capitalize that word throughout. Then he needs to do the same for hyphenation, abbreviations, heading case, and so much more. PerfectIt finds all of that in seconds. He really is wasting his life by doing it the long way.

The second reason for him to switch to PerfectIt is quality. PerfectIt helps users to really take pride in their work. It isn’t possible for the human brain to keep track of consistency once documents pass several thousand words. Some 80% of documents over 1000 words that are published online contain a capitalization inconsistency, and over 60% contain a hyphenation inconsistency (see The Top 10 Consistency Mistakes). Even if we restrict it to spelling, over 20% of documents over 1000 words that are published online contain a spelling inconsistency. There’s nothing a spell checker can do about that last category. The word "adviser" and "advisor" are both correct spellings. But if they appear in the same document, that’s an inconsistency. Some people won’t ever be convinced. But the stats are real. And as soon as they try PerfectIt, they get it.

LH: So PerfectIt’s not just for editors or proofreaders. It feels like you developed it with a much broader audience in mind …

DH: My background is in economics, and I started out as an economic consultant. Most of the tests that PerfectIt carries out are based on real world experience at that time. For example, we’d deliver reports for businesses and government, but at the end of each report we’d have to go through carefully and make sure that bullets were consistently capitalized and punctuated. We’d check that abbreviations were defined in their first instance, and that they were only defined once. So PerfectIt was designed very much for that market, with a focus on consultants, engineers, lawyers, and medical professionals.

It was only when PerfectIt was released that it was adopted by the editing community, translators and technical writers. In terms of overall revenue, the big companies are probably more significant. But in terms of volume, it’s the individual editors who have been most important. I stopped counting sales to members of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders after it reached 100. And the success is similar with other editing societies around the world. But it’s not just about volume. Editors are wonderful customers because they send feedback. Is there any group in the world better at spotting flaws in editing software? You better believe I get a lot emails with examples that PerfectIt has missed. The result is that we’re always improving the product based on the mails we get.

LH: I’ve been pleased to see that you email me and your other customers with updates every now and then. Can you tell us about the driving factors behind these updates? And if f I say to you, “I’d really like it if PerfectIt did X or Y”, might I expect to see my suggestion in future versions?

DH: Yes, we can’t include all suggestions, but we have a place on our user forum where customers can bounce around feedback for future versions. For the first three years, those updates have all been free. And the ones suggested by users include support for multiple style guides, and the system for dealing with tracked changes in documents.

After three years, PerfectIt 2.0 will be the first major version upgrade that users will have to pay for. PerfectIt has a permanent licence (no subscription fee or anything like that), so in order to justify people spending more money on it, we’ve had to load PerfectIt 2 with user requests and lots of other new features. In particular, we’ve added a "Back" button (possibly the most requested feature) and a system for generating reports on errors and on changes made, which is probably the second most requested feature.

LH: And what are the biggest challenges you’ve faced during development?

DH: The constant challenge is to choose between complexity and usability. The more features and tests we add to the product, the more complex it becomes. But what people love about PerfectIt is the ease of use. So we’re constantly trying to balance those two. With any new feature, the first question is: "Can we get the software to do that?" But the second question is: "Will it be easy for the user to understand?"

LH: Does PerfectIt work for customers outside the UK? Some of the North American or Pacific Rim readers may be wondering if they can use it.

DH: PerfectIt is international. It doesn't duplicate the functions of a spelling checker, but it will spot inconsistencies in language. So, for example, it won't correct "realise" or "realize". However, if "realise" and "realize" appear in the same document, that’s a consistency mistake. Whether you’re in Europe, North America or the Pacific Rim, a consistency mistake is still a consistency mistake.

LH: People are often concerned about buying software and then finding out that it doesn’t do what they hoped. Can you try it before you buy it?

DH: There is a free download on the website. Users can try it without giving any credit card details or other personal information. Just download it and run it on a document.

When they try it, most people get what the product is about in seconds. The only suggestion we make is that PerfectIt is intended for longer documents. There’s no point in trying it out on a paragraph of text because that won’t contain many inconsistencies. Try PerfectIt on a document that’s over 1,000 words. Or better yet, try it on a document that’s over 10,000 words. That’ll show you what it can do.

LH: What does the future look like at Intelligent Editing? Do you have any plans for additional software tools or plug-ins?

PerfectIt 2 took an enormous amount of development time and effort, so it might be a while before we start anything new. However, there are a few projects under consideration, so we’ll let you know when we’ve decided.

LH:  I often post on this blog about my favourite editorial tools. Aside, of course, from PerfectIt, what are your favourite tools and resources? Anything you like … software, books, online resources and social media.

DH:  My favourite free tool for writing and editing is ClipX. It modifies the clipboard so that it shows the last 25 items that were copied, no matter what program they were copied in. After using it, I can’t understand why anyone would choose to work without it.

It’s more for writing than for editing, but I think that Word’s "AutoCorrect" feature is underrated. Why write out the word ‘"necessary" when you can program AutoCorrect to spell the word in full when you type ‘"nry"? You can quickly build yourself up an entire vocabulary and save lots of time typing.

I’m also a really big fan of Jack Lyon’s Editorium macros. Jack has put a lot of thought into the documentation, and the result is a system that helps you to work a lot faster. People don’t believe that faster keystrokes and saving a second or two each time can make a difference. But they really do.

LH: And finally, tell us something that might surprise us!

DH: In my other life, I’m a swing dancer. That’s partner dancing to big band jazz and old-time blues … and nothing at all to do with editing!

My colleague Liz Jones shared a link to a list of time-tracking tools for freelancers. Some are available to download while others are online. The featured tools include Toggl, Klol, Slim Timer, Manic Time, Function Fox, Rescue Time, myHours, Harvest, Track My People, and Fanurio.

Also of note is Word's Edit Time function, which Alison Lees mentioned in the comments below. For instructions on how to use this in Word 2007, click here; for earlier versions of Word, click here. An important point to make about Edit Time is that Word measures the amount of time you've worked on a particular document according to whether the file is open, meaning you'd need to remember to close the document to get the correct measure.

If you use a particular time-tracking tool in your editorial freelancing work, please share your experiences in the comments to help guide us towards which tool you think might me the most useful.

An open letter to new proofreaders (in fact, editors of all descriptions) ...

Dear newbie proofreader,

I’ve told you a lie – I don’t hate the term “freelance proofreader”. “I’m freelance”, “I went freelance in …”, and “since I’ve been freelancing” are phrases I trot out all the time to explain the way I organize my work life.

I'll be frank with you, though – I do sometimes worry that the term “freelance” doesn’t quite cut the mustard.

If I’d spent 15 years working as an electrician for an electrical installations company and then decided to go it alone, I’d never have described myself as a "freelance electrician". I’d have told people that I was now running my own electrical business.

Does “freelancer” really reflect the level of business acumen required to do my job? And it’s not just my ability to make sound judgements and take the right decisions. It’s bigger than that – it’s that whole sense of business-cultural embeddedness that’s at stake. If I don’t think of myself as a business owner, then am I in danger of not acting like one? And if I don’t act like one, why would anyone else think to treat me as one?

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs does not consider me a “freelancer”. Rather, I’m a sole trader. I’m the owner of a business that employs exactly one person.

I carry out tax self-assessment on an annual basis just as if I was that business-owning electrician I mentioned above.

Just like the electrician, I’m hired by a number of different clients to carry out professional services.

Just like the electrician, I set my own rates (though perhaps unlike our electrician I may agree to – or decline – an offered fee).

Just like the electrician, it’s up to me to decide whether I want to accept a client’s offer of work or decline it.

Just like the electrician, I work the hours I choose to work and take holiday leave when I decide to.

And just like the electrician, the only person who can fire me is, well, me.

Does a freelancer work in a different way to that of a business owner? This one doesn’t. So what’s the problem with referring to myself as “freelance”? I don’t think there is one as long as I’m clear in my mind about what needs to be done – and being a business owner is more than just a being a proofreader (or an electrician).

• I take care of my own accounts
• I need to acquire a solid understanding of the market in which I am competing and the methods I am going to use to get noticed in order to generate business leads and paid work
• I have to do my own financial forecasting
• I organize all my training and continued professional development to make sure my skills are up to date
• I take responsibility for my tax and national insurance liabilities to ensure legal, healthcare and pension provisions are met
• and I manage any personnel problems that arise (such as when I get upset on the rare occasion that someone doesn't pay me).

​I could say more but I have a work deadline to meet and a child who's complaining of a sore throat, so there isn’t time right now. I hope this gets you thinking, anyway.

So, dear newbie, if in your own head the term “freelance” doesn’t conjure up an image of these many hats, then I’d advise you instead to start thinking of yourself as a business owner first and foremost.

To do otherwise may leave you ill-prepared for the myriad functions that you’ll need to perform (and that you may have little experience of) when you start out.

You'll be the luckiest editorial freelancer in the world if the work just lands in your lap. It's far more likely that you'll have to work very hard to get yourself established.

Become “freelance” by all means, but do your business planning just like any other new business owner. 

With best wishes,

Louise Harnby | Proofreader and Copyeditor

Contact information: To enable me to deal with your query as quickly and efficiently as possible, please contact the relevant department.

​Owner: Louise Harnby
President: Louise Harnby
Chief Executive Officer: Louise Harnby
Marketing Director: Louise Harnby 
Web Developer: Louise Harnby
Sales Manager: Louise Harnby
Professional Development Director: Louise Harnby
Training Coordinator: Louise Harnby
Financial Controller: Louise Harnby
Distribution Manager: Louise Harnby
Human Resources Officer: Louise Harnby
IT Executive: Louise Harnby
Office Manager: Louise Harnby
Proofreader: Louise Harnby
Copyeditor: Louise Harnby

Louise Harnby is a fiction copyeditor and proofreader. She curates The Proofreader's Parlour and is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors and proofreaders.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader & Copyeditor, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you're an author, take a look at Louise’s Writing Library and access her latest self-publishing resources, all of which are free and available instantly.

The editorial freelancing directory Find A Proofreader has published a short proofreading guide that I compiled especially for those who hire editorial services. The article includes an outline of the benefits of hiring a professional proofreader and some tips on what to consider to ensure the person you choose is the best fit for you. Here's an introductory excerpt ...

To read the full guide, click here.

Louise Harnby is a professional proofreader and copyeditor. She curates The Proofreader's Parlour and is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors and proofreaders.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

Here's a selection of online style guides that copyeditors may find useful:

• American Anthropological Association (AAA)
• American Institute of Physics (AIP)
• APA style tutorials (free; one for the uninitiated and one with an overview of key changes)
• British Psychological Society (BPS)
• Economist
• Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA)
• OSCOLA (Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities)
• Style Manual for Political Science (American Political Science Association | APSA)
• World Health Organization (WHO)

 
If you know of any other free online style guides that you think may be of use to your editorial colleagues, let me know in the comments.

Anna Sharman’s recent guest article on working for academic editing agencies prompted an interesting comment from another colleague to the effect that providing language editing services for non-English speaking researchers didn’t necessarily level the playing field at pre-submission stage.

The reason for the imbalance is obvious – researchers in the developing world are much less likely to be able to afford the cost of hiring the services of ESL editors. This leads to a publishing divide between the rich and the poor, where economics rather than academic excellence determines the ability to publish.

So who better to address the issue than Ravi Murugesan, the training coordinator of AuthorAID, a project dedicated to helping academic authors from developing countries to publish their research.

Ravi kindly agreed to an interview with The Parlour. We hope that this Q&A will draw further attention to the valuable work that AuthorAID does on behalf of the developing world’s community of scholars and the people and organizations who support it.

Louise Harnby: Many thanks for taking the time to do this interview Ravi. First of all, can you tell me a little bit about your own background and how you came to be involved with AuthorAID?

Ravi Murugesan: Thank you, Louise, for your interest in AuthorAID at INASP. My academic background is in engineering. I completed a master’s degree in the US, but I decided I wasn’t meant to be an engineer after working in a semiconductor company for a few months. I became an authors’ editor at the Editage office in Mumbai, and after a couple of years I became the manager of the education business in the same organization. When I saw the job advert for the training coordinator position at AuthorAID, I was fascinated by the role, particularly the part about travelling to developing countries to facilitate workshops on scientific writing. I joined AuthorAID in March 2011.

LH: Can you tell me more about the foundations of the AuthorAID programme, such as where it’s based, who it serves, what its objectives are and how it all started? I understand the idea was first mooted by the editors of the Journal of Public Health Policy back in 2004.

RM: AuthorAID is one of the projects run by the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP), a charity based in Oxford. There are now a number of independent AuthorAID initiatives. At INASP, AuthorAID is part of the Programme for the Enhancement for Research Information, which began in 2002 with the goal of strengthening the research communication cycle in developing countries. In this interview, I talk about just the AuthorAID programme at INASP.

AuthorAID’s mission is to support developing country researchers in publishing their work. We focus on the researchers in INASP’s 22 partner countries, but our website is open to all. We now have 5,000 members on the site, and much of the site’s content is available without registration. But with registration, researchers can join our online mentoring scheme as a mentee or mentor.

We also conduct workshops on research writing in our partner countries, maintain a frequently updated blog and resource library (with hundreds of free e-resources), and offer grants for research communication.

LH: Is the programme for authors in all fields of the academic spectrum, or just the sciences?

RM: Researchers from any field are welcome to register on our website. The workshops we conduct are oriented towards researchers in scientific fields, but we’re looking to improve our offerings for researchers in the humanities and social sciences. A few months back, we were invited by the British Academy to give a talk on mentoring to social science researchers in West Africa at a career development workshop in Ghana.

LH: From a language-editing perspective, how does it work? Let’s say a scholar from Nepal has a research project that they want to write up and submit to an academic journal, but their English-language skills restrict submission and they can’t afford to hire an ESL editor from the developing world. How can they get round the problem of affordability vs quality editing?

RM: They have two options: they can look for a mentor who would be willing to edit their work, or they can contact one of the editing services we have listed on our site. (These companies offer discounts to AuthorAID members.) Some mentors may be more interested in helping with the writing process than editing a paper after it is written. So I would recommend that authors from developing countries look for a mentor when they are about to begin writing a paper.

LH: There may be freelance academic editors reading this who would consider working on manuscripts from AuthorAID members. What should they do if they want to provide language editing services for scholars in the developing world?

RM: We would love to have more academic copy editors join our community as mentors. Because of my own background in this area, I was able to mentor an early-career researcher in Zimbabwe. I helped him develop a hypothesis and write his paper. I also clarified many questions he had about referencing and the peer review process. By being a mentor, I developed a greater appreciation of the effort that a researcher invests in writing a paper.

Even if academic copy editors don’t wish to get involved in the writing process as mentors, they can still provide a valuable service by editing the papers of mentees. You must be aware that a lot of journal editors and peer reviewers consider the language in a paper to be indicative of the quality of the research reported. By presenting a well-written (or well-edited) paper, a researcher has a better chance of getting published.

We recommend that mentees acknowledge their mentors in any published papers, so editorial mentors can request their mentees for such acknowledgement. However, I would advise mentors to think of this as a possible bonus and not a goal as such. AuthorAID mentees often work in resource-poor settings and may face numerous hurdles in the journey to publication. Sometimes, the dedicated effort of a mentor may not be enough for a mentee to get published. But usually both the mentor and mentee learn a lot, and the mentee may be better equipped to publish in the future.

LH: Who are your key partners in the programme, broadly speaking?

RM: We have organized joint workshops with science foundations and networks, such as the International Foundation for Science and the Royal Society of Chemistry. In fact, just a month back we organized two workshops in Kenya with these partners. We are always looking to partner with other organizations that have missions similar to ours.

LH: Do you offer financial help to researchers from lower-income countries, and if so what are the criteria for assessment?

RM: We provide travel and workshop grants, and these are explained in our latest call for applications.

LH: Can you share some examples of people who AuthorAID has helped on their scholarly publishing journey?

RM: A few weeks back, our country coordinator in Ethiopia told me that one of the researchers who attended the workshop I facilitated last November has just published a paper in a journal. I was thrilled and did an interview with her, which has just gone up on the AuthorAID blog. 

In April, a scientist who attended the AuthorAID workshop in Zambia won the workshop grant, and she is very motivated to share her knowledge with female researchers in her department.

Every now and then, we do formal impact assessments. When we did this last year for the AuthorAID workshop in Rwanda that was held in 2009, we were pleased to see that there had been a substantial increase in the publications of the participants.

LH: What’s coming up in the future for AuthorAID? Are there any special events or plans in the pipeline that you’d like to share?

RM: The AuthorAID e-learning system has just been launched, and the blog post from last week has more details.

LH: To round off, Ravi, please tell us how to get in touch with AuthorAID.

• If you’re a researcher from a lower-income country who needs help with publishing your work: Join our mentoring scheme as a mentee, and please read the mentoring section of our website. 
• If you’re a freelance editor who wants to offer language editing services to authors: Join our mentoring scheme as a mentor, and create a profile that will attract the kind of mentees you wish to work with.
• If you’re a publisher who would like to collaborate in enabling global access to published research: E-mail Julie Walker (jwalker@inasp.info), the head of the publishing support team at INASP.
• If you’re a senior researcher able to offer voluntary mentoring: Join our mentoring scheme as a mentor, and describe what kind of mentoring support you can provide.

The mentoring scheme is described at http://www.authoraid.info/en/mentoring/​.

Making your résumé available online was one of the issues discussed at the recent SfEP Norfolk Group meeting on editorial marketing matters. 

Here are eight reasons to think about when deciding whether to incorporate this into your promotional strategy.

1. Accessibility – the quicker and easier you make it for potential clients to find and assess you, the more likely you are to get work from them. A digital résumé enhances your accessibility.
2. It helps to “green” your business – while the complete paperless office isn’t quite here, at least you are giving potential clients the option of whether to hold a digital or print version of your details.
3. You can ensure the most up-to-date information is always available – with a few clicks your current skills and portfolio are represented.
4. You’re enabling prospective clients to keep something on file – a website is a fantastic way of showing off your skills and experience, but many clients may want to download a brief summary either to place in their company files or to print. At the time of writing, the PDF of my résumé has been downloaded 13 times in the 9 days since it went live on my website. I suspect that some of those can be attributed to curious colleagues, but my stats analysis program shows me that one download took place in the office of a major international publisher. I'll let you know what comes to pass!
5. It shows you’re engaged with current ways of communicating – your prospective clients may consider it important that you have a degree of technical know-how.
6. You’re aiding the referral process – imagine that one of your clients is chatting with a friend or colleague and mentions what a great job you did. The colleague remembers your name and googles you at the first opportunity. By ensuring your résumé is online you’ve ensured that a summary of your professional skills and experience is available at the prospective client’s convenience. 
7. You can choose the format most convenient for you – there are several options including: uploading a PDF onto your website; creating a separate url for your résumé that can be linked to your website and your social media profiles; dedicating a specific page of your website to your résumé; using a free app such as Box to link your résumé to your LinkedIn profile.
8. “Shareability” – once you’ve uploaded your résumé, you can easily link to the url from wherever you choose. Consider your free ad listings, entries in professional directories, articles and blog posts that you are planning to write, paid advertisements, emails, etc. Many digital platform can accommodate such a link.

​Additional points to consider
Some of our members raised additional points about online résumés that are worth considering: 

• Keep your résumé to one page. Those who are assessing you want something that is easy and quick to digest. If you want to tell a more in-depth story, you can do that on your website.
• The text needs to be punchy and engaging, with a focus on the key selling points of your business that the reader is interested in. Include pictures (perhaps book/journal/magazine jackets that you have worked on) to make the leaflet easier on the eye so that the reader enjoys looking at the page as well as reading it.
• Think about the target market. For example, a UK publisher may be interested in the fact that you’re an SfEP member or have trained with the PTC. This may mean less to a non-publisher client. The lesson is to use the text space on your single page with care. Tell the story that is appropriate to the person reading it and create several versions to match your different markets if you think it's necessary.

My colleague Nick Jones recently took ownership of the online directory Find a Proofreader.

I've plugged it quite a lot recently because I think it's demonstrated very quickly that it can generate leads. After all, if you're using directories as a marketing tool to advertise your services you want those directories to be active. 

My entry has been live for less than two weeks and I've had three opportunities to quote for work: one from a marketing and communications agency, one from a business, and one from an independent writer. The nature of my business, working primarily for publisher clients, means I'm already booked up, but it's good to know that if I'd had space in my schedule there would have been leads to pursue.

If you're an editorial freelancer looking to expand your online advertising base, or you're searching for editorial services, click on the logo below for more information.

My search for an easy way to upload my CV to my LinkedIn profile led me to Box. It's basically a file-sharing tool, though you can add details to the free personal account including your picture, name, company name, website, address, telephone numbers. You have up to 5GB of storage with the free account.

It's up to you to decide how best you want to use Box – as a backup, to enable collaboration, as a mobile work platform, or as a means to upload particular files, such as CVs, that you want to make digitally available, perhaps for marketing purposes.

At the recent Norfolk Group meeting of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders, which took place in Norwich on 2 July 2012, the members in attendance jointly agreed to publicize a summary of the discussion that took place on editorial freelancing and marketing.

The meeting was extremely productive – we all came away feeling we'd learned something new and wanted to share this with colleagues from within the Society and beyond. We hope the following notes prove as useful to you as they have done to us.

Introduction
Each member of the group outlined how they got into editorial freelancing, their primary market, and what their preferred tools are for accessing that market. We then shared ideas based on our own experiences or those that we’d heard about second-hand. The following is a summary of the discussion.

Members of the group come from a variety of backgrounds (IT, teaching, publishing, for example) and offer a number of different services (marketing, copy-writing, development editing, copy-editing, proofreading, writing, business consultancy). Most of us in attendance work for mainstream publishers, but businesses, agencies, students and independent authors are also markets that we’ve all had various degrees of experience with.

So what are the tools that we’re using to get noticed, and how are we getting the best out of them? 

Are you thinking about your business in the right way?
Two group members highlighted the importance of the approach you take to your business. If you don’t have the correct approach in your head, you’re less likely to be able to take advantage of marketing tools in a way that will generate the best leads. Think about yourself as a business owner first and foremost. Only then should you focus on what services you have to offer. 

Thinking about yourself as a business owner makes you acknowledge that proofreading, editing, copy-writing etc. in themselves will not be enough to generate work. As a business owner you need to think about how you will get that work – in other words, your marketing strategy. This is as core to your business as sending out invoices or managing the delivery of completed work. If you don’t take proactive action to sell your business, you’ll be self-unemployed not self-employed. Don’t be shy about marketing your business – this is what companies do and editorial freelancers, as small business owners, shouldn’t feel they have to wait for referrals in order to generate leads.

Websites and email
The consensus was that having a website is crucial for several reasons:

• It lends a sense of professional authority to your business.
• It makes you easy to find, particularly when a second- or third-hand referral drives someone your way. This is particularly important with regards to non-publisher clients.
• It shows you are engaging with current technology and ways of communicating.
• It allows to you tell a more in-depth story about your business than can be included on a CV or promotional leaflet.

Several people mentioned the importance of using professional domain names and email addresses. For example, it would be preferable, in order to generate the most professional image, to have <louiseharnbyproofreader.com> (or .co.uk) rather than <louiseharnbyproofreading.weebly.com>.

The same thing applies to email address – ideally you do not want to be using your personal email address for your business. <louise@louiseharnbyproofreader.com> is far more professional than <lharnby.jswainston@btinternet.com>. In this example, the email address is used by both partners at home for personal communication and by one partner for her business correspondence.

Summaries of experience: CV or promotional leaflet?  
During our website/email discussion, and a quick mention of LinkedIn, the issue of placing CVs online came up. Everyone agreed that it made sense to place such a summary online so that potential clients could download something to keep on file. Several points are worth considering:

• Keep your CV or leaflet to one page. Those who are assessing you want something that is easy and quick to digest. If you want to tell a more in-depth story, you can do that on your website.
• A publisher client will understand a CV, but a non-publishing client may not. They might interpret this as a application for a permanent in-house position. Instead, consider creating a one-page promotional leaflet; just as with your CV, the text needs to be punchy and engaging, with a focus on the key selling points of your business that the reader is interested in. Include pictures (perhaps book/journal/magazine jackets that you have worked on) to make the leaflet easier on the eye so that the reader enjoys looking at the page as well as reading it.
• Think about the target market. A publisher may be interested in the fact that you’re an SfEP member or have trained with the PTC. This will probably mean much less to a non-publisher client. The lesson is to use the text space on your single page with care. Tell the story that is appropriate to the person reading it. This may mean that you have to create several versions to match your different markets.

Is your bank of clients large enough?  
We also discussed the importance of ensuring you don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Some members have found themselves taking the bulk of their work from a very small number of clients.

We all agreed that while it’s good to have repeat work from core suppliers, it’s important of protect yourself from future changes in the market. An example that highlighted this was that of Williams and Wilkins and Lippincott. In the early 1990s these were two separate publishers, both of whom bought in editorial services. The companies have since merged, meaning two work streams are now one.

​We also recalled the experience of an SfEP colleague who lost a core publisher client when all proofreading work was brought in-house as a result of the recession.

The group talked about sharing contact names and email addresses of relevant publishers in a bid to help each other broaden our client portfolios and future proof ourselves from economic shocks and corporate restructures.

Working with businesses  
We talked about how the business market is far harder to penetrate than, say, the publisher market. Publishers understand us – our services were born in that industry. Businesses are different – they often don’t realise what we do, or the differences between the various roles (copy-writing vs copy-editing vs proofreading). The main points were:

• Networking, often informally, is the most effective way of getting work with businesses – the editorial freelancer speaks to X at a party, at the gym, or on the bus. X later has a conversation with Y, who mentions they need help with such and such. X tells Y about the freelancer. Y goes hunting on the web for the relevant website … Second- or even third-hand leads like these can come weeks or months down the line from the initial contact. The lesson is to tell everyone you know and meet about what you do. One of our members has pursued this kind of informal face-to-face networking thoroughly throughout his freelance career and has generated a steady supply of work from surprising areas.
• It’s important to listen to what business people say about the issues they are struggling with because they may not use the kind of editorial language we are used in our communication with publishers. It’s equally important to be able to communicate to them in kind – use the language they use to describe how you can help them. If they talk about needing a “human spell-check” and “knocking a report into shape”, don’t respond with lengthy discussions of BSI symbols and widows and orphans. Talk about the project’s issues in lay terms. Be sure to identify what’s required. The lines between copy-editing and proofreading are usually very blurred in this market. 
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Developing good business relationships  
Many of us felt it was important to build links with more than one person within an organization that provides a regular supply of work – it’s useful to try to get work with several desk editors in a press or project management agency. That way, when one contact leaves for pastures new, your work stream isn’t threatened.

Most of us stated that we’d never met any of our clients – all communication was done by email or on the phone. However, another member gave us something to think about – he tries to get face-to-face contact whenever possible. He wants to get under the skin of his clients, to make them like him and want to give him work. In that way, he becomes one of their freelancers of choice. 

Use your local group
SfEP members – use your local group!

​The friendships that one develops in these settings can forge business links that are stronger than in the society at large. The Norfolk group is a good example. By the end of this marketing session, not only had we all learned some valuable tips for how to better promote ourselves, but some of us had promised to share publisher contact details to help each other broaden our client portfolios.

And we’re not alone – many people in local groups all over the country offer work opportunities and leads to fellow group members in the first instance.

The lesson is: if you’re not a member of your local group, consider joining. If there isn’t a local group that you feel you can travel to, think about setting one up. If you live in an isolated area, consider setting up a virtual group where you communicate with others in a similar situation by email, conference call or Skype.

Directories and other advertising
While we acknowledged that we do know of people who get a steady supply of work from key directories, none of our group members relied on this as a primary marketing tool. Some key points emerged:

• Directories that we considered to be core were the SfEP Directory of Editorial Services and Associates Available. 
• Other online directories that members mentioned they were experimenting with included Find A Proofreader, Freelancers in the UK, and The Professional Copywriters’ Network.
• There is a lot of competition in directories – making your entry stand out is important. And in Associates Available, for example, where space is limited, use key words to highlight your skills rather than lengthy text. In any directory, yes, you should mention the areas in which you have experience and expertise (social sciences, for example), but our group members also noted that work leads they’d picked up from their listings often related to more niche subject areas (gothic horror, gaming, cookery, archaeology and photography were mentioned)  where there were fewer competing society members listed. Differentiation is the name of the game.
• Avoid stating that you’ll copy-edit or proofread “anything”. This tells the reader nothing about you, your interests or your skills. There’s also a danger that you’ll be viewed as not being serious about what you do, or not having a clear sense of direction. Even if you don’t have much practical experience of editorial freelancing, focus your entry on your career skills (if you were an accountant, IT specialist or lawyer in the past) or your personal interests (gadgets, sewing, gardening and current affairs). “Anything” doesn’t communicate your passion and won’t encourage prospective clients to want to engage with you. 
• One member had experimented with advertising locally in a parish magazine. Interestingly, she did derive a strong follow-up lead but it wasn’t in direct response to the advert. Rather, a second-hand referral was generated by a reader who, in conversation with someone else looking for proofreading services, remembered the advert she’d seen. Some months down the line, this materialized into a project that is currently under negotiation. Local/parish magazine ads are usually very cheap and are thus a risk-free way of experimenting with the local market, but you’re advised to take the long view in terms of work flow. 
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Cold contact: letters, emails and phone calls 
Those of us who work for publisher clients felt that cold contact was a very effective strategy for targeting this market, particularly because our services are known and understood by the publishing industry. Members agreed that identifying the name and title of the person responsible for hiring editorial freelancers beforehand was important. All of us had generated strong response rates by making cold contact with publishers. Those of us who had used the same strategy with non-publisher clients had found it ineffective. 

Are you selling your full skill set?
Some of our members were keen to highlight the importance of making sure you are taking advantage of your full skill set. Are you really just an expert proofreader? If you have an IT or accountancy background, for example, there may be add-on skills that you can offer to prospective clients, particularly in the non-publisher sector.

If you were once a marketing manager in a previous working life, you could consider offering marketing consultancy services to local companies. If you’re a blogger you may have writing skills that could be utilized in your freelance business, too.

The point is to be confident and broad-minded. Bring what you know to the table and don’t be shy about selling it. Listen to what people say and if you see an opportunity and think you can add value, even if the skills fall outside your editorial remit, put yourself forward.

​The more you can offer to a client, the more indispensable you become and the more likely they are to bring you in on future projects.

Using time zones to your advantage  
One fascinating idea emerged from one of our members. He suggested targeting overseas clients (west coast United States, Australia and New Zealand for example) where the time difference enables you to offer a fast turnaround because the client is sleeping during your most or all of your working day.

​You can therefore promise a completion time on an urgent job that local editorial freelancers won’t be able to compete with! 

A summary of promotional tools to consider 

• The cold cover letter (or email/telephone call)
• Face-to-face networking at events: e.g. business networks; writers’ groups; book fairs
• Signing up with agencies
• Personal website
• Online CV: e.g. via website, independent url, LinkedIn/Box.net
• Social media profiles: e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook
• Online directories: e.g. SfEP Directory of Editorial Services, PTC Freelance Finder, Find A Proofreader; Freelancers in the UK
• Free listings: e.g. Hotfrog; Yell.com; FreeIndex; SkillsPages; BusinessList; the resources page on Louise Harnby’s website (Editors’ & Proofreaders’ Websites)
• Vanity publishers’ online editorial listings
• Online freelance bidding sites
• Paid print advertising: e.g. professional journals and magazines; Yellow Pages; Thompson Local; local magazines and newspapers
• Blogging (making sure that your content is relevant to your customers, not your colleagues) 

Related reading
The following articles offer a few ideas about enhancing your online presence. You never how someone with a work offer might find you. 

• Are You Making the Most of Facebook? Creating a Business Page
• Websites for Editorial Freelancers – Why? How? What? 
• Eight Reasons Why Every Editor and Proofreader Should Have a Website 
• Eight Reasons to Place Your Résumé Online

The following articles feature three editorial freelancers talking about their key markets and how they access their clients.

• Kate Rosengarten on getting noticed by business clients – using the face-to-face networking strategy
• Anna Sharman on getting noticed by pre-submission ESL journal authors – using agencies
• Louise Harnby on getting noticed by publishers – using the cold letter strategy

Come and join us!
Why not join the Norfolk Group of the SfEP? We’re a very friendly and vibrant group of editorial freelancers who get together in Norwich once every couple of months. We share a meal and chat about different aspects of our business. If you’re already an SfEP member or associate but haven’t had the chance to pop along yet, we'd love to meet you.

If you’re not yet affiliated with the SfEP but want to get a flavour of the Society via our local group, you are also welcome to visit us and see what we do. 

For information about the Society more broadly visit the SfEP website. To find out more about local SfEP groups, take a look at the Regional Development section.