Category:

How to convert requests to quote into paying work: Help for editors and proofreaders

2/3/2020

Been asked to quote for editing or proofreading services? There are steps you can take to maximize your chances of securing the work. In this article and free booklet, you'll find out how to add value to quotations and move the conversation beyond price.

Few of us will bag every client who asks us to quote for them. Rejection is to be expected – we won’t be the best fit for everyone.

Perhaps the price or the time frame doesn’t work. Maybe the client has been in contact with an editor who’s a better fit in terms of skills and experience.

Still, there are steps we can take to maximize our chances of turning a request to quote into paying work.

Think of quoting as targeted marketing
Every request to quote is a marketing campaign with just one recipient. We have an advantage once we’ve been asked to quote – we’re probably competing with five or six colleagues, not five or six thousand.

Since the odds are so much better, it’s worth investing time in making the quote the best it can be. A couple of lines that include a price won’t cut the mustard – unless the client has specified that they want nothing more.

Acquire relevant information
Before we can reply, we need information – a word count, the type of editing required, the levels of editing that have already been completed, the client’s preferred time frame, and a sample.

If that information hasn’t been supplied, asking for it is legitimate. A professional editor can’t quote without it.

There are advantages too: it keeps the conversation going, demonstrates an understanding of the editorial business process, and creates a foundation for trust.

Frame with solutions
A potential client doesn’t want an essay – we do need to stay on point – but we can still frame our quotations in terms of solutions to problems.

Solution-focused language demonstrates empathy.
Being empathized with evokes positive emotions.

Once they’re in play, the conversation’s no longer about price; it’s about a relationship. If the client’s looking for the cheapest editor, yes, this tactic will fall flat. If they’re looking for a good fit, it will give us an edge.

Linking to or attaching useful resources builds empathy and trust.

Here’s what I included in a request to quote in addition to a price (the writer had included a sample):

a booklet about the various levels of editing
a booklet about punctuating dialogue
a booklet about narrative viewpoint
an article about filter words

Other information
Each of those resources complemented a short paragraph outlining problems I’d identified in the sample, and would fix if I were to secure the project:

Viewpoint drops
Telling rather than showing: too much exposition of doing been done that reduced immediacy
Punctuation and standard paragraph layout problems

And the great thing is, I can use these resources over and over. Yes, it took time to create them but they’re evergreen.

Every author I send them to gets value from them. But every time I send them, there’s value for me too: a return on my initial investment in the form of an increased likelihood of securing the job.

A client who trusts
The writer thanked me profusely ‘for such a thoughtful reply’. I got the gig. And they agreed to wait 12 months and paid the deposit promptly.

I can’t prove that those resources nailed it for me, but those words – ‘such a thoughtful reply’ – tell me the client reacted emotionally to the empathy I’d shown.

Creating that kind of content is time-consuming but the job need be done only once. After that, the resource can be used in myriad ways: marketing, quoting, linking to in reports.

When the quote’s rejected
If we don’t get the gig, should we ask why? I don’t think so. It annoys me when I decline a service or product and am asked to give reasons for my decision. It’s my business, end of story.

Receiving feedback is useful for editors, of course, but we’re asking people who have chosen another editor to spend their valuable time engaging with us. Why should they? They have other priorities that don’t involve us and we need to respect that.

If a quote is rejected, move on and focus on improving your next quotation.

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, connect via Facebook and LinkedIn, and check out her books and courses.

1 Comment

Beyond editing qualifications: Gaining author trust

3/2/2020

0 Comments

Editorial training is critical. However, when it comes to attracting the attention of indie authors, we need to add value beyond the baseline. This article and free booklet show you why it's worth investing time in standing out.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD

You’re a professional editor or proofreader and you want to work with indie authors.
Should be a doddle, right? After all, your tutor gave you amazing feedback. Your scores were high, your pass solid.

The course was intense – it tested your skills and knowledge to the limit. That’s good because now you’re feeling confident. Fit for purpose and fit for market.

And to prove it, you’ve got that shiny certificate.

The problem is, you’re not alone.

Editorial training – critical but standard
The next time you’re in a room or online forum with a bunch of fellow editors, ask them to shout out if they’ve taken editorial courses or carried out continued professional development.

Scratch that. Ask those who haven’t to shout out. It’ll be much quieter!

The fact is, most pro editors have studied. Which means it’s not a compelling proposition for an indie author trying to work out who to hire.

Training is critical – of course it is. It teaches us what we don’t know, allows us to discover our weaknesses and fix them. That way we’re in great shape by the time we start searching for clients.

Training is a solid baseline. When it comes to being practice-fit, that’s its strength. But when it comes to attracting the attention of indie authors, that’s also its weakness.

The snag with competing at the baseline
Imagine walking into a hospital. How impressed would you be to discover that all the doctors have been to medical school?

Not very. It’s critical, yes, but not impressive. Rather, it’s expected.

The same applies to editors and proofreaders. No indie author seeks to hire an editor who hasn’t learned how to their job.

And why would they? That’s no more likely that any of us walking into a hospital hoping there’s an untrained medic on the premises.

Our being fit for purpose is expected too. And so, if we want to stand out, we need to add value beyond the baseline.

Adding value by solving problems
You might be wondering what that value looks like and why it will appeal. The answer comes in the form of solutions to problems.

Let’s revisit the hospital. If we or someone we care about is a patient, there’s a problem. And the moment we enter the building, we’re not focusing on the qualifications of the doctors; that’s baseline stuff. Instead, we’re focusing on ourselves or our loved ones, the problem in hand, and whether one of those professional, qualified people in scrubs can fix it.

If the medical pros succeed, we feel immensely grateful. And we trust them.
When editors solve their target clients’ problems, the same thing happens. Those clients feel grateful and warm towards us. And they trust us.

That’s how we add value.

The problems indie authors have
The problems indie authors have lie in what they don’t know. Their expertise can be found elsewhere – maybe they’re one of those doctors in our hospital. Perhaps they’re a taxi driver or a plumber or a teacher.

They have a ton of skills and knowledge related to their professions but they don’t have the skills and knowledge related to ours.

That’s great news because it gives us a whole raft of stuff with which to start building our trustworthiness – an online basket of free goodies ... gifts that solve indie authors’ problems and make them feel warm and fuzzy about us.

‘But somebody’s already done that!’
Maybe you’re thinking it’s a waste of time. After all, loads of people have already created online content – blogs, vlogs, podcasts, booklets – about spelling, punctuation, grammar, story structure, line craft, the types of editing, and a thousand other things that indie authors query in Google Search.

Trust me – that’s not the point. The point is that when they go searching for that stuff, we’re in the mix.

Indie authors do not search for ‘Louise Harnby fiction editor’. They search for things like ‘What’s third-person limited viewpoint?’

If my website’s all about Louise Harnby, I won’t appear in the search engines when an author hunts for information about narrative point of view. If my website’s about viewpoint – and other questions that authors ask – it’s a different story.

Content that solves problems enables us to become visible, add value and build trust.

The solutions your clients are searching for need to be:

on your website
created by you
presented with your voice and with your angle

even if other people have already covered these topics in their own unique way elsewhere.

Trustworthy added value: 7 ideas
Here are 7 ways in which you can add value. Each can be published on multiple platforms, including your website and social media:

Write a blog post that shows a client how to fix one writing problem.
Turn it into a PDF booklet – make it look pretty in Canva!
Create a slide deck in PowerPoint. Use images to illustrate each learning point. Do a voice-over with a script based on your blog post.
Save the deck as an MPEG4 video. Upload to YouTube. Use the cover image of the booklet as a thumbnail image.
Take the key themes and create an infographic.
Create a promo video. Go to Canva. Choose eye-catching images and overlay the text from the headings in your blog post. Upload the images to MoShow. Choose a motion theme and music.
Record an audio-only version of your slide-deck script. Upload to Soundcloud. Embed your one-off podcast episode on your website.

Rising above the baseline and the noise
The web is big and noisy. Editors and proofreaders who want to attract best-fit authors from within that online space need to be discoverable there.

A list of qualifications isn’t enough to cut through. We must add value. When we do so, we show our worth rather than telling it. That’s about trust. We get found, too. And that’s about business success!

0 Comments

Editorial training without borders: Should you bother with international editing conferences?

9/10/2019

0 Comments

Does your editorial conference budget include provision for travelling abroad? If it doesn’t, here's why you might want to consider it and what you need to factor in to make it viable.

I’m a Brit who’s been to three editorial conferences in the past 12 months. Two of them required me to pack my passport.

First up was the one day mini-conference hosted by the Society for Editors and Proofreaders Toronto Group. I travelled to Canada in early November. I bought a new winter coat for the occasion because Toronto in November is cold cold cold. The weather foxed me – it was balmy – but the conference was everything I expected. Brilliant.

Nine months later, I headed for Chicago, this time for the Editorial Freelancers Association meeting. The sunshine came as promised, not just on the lake shore but in the Swissôtel, too, where the conference took place. I received a lovely welcome and had a ball.

Three weeks after that, I was learning again, but this time in the UK. The annual Society for Editors and Proofreaders conference took place at Aston Business School. Rain threatened but never arrived, and the meeting was smashing.

Three different conferences. Three different countries. And one thing in common ...

The delegates were international.

And that’s the thing about the editorial community – we’re from everywhere, and our conferences reflect that.

Still, attending conventions, especially those abroad, means an investment in money and time for the professional editor, so why bother?

Being an editor isn't a national occupation
Our clients don’t all live where we live.

Take me. I’m a Brit but I’m not an editor of British novels. I’m an editor of novels written in English ... or I should say, Englishes.

And as all pro editors know, there is more than one English. And while those Englishes come with variances in spelling, punctuation, grammar conventions and idiom, all of that can be learned and understood.

And that's one of the pulls of international conferences. What better way to hone your craft than by spending time in the places where those Englishes are spoken and written, and hanging out with the people who speak and write them?

Other factors to help you decide
Here are some ideas to help you decide whether to cross the border for your editorial training:

1. Look at the conference programme
Are there sessions on aspects of editing, or the business of editorial work, that you can’t access elsewhere?

For example, take a look at the 2019 Toronto SfEP mini-conference programme (Wednesday, 6 November). You can learn how to identify the missing parts in a fiction narrative, how to use macros, how to master templates, how to edit indexes, and how to tackle fast-turnaround editing. There’s also an optional pre-conference workshop on raising rates.

2. Who's speaking?
Are the presenters offering learning opportunities that will be easier to learn face to face? Or perhaps there are keynoters or after-dinner speakers you’d be unlikely to meet otherwise.

At the 2019 SfEP conference in Aston, bestselling crime-fiction author Chris Brookmyre , linguist Rob Drummond, and broadcaster/writer David Crystal were all on the schedule. We learned hard ... and laughed harder because all three make what they teach memorable through humour.

3. Can you leverage being an international speaker?
Think about whether speaking at editorial events beyond your borders is something you can leverage professionally and that will pay back your investment in the long run.

Some of our potential clients value knowing we have international speaking experience because it reflects a global trust in our specialist knowledge.

4. Is an honorarium available?
If you’re prepared to speak on a specialist topic, you might qualify for financial support.

Of course, this depends on the organizer’s budget and the value they think you’ll bring to the conference, but editorial societies are increasingly recognizing the benefits of international speakers in view of the global nature of our community. Don't assume that assistance isn’t available.

Even a contribution to flight, accommodation or meals might be the tipping point for your saying yay rather than nay.

5. Can you buddy up to reduce costs?
If a flight’s involved, you’ll have to bite the bullet. If you can drive across the border, however, you can share the cost of travel.

And how about sharing a room? I did this with my podcast pal Denise Cowle at the 2018 ATOMICON marketing conference. We halved our costs. And neither of us snored. Promise.

We’re talking about doing ACES in a couple of years. Being Airbnb buddies will be one way we’ll make it viable.

6. Find out who else is going
Face-to-face networking is powerful. Spending time with international colleagues could lead to referrals that will earn you a return on investment further down the line.

And if you have books, courses or other training materials relevant to your editorial colleagues, you could reach new markets when you take the time to put yourself in front of your audience and speak at an international event.

We’re much more likely to buy from those we trust, and while online networking is great, and the online editorial community is vibrant and generous, nothing beats getting in front of people, talking with them face to face, when it comes to building relationships and trust.

7. Cost it out and save up
Work out what it’s going to cost. It’s all very well my talking about the benefits of international networking and learning, but I’m not going to pretend there isn’t hard cash on the line here!

Costing it out is the first step to creating a savings plan. That way you can prepare ... if not for this year’s meetup then for one a year or two down the road. Start with the basics:

The journey: get some ballparks for petrol, the flight, or car hire. Share where you can.
Accommodation costs: the conference hotel isn’t necessarily the cheapest option. A motel or Airbnb might suit you better. And with a pal on board, you can save even more.
Meals: not all conferences include meals in the price. If you’ll need to feed yourself, check out what’s available outside the hotel. In-room dining and hotel restaurants are the quickest ways to drain your budget.
Bar money: you’ll be socializing. A glass or two might be included in the main conference dinner or reception, but otherwise you’ll be paying for your own plonk.
Time away from work: budget for the days (including jet-lag recovery) you won't be available for paid editing work. Budgeting sensibly is as much about knowing what we can earn as knowing when we can't.

Summing up
International conferences require more planning and a bigger investment of time and money, but if you’re canny about your preparation, think in the long term, and use them as opportunities to speak, they’re hugely beneficial.

Where will you go next? Maybe I'll see you there!

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.

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

0 Comments

Branding for editors and proofreaders – beyond me-me-me

30/9/2019

4 Comments

What do people say about your editing and proofreading business when you’re not in the room? Whatever it is, that’s your brand. Here’s what happens when you show who you are by talking about the problems you solve for others.

You’ve got work coming in but your analytics make you wonder whether you should be getting more requests to quote, given the volume of traffic.

Or perhaps you’re a new entrant to the field and have just begun to think about who you want to work with and what your message is.

Do yourself a favour and take a look at your branding. Is it on track?

Brand blurriness
I spent the first five years of my freelance career specializing in proofreading for publishers, first in the social sciences, then in fiction.

Over time, my client base began to shift. Now, I do sentence-level editing exclusively for indie fiction authors.

Here’s the thing, though. For a long time, my website and directory entries didn’t reflect this shift. And while the content on my blog began to reflect my passion for supporting self-publishers, especially beginner writers, you wouldn’t have known this from the way I communicated my business mission in the rest of my marketing materials.

I was playing safe. I was nervous. I was getting a lot of visitors to my website and a lot of requests to quote. However, only about 25% of those requests were from my target audience – the indie authors. And while the other 75% was work I always referred elsewhere, I felt safe having that as an option.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That was my mantra. I had enough work that I wanted to do, and plenty of offers to quote for work that I didn’t want to do.

Still, I spent a lot of time sending work elsewhere. And I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that a lot of effort was going into marketing that ended up as jobs in other people’s hands. Why not just make things leaner?

Discovering the problem
I found my courage and decided to make some changes. I amended the lead text on my page to make it clear that I was a fiction specialist.

And I readied myself for losing the 75% – those requests to quote that had made me feel all warm, cosy and safe for so long. Over the next three weeks the numbers plummeted. Most of those students, businesses and academics stopped getting in contact.

But things were leaner. I was spending less time sending work elsewhere that I didn’t want to do anyway. I became more efficient, more productive, more focused. I was using my time wisely. I was streamlining my business. I felt great, right?
Honestly? I’d lost my safety net. And I didn’t feel great at all.

I reminded myself that I’d been fully booked for the past two years without having to dip into that 75%, so I should just relax. As you were – that was my new mantra. It’ll be fine – that was my other new mantra. Stop overthinking things – yet another new mantra. Louise Harnby | Mantra Queen is what I should have changed my business name to.

I took a look at my home page, my directory entries, my business cards, and I noticed something. All the passion I felt about championing my target clients was missing.

My branding was off.

Making the message about the client
I completely overhauled my home page, resources page, my SfEP directory entry, my Reedsy profile, even my blog, so that everything started to work together in harmony.

Now I’m telling my target client group about what makes me tick but in a way that focuses on solutions to their problems. It’s all about them, not about me.

Here’s what I learned. Even if you’re findable, when your message doesn’t make your client feel like you get them, then you’re doing a lot of marketing work for a poor return.

And even if that return is enough to keep your schedule full, it’s not giving you as much choice as you could have if your message was on point.

Getting in the right gear
Being findable but having a weak brand is like driving along a motorway at 70 miles an hour in second gear. The car has to work really hard to get you where you want to go! Getting the branding right is like slipping into cruise-control.

Here’s what happened when I rebranded:

Within days, requests to quote started coming in thicker. I now have a 90%/10% split, but the indie authors are the larger percentage. That means more choice for me and a stronger pricing strategy.
Authors say nice things when they ask for a quote – like ‘I love your website. I’d been nervous about finding an editor and you took that feeling away.’ That tells me I’m on the right track.
A higher proportion of clients are prepared to wait up to a year for me than was the case before I rebranded because my brand identity talks to them.

Sorting out our branding is the most powerful gift we can give our businesses. If we don’t understand our own brand values, we can’t expect potential clients to. Make sure yours are evident at every touchpoint of your editorial business.

If you want to learn how to do it, my online course Branding for Business Growth will teach you what you need to know. I created this course specifically for editors, because I'm one and I know what the challenges are. For a shorter course on building trust with ideal clients, try To Visibility and Beyond.

To find out more about either of these courses, visit the Courses page.

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.

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

4 Comments

What should I call my editing or proofreading business?

3/12/2018

2 Comments

If you’re struggling to decide what to call your new editing or proofreading business, here’s a 6-step framework to set you on the right path.

Deciding what to call your editing or proofreading business is part of the BRANDING process and needs careful consideration. Follow these steps to work out what’s right for you.

Step 1: Brainstorm a list of possible business names
Let your imagination fly. Put your silly hat on. Then your serious one. Then your smarty-pants one. Anything goes at this point. This is all about you and what floats your boat. There’s no wrong or right – just ideas.

For demonstration, let’s imagine a new proofreader called Basil Rhoueny. Basil is trying to decide on a business name and comes up with the following ideas:

1. Basil Rhoueny | Academic Proofreading Services
2. Basil Rhoueny Editorial
3. Bulletproof Editorial
4. Comma Sutra
5. Full-proof Editorial Services
6. Norfolk Editorial
7. Perfect Prose
8. Responsible Editing

Step 2: Identify target clients
The next step is for Basil to identify his target clients. If he doesn’t know who he wants to work for, he can’t create a message that compels them – via his business name, his mission statement, his elevator pitch, his web copy, or any other marketing materials.

And if he doesn’t have a compelling message, why would anyone choose him over any one of the tens of thousands of colleagues who are also offer editing services? ‘I’ll edit and proofread anything for anyone’ isn’t a standout proposition. Basil needs to do better.

Even if an editor is prepared to be something of a generalist, I recommend talking like a specialist when communicating with different client groups. On our websites, that means giving visitors signals so that they can navigate to specialist messaging on different pages that focus on solving group-specific problems.

Some people know who they want to work for right from the get-go. Some have no clue. Some think they do, but seven years ahead find that they’ve completely shifted their client base. We’ll deal with that issue in Step 6.

For now, let’s imagine that Basil thinks his editorial training, educational background and former career make him best suited to the following client groups:

academic publishers
students
independent academics

Identifying these groups will help him with Steps 3 and 4.

Step 3: Identify core brand values
A brand can be loosely defined as what others think about us – external perceptions. A brand identity is the distinctive business persona we present that nudges target clients to notice the things that we want them to notice. It’s what allows us to influence those external perceptions.

Brand values are the essence of our brand identity. They represent the kind of editorial pro we want to be seen as – the things we stand for, what we’re passionate about, what makes us tick, why we’re different.

Our business name, photographs, colour palette, web copy and marketing materials should reflect our brand values so that the clients we’d most love to work with will most love to work with us.

It’s no small thing to develop a brand identity. If you need help, I have an online course called Branding for Business Growth that can help you develop an emotion-based business brand identity.

Let’s imagine that Basil has identified the following brand values that he wishes to convey at every touchpoint of his business:

The Editorial Professor – this reflects his desire to proofread knowledgeably and respectfully
The Green Editor – this reflects his commitment to environmental sustainability and socially responsible, ethical business practice
The Globalist – this reflects his passion for working with people whose first language isn’t English

Identifying these brand values will help him with Step 5.

Step 4: Serving the client
In this step, Basil revisits his list of business-name ideas and considers whether they’re appropriate for his target client groups: academic publishers, students and independent academics.

1. Basil Rhoueny | Academic Proofreading Services
2. Basil Rhoueny Editorial
3. Bulletproof Editorial
4. Comma Sutra
5. Full-proof Editorial Services
6. Norfolk Editorial
7. Perfect Prose
8. Responsible Editing

He asks himself the following questions:

Do the business names tell the target client what he’s offering? If people find him online, they’ll likely be deciding in seconds whether he can solve their problems, and therefore whether he’s worth investigating further.
Is the name available? If existing services exist, clients might become confused about who’s who. Basil’s competitors will be less confused than furious that this newbie is diluting their carefully developed brand identity.
Will the name be findable by clients who are searching online for someone who can solve their problems?

Names (1) , (2) and (8) best reflect exactly what he’s offering.

Names (3), (5) and (6) are next in line, though they’re less specific.

Name (4) alludes to sentence-level editing work, and some will think it amusing.
However, Basil wonders whether some of his non-native English-speaking clients will get the joke and bypass him.

Name (5) is a problem – there’s an existing established business called Full Proof | Professional Proofreading Solutions.

Names (4) and (7) give him cause for concern regarding their searchability. It’s likely that the words ‘proofreading’ or ‘editing’ or ‘editorial’ will be searched for by potential clients. It’s far less likely that someone will search for ‘comma sutra’ or ‘perfect prose’ if they need proofreading assistance, though they are distinctive.

Name (6), however, might be great for being found in the search engines by local clients.

Basil decides to remove Comma Sutra, Full-proof Editorial Services, and Perfect Prose from the list of contenders.

Now he turns to the branding issue.

Step 5: Serving the brand
In this step, Basil revisits his list of business-name ideas and considers whether they’re good brand practice. His remaining names are:

1. Basil Rhoueny | Academic Proofreading Services
2. Basil Rhoueny Editorial
3. Bulletproof Editorial
6. Norfolk Editorial
8. Responsible Editing

He asks himself the following questions:

Are the remaining business names distinctive? After all, branding is about showing potential clients those things that set us apart from other editors, not what will make us look like every other editor.
Do they reflect his brand values (BVs): Editorial Professor, Green Editor, and Globalist?

Basil has an unusual name. If he’d been called John Smith, he might have been easy to confuse with other editors called John Smith, at least in the West. However, either of his remaining business names would work.

There is, however, a good chance that his name might be misspelled. Is this something he needs to worry about if people are searching for him by name? This could be an issue if he’s referring someone to his website by phone, or if a word-of-mouth lead is trying to find him.

Here’s a test. Type ‘louise harby editor’ or ‘louis hornby proofreader’ into the search engines. Can you find me? I can find me! I’m not convinced that tricky-to-spell names are as problematic as we might think.

Back to Basil. Name (3) is at odds with the sentiment of BV-Green Editor. This brand value seeks to nudge potential clients towards thinking of Basil as compassionate, respectful, broad-minded, ethical, warm … someone who can see the bigger picture. The word ‘bullet’ might bring to mind thoughts of violence, death, harm and brutality.
It’s potentially a negative nudge rather than one that evokes positivity.

Name (6), while potentially clickbaity for local searches, doesn’t sit so well with BV-Globalist. Basil would be happy to work with local clients, but he’s not sure he can build a sustainable business on this alone.

Name (8) has a definite though subtle nod to BV-Green Editor.

He elects to remove Bulletproof Editorial and Norfolk Editorial from the list of contenders.

Step 6: Think ahead but don’t get bogged down
Can any of us be absolutely sure that what we want to do now is what we will want to do in the years ahead? Choosing a business name requires us to think ahead, but also to be true to who we are and what we’re offering in the present time.

In case you didn’t spot it, Basil’s name is an anagram of mine. When I set up my business in 2005, I was a dedicated proofreader who specialized in working for social-science publishers. If you’d told me back then that by 2016 I’d be specializing in line- and copyediting for indie fiction authors, I’d have been a tad surprised.

But that’s exactly what happened. My original business name was Louise Harnby | Proofreader. My URL was and still is: www.louiseharnbyproofreader.com. My business name now is Louise Harnby | Proofreader & Copyeditor.

It wasn’t actually a big deal to add an ampersand and the word ‘copyeditor’ into my business name and didn’t affect my findability in the search engines. Would it have if I’d changed it to Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor, or Fabulous Fiction Editing, or something else?

Possibly, but Google Search is a tricky beast to master and shifts the goalposts often in a bid to thwart those who’d use black-hat SEO techniques rather than genuine attempts to be interesting and discoverable online.

Basil is left with choosing between the following:

Basil Rhoueny | Academic Proofreading Services
Basil Rhoueny Editorial
Responsible Editing

There are good arguments for the SEO-friendliness of the first two, and the flexibility of the third. My view is that any would work because they are true to his business’s brand identity in different ways.

What’s right for you?
Basil’s brand identity and your brand identity will not be the same because you and Basil are individuals, each with your own businesses, ideal clients, goals, hopes, dreams and passions. The decisions you make will therefore be different to the one Basil makes. That’s fine.

Will there be a perfect solution? Unlikely. There will be choices to be made.

You might decide it would be to your advantage to have a short name rather than a long one.
You might choose a little SEO clickbait over humour.
You might choose a punny name over a more straightforward business name.
You might opt for flexibility over specificity.
You might choose memorability at the expense of spellability.
You might elect to incorporate the essence of your political or social values.

What’s important is that you choose a business name that you feel comfortable with: one that reflects your brand identity and nudges your ideal clients towards an awareness of the kind of editor you are and why you’ll be a great fit with them; one that alludes to what you do.

Here are just a few of my favourites:

A Novel Edit: Beth Hill specializes in helping authors prepare for submission to agents and publishers. The gentle and humorous play on words in her business name evokes a sense of freshness and vision.
Enigma Editorial: Cally Worden specializes in editing mystery, crime and thrillers. Her business name tells us what she's passionate about. It's also short and snappy, and avoids cliche.
Denise Cowle Editorial: Denise specializes in editing non-fiction for businesses and publishers. Her surname is unusual, and her business name capitalizes on this. We know immediately who we're dealing with, and that makes it personal.
Le Mot Juste: Sarah Patey specializes in non-fiction editing and translation. The business name reflects her language skills and her commitment to detail and accuracy.
Liminal Pages: Sophie Playle specializes in editing speculative fiction. Her business name reflects the pushing of boundaries that exists within the novels she works on. It's also sounds elegant to my ear.
Radical Copyediting: Alex Kapitan specializes in helping authors and publishers use equitable and inclusive language. The business name reflects Alex's values and includes some SEO functionality.
Wordstitch Editorial: Hazel Bird specializes in non-fiction editing and editorial project management. Her business name embodies a sense of editing as a craft, and evokes a strong sense of her commitment to detail and precision.

It’s likely your choice will not be clear cut. Try not to get bogged down by that. Business names alone will not make you visible or discoverable. The compromises you make can be offset by other business-promotion activities that strengthen your online presence.

Happy naming!

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and an Associate Member of the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA).

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

2 Comments

Speaking at editing conferences: How to do it and love it

16/10/2018

10 Comments

Does standing up in front of a room full of editors terrify you? I know that feeling. Still, I learned how to love it, which rather took me by surprise. In this post I show you how I did it.

How to love speaking at editing conferences

Let’s talk about nerves
I haven’t conquered my nerves about speaking at editing conferences, but that’s okay. Nerves are normal, even for presentations experts like my friend Simon Raybould.

More on him later, but for now it’s enough to say that feeling nervous is not the same as suffering from a level of anxiety that renders you unable to step out of your comfort zone and try something that could push your editing business forward.

Pushing your business forward
Speaking at editing conferences will push your business forward. You’ll get yourself seen and heard. People will understand more about who you are, what you specialize in, and what you stand for (your brand).

That will lead to opportunities: work referrals, awareness about courses or books that you offer, discounts on the conference registration price (even payment for some gigs), and invitations to speak at other conferences taking place in cities that require a little more effort to get to.

Take me. I live in Norfolk (the UK one). On 7 November, I’ll be speaking at the Society for Editors and Proofreader’s mini-conference in Toronto (register here if you want to join me – it’s now open to non-SfEP members). It’s a massive honour to be invited. I get to talk about my two editorial passions – fiction and marketing!

In 2016, I’d probably have shied away from doing this, despite the opportunity to hang out with my favourite Canadians (and a few of my favourite Americans). The words ‘I’m busy’ would have flown from my mouth just in time to curb the nausea.

In 2017, I might have agreed to do it as long as I was sharing the spotlight with a pal, though the thought would still have made me queasy.

But it’s 2018 and, to my surprise, I’m more than happy to fly solo.

One way to learn to love it
Loathing turned to love because I changed one thing: I dumped the script.

This is where I get to talk about Simon again, because he’s the person responsible for making me love speaking at editing conferences. In May 2018, he wrote a blog post for me called 6 tips to help you speak in public with confidence. Tip 4 asks us not to use a script.

I was gobsmacked. There was no way in hell I’d dare stand up in front of a group of my peers without having every word of my presentation memorized!

We had a long chat about it over Skype, and by the end of that conversation he’d convinced me it was worth testing.

And so when the SfEP’s conference director, Beth Hamer, asked me to do a two-hour session, on my own, at the annual conference in Lancaster, I promised her I would. And I promised myself I’d do it without a script.

3 snags with scripts
Scripts are inherently problematic.

Snag 1: They take time to learn, especially if you’re going to be talking for an hour. Unless you have a brilliant memory. Which I don’t.

Snag 2: They’re hard to remember. If they were easy to remember, more of us would be on the stage. Which I’m not.

Snag 3: They’re difficult to deliver well. If they were easy to deliver well, more of us would have Oscars and BAFTAs. Which I don’t.

No wonder so many of us cringe at the thought of speaking at editing conferences.

Even if we manage to learn the damn script, what are the chances that we’ll remember it, given how nervous we are? And if we’re uptight about remembering, what are the chances that we’re going to deliver our script in a way that’s engaging and informative?

This is the kind of stuff that’s always been in my head when I think about presenting. All of which can be summed up as follows: at what point will I fail?

Going scriptless
You can’t fluff a script that doesn’t exist. That in itself gets rid of snags (1) and (2). All you can do is talk about the thing you’ve agreed to talk about.

We’re not in the pub or having lunch with our mates, so we still need a structure.

I am not a perfect presenter, not by any stretch. But I have embraced an approach that means I will present, and I will enjoy it.

This is how I do it:

Create a list of every learning point my audience needs to know by the time they walk out of the lecture room.
Create a slide with an image that illustrates that learning point – that’s my trigger to explain it.
Glance at the slide for the trigger, then face my audience and talk about that learning point.
Click to the next slide. Glance at it, then face my audience and talk.
Repeat until I’m done.

Because you’re talking rather than delivering a script, you’ll sound more natural. And because you can’t forget any of the key learning points, you’ll feel more relaxed. That’s snag (3) dealt with.

There are caveats, of course. You must know your stuff. And you should rehearse. Each rehearsal will be different because you don’t have a script, but you will prove to yourself that you can talk through every one of the key learning points.

Being imperfect – audience expectations
Will you stumble if you’re scriptless? Maybe. Probably. I stumbled several times in Lancaster. But I loved every minute of that workshop. I felt relaxed, and as I talked I was in the moment, not tuned into the next thing I needed to remember.

And the delegates gave me some amazing feedback. That they enjoyed it is the most important thing of all. I’m sold on scriptlessness!

Plus, having a script doesn’t mean you won’t stumble. You’re human, after all. The difference is that when you’re scriptless, you get to stumble just because you stumbled, not because you forgot anything important or because you were distracted by the pressure of having to remember what’s up next.

Here’s something Simon told me during our Skype chat:

Your audience will forgive you if you trip up over a word.

Your audience will forgive you if you stammer.

Your audience will forgive you if you fluff a line and have to restart the sentence and explain something in a different way.

Your audience will forgive you for just being an editor rather than a TED Talk speaker.

What your audience will not forgive is your failing to deliver the key learning points that you promised you would ... for wasting their time.

At the larger editing conferences, delegates have to choose which sessions to attend. So I know that when someone chooses to come to mine, they’re probably missing at least two workshops they’d have learned something valuable from. That I don’t teach them what I promised is unacceptable. And that is the only way I can fail.

When will I see you again?
If you can get to Toronto on 7 November 2018, please come and listen to me talking about how to build a knockout home page, getting fiction editing work, and marketing an editing business.

Will I fluff my words? More than likely. Will I fail? No. I’ve already created slides for my key learning points and rehearsed what I’ll chat about.

I might well stumble and stammer, but I will smile at you as I do so, and I will deliver what I've promised!

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and an Associate Member of the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA).

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

10 Comments

Branding for Business Growth: New online course for editors and proofreaders

17/8/2018

0 Comments

I'm delighted to announce my new online course, Branding for Business Growth, due for release in late summer/early autumn 2018!

This course is especially for editors and proofreaders who want to differentiate themselves. You'll learn how to build an emotion-based brand identity that’s rich in the flavour of you, and compelling to the people you'd love to work with.

There's more information on the course page, and a special pre-launch offer.

The course will include:

a recorded webinar
an ebook (circa 25K words)
a branding kickstarter toolkit (ebook and templates)
a branding journal (the course workbook)
exclusive video tutorials from the Craft Your Editorial Fingerprint series
quick-access links to related materials

You'll get lifetime access and live support via my Facebook group when you need it.

Any questions, just ask me!

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers. She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, and a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).

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

0 Comments

How to create an amazing portfolio: Using stories to stand out

30/7/2018

4 Comments

Here’s how to build a knockout editing portfolio page even if you’re relatively new to the field.

Using stories to make your editing portfolio stand out

Deciding what to include, what to omit, and how to lay it out so that it grabs a potential client’s attention can be tricky. If your business is new you might not have a lot to shout about. If you’re established, you might have too much.

One thing’s for sure, though – an editing site without a visible portfolio is at a disadvantage. It’s the next best thing to the social proof of a testimonial because it demonstrates that you practise what you preach.

Using stories is a method every editor can use to bring their portfolio page to life.

Moving from mechanics to emotions
Stories are lovely additions to any portfolio page because they give us the opportunity to take our potential clients behind the scenes ... to show them how we helped and how the project made us feel.

That’s important because it shifts the attention away from mechanics and towards emotion.

Those of us who work with non-publisher clients such as independent authors, academics, businesses and students are asking our clients to take a big leap ... to put their project in the hands of someone they’ve never met, and pay for the privilege.
It’s a huge ask and takes not a little courage for some. Think about it from the client’s point of view:

An indie author has put their heart and soul into a work of fiction. It’s personal. They’ve used their own experiences to give life and depth to their characters.
An agency has developed a series of advertisements for a big-name corporation. It’s not just the agency’s rep on the line. There’s a global brand at stake.
An academic whose first language isn’t English is submitting their research to a peer-reviewed journal. Getting published could be career-changing for them.

These clients will be looking for an editor they can trust, someone who gets them, understands what their problems are and can solve them without making a song and dance about it.

Trust is something that is usually earned over time – think about your friendships and partnerships. Editors and their clients don’t always have the luxury of time. What’s needed is something that will fast-track the growth of trust.

Word-of-mouth recommendations are fantastic for this. Testimonials from named clients are also excellent social proof. Portfolios work in the same way. The problem is, they can be boring.

A partial screenshot of my boring but useful list!

The list: boring but powerful
I’m not going to suggest you dump your long lists. Boring though they may be, I believe there’s power in them, and for two reasons:

Keyword juice: Book and article titles, and author names can be good for SEO. Some years ago, I secured a proofreading job with an academic who’d come across my website while searching for information about a social theorist. One of the theorist’s books was included in a bullet list in my academic portfolio, and the page popped up in Google’s search results.
Demonstration of experience: Lists of completed projects can pack a punch because they show at a glance that you can do what you say on your editing tin.

So, if you want to keep your long lists, do so. I have. Make them more accessible and aesthetically pleasing by breaking them into subjects or genres.

Add thumbnails of book jackets, journal covers or client logos (subject to securing permission from the client).

Use a carousel or slideshow plug-in to show off multiple images without cluttering up the page.

Carousel of thumbnail images with scroll buttons

Adding pizzazz with stories
Now it’s time to add the wow factor. Stories take the portfolio one stage further. They’re basically case studies of editing and proofreading in practice. Can you recognize yourself in the following list?

The established editor: You have a long, boring list but you want to keep your visitors awake.
The NDA-bound editor: You’re prevented from publishing a long, boring list because of the non-disclosure agreements you’ve signed.
The new editor: You’d love to have a long, boring list but that’s not yet your problem. Filling space is.

Stories work for all three groups of editors:

The established editor: You can focus on two or three projects and talk about what the client was looking for, how you helped, what you loved and what you learned.
The NDA-bound editor: You can omit brand names and concentrate on the client’s problems, how you solved them, and what the outcomes were.
The new editor: Even if you’ve completed only 4 projects, you can make your portfolio page sing by going deeper into the story behind the editing project.

What to include
It’s up to you what you include but consider the following:

The ideal client: What kind of voice will be most compelling to them? What’s worrying them, and how might you fix that? How do you want them to feel when they’re on your website?
Your brand values: What do you stand for? What makes you tick? What excites you about your job?
Problems and solutions: What challenges have you faced, how did you overcome them and what was the result?

Example 1
I’m a fiction editor who works for a lot of first-time novelists. Many haven’t worked with an editor and don’t know what to expect. Some feel anxious and exposed. My two portfolio stories have a friendly, informal tone.

One of my case studies focuses on a self-publishing series author whose fictional world I’ve become close to. By showing how we work together and how his writing makes me feel, I demonstrate my advocacy for self-publishing and the thrill I get from working with indie authors, the emotional connection I make with the characters, and the delight I experience in seeing writers hone their craft.

Two case studies from the editing studio

Example 2
If you work with corporates, your stories might have a reassuring, professional tone that conveys confidence and pragmatism.

Your case studies could feature clients whose projects required the management of privacy and confidentiality concerns. You could use the space to talk about the challenges you faced and the successes you and your clients achieved even though the projects were complex and demanding.

Example 3
If you work with publishers, you could create case studies that show how you managed tight deadlines, a controlled brief, and a detailed style guide.

The stories could highlight some of the problems you and the publisher overcame, your enthusiasm for the subject area, the pride you felt on seeing the book published, knowing the part you’d played in its publication journey.

Crafting stories about relationships
If your home page is all about the client, the portfolio page can be all about relationships. By crafting stories for our portfolios, we can invite potential clients onto the stage and let them experience – if only fleetingly – editing in action.

And because the case studies are real, they’re a powerful tool for knocking down barriers to trust. They show a client how we might help them, just as we’ve helped others.

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, connect via Facebook and LinkedIn, and check out her books and courses.

4 Comments

How to become a better editor while secretly promoting your business

16/7/2018

8 Comments

Three questions for you:

Do you hate marketing, or at least dislike it?
How about editing or proofreading. That’s your job. Do you like it?
What about learning how to do your job better? Those courses you take, books you read, and conferences you attend – do you enjoy those?

If the answer to all three is yes, you’re in marketing heaven!

I’m not kidding you. If you love learning about how to do your job better, and are prepared to make time in your business schedule for this continued professional development (CPD), you have at your fingertips all the marketing tools you need.

Here’s another question:

Do you think there comes a point when you’ve learned all there is to learn about being a better editor?

If you answered no to that, you’re in even better shape from a marketing point of view because you will never run out of ideas to connect with your target client.

And here’s another question:

Do you think you have no time in your schedule to learn how to become a better editor?

If you answered yes, you need to make time. Every editor needs to continue learning. Our business isn’t static. New tools, resources and methods of working are a feature of our business landscape. Language use changes as society’s values shift. Markets expand and retract, which requires a response from us in terms of how we make ourselves visible.

If you answered no, that’s great news because it means you have time for marketing. I know – you don’t like marketing. But that’s fine because we’re not calling it marketing. We’re calling it CPD, which you do like!

Making time for business
Everyone who knows me knows I love marketing my editing business. Lucky me – it’s much easier to do something necessary when you enjoy it.

What a lot of people don’t get is how I make time for it and how I get myself in the mindset to devote that time to it.

I don’t have a problem with calling it marketing. But the truth is that so much of the marketing I do is not about marketing; it’s about communicating what I’ve researched and learned.

I love line and copyediting crime fiction. I think I’m really good at it. But I don’t think I’ve learned everything there is to learn. Not for a single minute.

That leaves me with stuff to do. I have to learn.

So off I go to various national editorial societies’ websites. I head for their training pages. I look for courses that will teach me how to be a better crime-fiction editor.
There aren’t any.

I turn to Google. Plenty of help for writers, but not specifically for editors. That’s fine.
And so here’s what I’ve done: read books about crime writing, and attended workshops, author readings, and crime-writing festivals (I live a stone’s throw away from the National Centre for Writing and the annual Noirwich festival). And I’ve continued to read a ton of crime fiction.

And to help me digest what I’ve learned, I’ve taken notes along the way. It’s what I’ve done all my life when I’m learning – O levels (as they were called in my day), A levels, my degree … notes, notes and more notes.

How much time has it taken? Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve been having too much fun. I love reading; I don’t count the hours I spend doing it. How long did the author event last? I’ve no clue. My husband and I had dinner afterwards though, so it was like a date. And it would have been rude to look at my watch.

Is it a blog post?
I wrote a blog post recently about planning when writing crime. I couldn’t churn out 2,000 words just like that; I’m not the world’s authority on the subject.

So I referred to my notes from the event with a famous crime writer (the one where I had a dinner date with hubby). Turns out the guy talked about planning, and told us about his and a fellow crime writer’s approach to the matter. I reread a chapter from a book on how to write crime and found additional insights there. More notes. I read 14 online articles about plotting and pantsing too. Yet more notes.

And then I put all those notes together, which really helped me to order my thoughts. I created a draft. Redrafted. Edited it. And sent it to my proofreader. Soon I'll publish it and share it in various online spaces.

It’ll be on my blog and on the dedicated crime writing page of my website. Some people might call it content marketing. And it is, sort of, because it helps beginner self-publishers work out when they will attend to the structure of their crime fiction – either before they start writing, or after.

From that point of view, it is useful, shareable, problem-solving content, which is a perfectly reasonable definition of content marketing.

Or is it CPD?
But look at it another way. I learned a lot of things I didn’t know before. I can use that knowledge to make me a better editor.

I took notes and drafted those notes into an article. This is no different to what I did at least once a week at university. I wasn’t marketing then; I was learning.

What is different is that no one but my professor was interested in my article. That’s not the case for my planning piece. That article will help some self-publishers on their writing journey. A few might just decide to hire me to line or copyedit for them.
It’s happened before. Maybe it will happen again tomorrow, or next month, or next year. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter – the article will stay on my site for as long as it’s relevant.

Change your language
If the idea of marketing your business leaves you feeling overwhelmed, rethink the language you use to describe what’s required.

You probably don’t consider attending an editorial conference a marketing activity, even though it might lead to referrals. It’s more likely you think of it as a business development and networking opportunity.

You probably don’t consider a training course to be marketing. It’s more likely you think of it as editorial education.

You probably don’t consider reading a book about the craft of writing to be marketing. It’s more likely you consider it knowledge acquisition.

So how about this?

Pick up a book, attend a course, watch a webinar, complete a tutorial – whatever you think will teach you how to be a better editor and do a better job for your clients. This is training.
Make notes based on that research. This is embedding knowledge.
Turn those notes into something readable, just like when you were at school or uni. This is writing an essay.
Place that essay somewhere other than your teacher’s in-tray. Like a blog or somewhere on your website where a potential client might learn from it too. This is publishing research.
Now use social media to drive awareness about that essay. It’s a kind of open-access thing … just like the academics do. This is sharing subject knowledge.

Training, embedding knowledge, writing essays, publishing research, sharing subject knowledge. Smashing stuff. Nicely done.

And between you and me, it’s great content marketing too. But, shh, let’s keep that quiet. I know you don’t like marketing.

Make your marketing about your editing
If you don’t like marketing, maybe that’s because the kind of marketing you’re doing isn’t likeable. In that case, think about what you do like about running your business, and make those things the pivot for your marketing. [Click to tweet]

In other words, it doesn’t need to be about choosing between marketing your editing business and learning to be a better editor, but about the former being a consequence of the latter. Two birds. One stone.

Me? I’m off to read the latest Poirot. Just for fun, mind you!

Louise Harnby is a fiction line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in supporting self-publishing authors, particularly crime writers. She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) and an Author Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).

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

8 Comments

10 ways to get editing work quickly

25/6/2018

2 Comments

If you're suffering from yet another dry spell, this webinar will help you get editing and proofreading work in the next few days and weeks.

I'll show you 10 steps you can take to move out of famine mode quickly.

Forget theory. This is all about doing ... step-by-step guidance on short-term fixes that will give you peace of mind in the now, and head space to dig deeper in the future.

AUDIENCE: Editors and proofreaders whose cupboards are bare
RUNNING TIME: 46 mins
WHAT YOU GET: Webinar, ebook and PDF resource sheet
CAPTIONS: Subtitles/closed captions are included

Click on the button below to find out more.

LEARN MORE

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.

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

2 Comments

Compromise or opportunity? How does your editing garden grow?

28/5/2018

0 Comments

Running an editing or proofreading business is a journey, not a moment in time. Some of us will be offered work that’s not ideal because of fee, content, client type, time frame, or for some other reason.

Some might tell us it’s a bum job, that we should run a mile. But is it? Should we? Would acceptance be a compromise or an opportunity?

Compromise or opportunity? How does your editing garden grow?

The problem with ‘ideal’
Ideal is something to aim for but rarely what lands in our laps, especially in the start-up phase of a business.

Perhaps the fee is a lot lower than we’d like or than some of our editing friends are earning.
Perhaps the subject or genre on offer isn’t what we dreamed of when we set up our business.
Perhaps the client is a publisher whereas we’d prefer to work with corporates.
Perhaps the client wants the project completed in a time frame that means we’d have to work outside our preferred office hours.

The challenge of visibility
Being discoverable is a challenge for many new starters. Ideal projects are out there, but the editor or proofreader isn’t yet visible enough in the relevant spaces.

And even if they can be found, they might not yet have enough experience to instil the trust that leads to initial contact.

Broadly, it’s easier to get in front of publishers because we know who and where they are. They’re used to being contacted by us, too, so we can go direct and cold.

With non-publishers, it’s more difficult. Not every business, charity, school, indie author, or student wants an editor or understands the value we might bring to the table. Going direct and cold is a trickier proposition.

The issue of trust
It’s not just the mechanics of visibility. Emotion plays a part too, especially trust.

With publishers it’s easier to overcome the trust barrier. They know what they want, what we do, are used to working with us, speak our language, and are experienced in evaluating our competence.

Non-publisher clients are more of a challenge. They might not be familiar with the different levels of editing.

Many will not have worked with a professional editor before.

Some – for example fiction writers – might be anxious about exposing their writing to someone they don’t know.

And for the inexperienced client, evaluating a good fit is more difficult.

In the start-up phase of business ownership, editors and proofreaders with less experience might therefore find it easier to acquire work with publishers than with non-publishers.

The choices on the business journey
So visibility and trust issues mean that new entrants to the field might not have the same breadth of choice as the more mature business owner.

It might mean deciding to accept work that isn’t ideal in the shorter term.

We could describe this as a compromise, but might it in fact be an opportunity?

Does the terminology matter?
I believe the terminology does matter because a compromise has negative connotations.

A compromise implies a cost; an opportunity implies a benefit.
A compromise implies a loss; an opportunity implies a win.
A compromise puts us on the back foot; an opportunity pushes us forward.

Negatives leave us feeling dissatisfied, that we’ve been ripped off, that we’re not in control. We’re more likely to begrudge the choices we’ve made.

Positives are empowering. We’re more likely to see the choices we’ve made as rational and informed.

All of this might sound like a mindset game but there’s more to it than that. Decisions to accept work that isn’t ideal have measurable benefits.

However, we need a longer-term approach, and that can be tough for the new starter who’s surrounded by colleagues who are booked up months in advance with the work that they want.

If that sounds like you, think of your editing business like a garden.

The editorial garden
What you do this year is not separate from what will happen next year, or the year after, or five years down the road. All the choices you make on your business journey are connected.

The seeds you plant now will grow if you look after them. Give them a little additional feed and they might sprout this season ... if the weather holds and you’re lucky. However, you will not get a tree, not this year, I guarantee it. Trees come later.

If you don’t plant anything, however, nothing will spout, not now, not next year, not five years down the road. You will be treeless.

Is planting the seeds a compromise? I don’t think so. It’s the opportunity to grow a tree.

Should we begrudge all that work of watering and feeding for just a few green shoots in this season? Again, not to my mind. The effort we make now will bear fruit later.

Our businesses are the same.

A patch of my editorial garden
I thought it might be helpful to share a story about my own business journey. It’s about how I accepted work that was way below my ideal price point, and did so with pleasure, because I believed I’d be able to leverage it later.

See these books?

The Rats – this is a reissue of one of the UK’s most famous horror author’s first novels.
Dracula – this is the centenary edition of possibly the most famous Gothic horror ever written.
Then we have the Pulitzer-prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad.
Three Moments of an Explosion is a short-story collection from one of the hottest ‘weird’ fiction talents in the market.
And even if you haven’t read the books, you’ve probably heard of or seen the movie adaptations of The Stepford Wives and Cool Hand Luke.

These are some of the books I was commissioned by publishers to proofread a few years ago.

I proofread these books for about 13 quid an hour.

These days, I aim to earn between £35 and £40 per hour. It doesn’t always work out that way, but I hit my mark in the last financial year when I averaged out my annual project earnings. A few years ago, my aim was around the £30 mark.

Those books pictured above earned me less than half what I was aiming for. Did I compromise? Well, it depends how you look at it.

If I believe that each decision I make exists in the bubble of now, and that nothing affects anything else further down the road, then yes, I compromised. If I think that what I’m earning now is despite my decision to accept those proofreading projects, it was a massive compromise.

If, however, I decide that each decision I make can affect my choices down the road, that the walls around those individual decisions are permeable, it’s a different story. If I think that what I’m earning now is because of my decision to accept those proofreading projects, it’s a story of opportunity.

Authors make decisions to work with editors based on a whole host of factors, but the first step is deciding to get in touch in the belief that the person they’ve found feels like a good fit.

Back to trust
To take one example, those of us who edit fiction for self-publishers are asking those authors to put their novels into the hands of complete strangers.

Many of those authors have never worked with an independent editor. Some are anxious about the process of being edited. And for some, the editor’s might be only the second pair of eyes to read the text.

It’s a big ask that takes courage. And that’s where the trust comes in.

The editor who can instil trust quickly is more likely to compel authors to make the leap and hit the contact button.

And what better way to instil trust than offer a portfolio of mainstream published books written by big-name authors?

And that’s how I leveraged those half-my-ideal-fee books. They tell an anxious indie author that publishers of big-name books trusted me a few years ago. And that helps the author trust me now.

Those proofreading projects – and the £13 ph fees that came with them – encourage authors to contact me now, and trust that my £35–£40 ph line/copyediting fee is a worthwhile investment. And I know it’s true because they’ve told me it's so.

I didn’t compromise. I planted a seed. Now the tree has grown, and I’m able to harvest the fruit. I had to wait a few years but the decisions I made then affect the choices I have now.

And that’s how an editing garden grows.

Your choice
I’m a great believer in leveraging for future opportunity. It’s not everyone’s bag. It doesn’t fit with every editor or proofreader’s business model. And that’s fine.

I offer this not as THE way of thinking, but as one approach. It’s something that those at the beginning of their journey might like to consider if they are still building visibility, but struggling with the age-old rates debate!

As independent business owners, we are free to accept or decline fees from price-setting clients as we see fit. We are also free to propose rates that meet our individual needs, regardless of what our colleagues are offering.

If you’re offered work, can see the benefit of that work for your portfolio, but can’t stomach the price, decline. But if you wish to accept, even though others tell you the price is ‘too low’ or ‘unfair’, go for it.

The hive mind of the international editorial community is there to offer support and to share its wealth of experience, but no one knows your business and your needs better than you!

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, connect via Facebook and LinkedIn, and check out her books and courses.

0 Comments

How to turn YouTube subtitles into blog posts and transcripts

8/5/2018

13 Comments

This tutorial shows you a fast and free method to turn your video’s subtitles/closed captions into text that can be repurposed for blog posts and DIY transcripts.

There are 2 reasons you might want to do this:

To generate keyword juice for SEO purposes
To respect customer/client preferences

Using the subtitles files in your existing videos means you can create content in a written format without starting from scratch.

That saves you precious time, allowing you to focus your attention on creating words (if you’re an author) and amending them (if you’re a proofreader or editor).

Watch the video or use the written instructions below.

Instructions

Find your video on YouTube.
Click on the three dots underneath the video on the right-hand side.

A new window will open.
Click on 'Open transcript'.

The transcript window will open.
Click on the three dots in the upper ribbon.

Click on 'Toggle timestamps'.

Note how the timestamps have disappeared.
Click your cursor at the beginning of the text and drag to the bottom of the transcript.
Copy the selected text (Ctrl C in Windows; Cmd C in iOS).

Paste your text into a Word document.

Now it's time to remove the extraneous paragraph returns using Word’s FIND/REPLACE tool.
Place the following string into the FIND WHAT field: ^p
In the REPLACE WITH field, type a space.
Click on the REPLACE ALL button.

Your subtitles file now looks like this:

Edit your text to ensure the spelling and grammar are correct, and tweak the writing so that it meets your audience's expectations of written content.

If you're creating a blog post, introduce paragraphs, bullet points, headings and any supporting imagery.

Generating keyword juice for SEO purposes
Video is compelling. It allows our audience to see our faces and hear our voices. That intimacy can be compelling, and it’s a fast-track to building trust. That’s important for authors seeking to build a readership, and editors wanting to attract clients who need editing help.

However, there are no keywords in a video. Yes, YouTube is a search engine in its own right, but it’s not the first point of search for every member of our audience.

By repurposing video as blog content, we’re increasing our chances of being found in the likes of Google and Bing too.

Being findable on multiple platforms makes sense in an online world that’s becoming noisier by the minute.

Respecting customer/client preferences
Not everyone wants to watch video, and even if they do, it’s not always the most convenient option. Imagine the following scenarios:

Our reader’s broadband speed is slow
A blog post will load faster than a video on those occasions that the internet seems to be creaking at the seams.

If we’ve solved a reader’s problem in our videos, but they can’t play those videos, they could become frustrated and go elsewhere. If we’ve offered a written alternative, we’re more likely to keep them on our websites.

Video is difficult to scan
Written content is easy to scan and digest quickly. That makes it attractive to busy people. If our visitors can’t work out whether we’ve solved their problem without watching a video in its entirety, we might lose them.

When we provide written content as well, we can quickly show them what’s on offer with headings and bullet points. Our readers can scan this information and decide whether to dig deeper.

Blog posts can be printed
Some people still like to print useful content so that they’re not reliant on digital means to access it. A video can’t be printed; a blog post can. Again, it’s about respecting what’s convenient for our readers, rather than focusing on our own preferences.

Other options
What I’ve offered here is a DIY solution for authors and editors who need to keep an eye on the purse strings when they're repurposing vlog content.

It’s the method I use when I’m starting with a video rather than a blog post. Plus, I rather enjoy the process. However, it’s not everyone’s bag.

If you have the budget, you can commission a professional transcriptionist or content repurposer. They’ll have the tools and expertise to create top-quality written content from video that fits your brand and voice.

Summing up
Editors and authors who are creating valuable content to make their books and editorial services visible can repurpose it in multiple ways. No one method trumps another – audio, video and words all have their place.

However, our audiences will have different preferences. What’s convenient today might not work tomorrow. Repurposing content allows us to respect those preferences.

The trick is to find shortcuts to that repurposing so that we’re not starting from scratch each time. This is one of them.

Acknowledgement
Thanks to JavaScript Nuggets for sharing this new and improved method of accessing transcript text. Much appreciated!

Related resources

The Author's Proofreading Companion
How to edit YouTube subtitles/captions free and fast in MS Word
Self-editing your fiction in Word: How to import styles
Self-editing your fiction in Word: How to use styles
Blogging for Business Growth (online course for editors and proofreaders)

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.

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

13 Comments

Overcoming marketing paralysis: How to turn overwhelm into action

16/4/2018

9 Comments

If you’re an editor or proofreader who finds marketing your business overwhelming, here are 6 ideas to help you rethink your mindset and pull you out of the mire.

Overcoming marketing paralysis: How to turn overwhelm into action

Recent discussions with colleagues on social media made me realize two things:

Some editors are perceived as busier marketers than is actually the case.
The struggling marketers aren’t always inspired by the busy bees. A sense of overwhelm and disillusionment takes over.

It made me sad to think that some of my colleagues could be negatively affected by those of us who find marketing easier or who enjoy it more.

If you're one of those who's struggling, this article is for you. It looks at the perceptions that might be triggering your discomfort and offers you new ways of thinking about each problem so that you can move forward.

If you want a reminder to pin on your wall, download the infographic at the bottom of the post. Or download the free PDF booklet to your preferred device.

Perception 1: It shouldn’t be done unless you can do it perfectly
Some editors are suffocated by their perfectionism. Not being able to do marketing perfectly and completely stops them from starting it. And so nothing gets done.

Here are five examples that reflect the truth of the matter:

It is ideal to have a consistent and regular promotion strategy, but it is better to market a business sporadically than not at all.
It is ideal to have a complete LinkedIn profile, but it is better to have a partial LinkedIn profile than none at all.
It is ideal to have testimonials on each page of your website, but it is better to have a website with no testimonials than no website at all.
It is ideal to have a strong headshot on your website and social media profiles, but it is better to have a cropped holiday snap that shows off your smile than no photo at all.
For would-be bloggers, it is ideal to have a blog banner that identifies the space for what it is, but it is better to have a blog without a banner than no blog at all.

I have been blogging since 2011 and I only just got around to uploading a banner image that reflected the parlour theme of the blog. I’m confident that my audience will forgive me. Those who won’t are likely not my audience.

If you’re someone who finds themselves falling into this trap, give yourself a break, please. Everyone else will. Social media profiles can be tweaked, banners can be uploaded, testimonials can be added, and headshots can be updated.

In fact, everything about your marketing strategy can be amended, deleted or completely rethought whenever you wish.

Ask yourself this: When you edit for a client, do you guarantee perfection? Do you think it’s even possible? I don’t. One reason is that much of what I do depends on brief, style, preference or voice. Editing work isn’t an exact science.

I have some good news for you – nor is effective marketing.

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 1

You don’t have to do it perfectly. You just have to do it.

Perception 2: Everyone else is doing way more than you
It might look like that but the reality is probably different. A colleague recently told me: ‘I know how hard you work on marketing. I can tell by how many posts you write and share on LinkedIn each day.’

I tend to share 7 blog articles throughout the day on both LinkedIn and Twitter. That’s 49 social media shares of my blog content every week on each platform. But I write one blog post a week. Just one.

I share that new post on a Monday. The other 48 are reshares of older blog articles that I hope my community will be interested in if they missed them the first time around.

And people might well have missed them. Tweets and posts on Facebook are more likely to be missed than seen on busy social feeds with ever-changing algorithms. That’s why many editors reshare their older content.

Those of us who’ve been blogging for a few years have a lot of content banked, which means we have plenty to share. If you’re starting out on your blogging journey, you’ll have a smaller bank.

And that’s absolutely fine! It’s not a numbers game; it’s a content-delivery game. If you have older blog posts, reshare them. If you don’t, wait until you do and then reshare.

And if you'd rather write an article every two weeks, or once a month, that's your choice too.

It matters not that I’m sharing 49 articles and you’re sharing 2 or 5 or whatever. What matters is that we’re delivering articles that will solve our colleagues’ and clients’ problems, and making our businesses more visible.

Don’t waste precious time worrying about my 49. Those are mine and for me to worry about. You need to think only about how to promote your 2 (or 5 or whatever) posts because those are what will drive traffic to your website.

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 2

Focus on delivery not numerical comparisons.
All that’s relevant is what you do for your business.

Perception 3: Some editors don’t do any marketing but have loads of work anyway
Marketing has many faces.

Remember my 49 blog-post shares? Those are part of a strategy to make me discoverable online and appealing to self-publishing authors of fiction.

What I do with my blog is a very visible form of marketing because the international editorial community is active on social media, and I use social media as one delivery tool for my blog content.

But what if an editor has a different target client base? Imagine Dan. He’s a copyeditor who specializes in social science books. His primary client base is publishers.

Last week he did the following:

Sent emails of introduction to four presses for whom he’s never worked
Sent hello-how-are-you emails to five presses whom he’s worked for in the past but whose radars he’s slipped off
Updated his SfEP directory entry with a new testimonial, a reworked pitch, and several book jackets

None of this marketing activity has been tweeted, liked, shared or commented on. No one knows what Dan was up to last week. However, it’s excellent, targeted promotion, and worth every minute he spent on it.

What one editor does to put themselves in front of potential clients will not necessarily mirror what another is doing. An editor whose schedule is full but who doesn’t appear to be busy with marketing is likely promoting their services in less visible but just as powerful ways.

None of us is handed work. We have to find it, or enable it to find us.

Perhaps the marketing work you need to do is not about blogging, vlogging, tweeting or chatting. Maybe it’s about making a telephone call, attending a networking group, writing an email, sending a letter, or advertising in appropriate spaces.

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 3

Follow your own path. Marketing doesn’t have to be shiny and out there. Good marketing focuses on your business and clients not your colleagues’.

Perception 4: Unlike everyone else, you don’t have anything to show off about
I bet you do! Once a week in my Facebook group, I host a marketing #Carnival. It’s a celebration of wins. Any wins – big or small.

And it isn’t just shiny-shiny stuff like winning an award, securing a new client, launching a new product, or publishing a 2,000-word blog post.

It could also be completing a test, sending out 10 letters to prospective clients, filling out a LinkedIn profile, uploading a picture to a website, booking a course, securing a testimonial, creating a marketing to-do list, buying a domain name, or applying for a membership upgrade to a professional editorial society.

Anything that takes our businesses forward is worth celebrating. I’m good at holding a list of my wins in my head but you might prefer to keep a physical record of your achievements.

You don’t need anything fancy – a spreadsheet, a notebook or a space on your wall for Post-it notes.

Then, when the overwhelm hits, look at that spreadsheet, notebook or wall, and remind yourself of all that you’ve achieved. That focuses attention on what’s been done rather than what’s left to do.

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 4

Create your own carnival. Record what you’ve achieved as well as what’s left to do. Busy people's wins deserve to be celebrated.

Perception 5: Editor X is producing a seemingly impossible amount of regular new content
Unlikely! I suspect repurposing is what's going on. Bear in mind the following:

Old content can be updated
Guest content can be offered in a new format
Existing content can be republished on other platforms and in different formats

I've done the following with some of my older blog posts:

Republished on LinkedIn's native blogging platform using copy and paste
Republished on Facebook's native blogging platform using copy and paste
Edited drastically and created a Twitter thread
Reformatted as a booklet
Reformatted as a video
Reformatted as a slideshow
Used the content to build some of the key themes discussed in an online round-table discussion
Used the content in a conference presentation
Used the content in a live video in a closed Facebook group

There are even more ways to repurpose content for promotional means but you get the picture.

Repurposing is quicker than creating from scratch and therefore great for the time-poor editor. But it also respects the fact that people like to access help in different ways and at different times.

Even if an editor appears to produce a lot of visible content, it’s more likely that they’re taking shortcuts to make life easier. And so can you!

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 5

The busiest marketing editors are not magicians; they’re just good at recycling! You can repurpose your content too.

Perception 6: There’s just way too much to do at once
You’ve made a list of all the things you’ve seen others doing and it’s huge. Overwhelming, in fact. Ugh. There’s so much:

Social media engagement
Blogging
Learning how to do video
Advertising in directories
Building a list of publishers, packagers and project management agencies and contacting them all
Creating or refining your website
Developing a newsletter mailing list
Attending online and offline networking meetings
And a bajillion other things

You don’t have nearly enough time in your life to get all of it sorted. It would take months and months and months to do all that!

Yep, it would. It might even take a couple of years to get up to full speed. And you know what? That’s fine! It’s supposed to be like that because you're a professional editor not a professional marketer.

So, if you feel overwhelmed by all that needs to be done, take a breath and think in ones.

Even the most visible and active of marketing editors started out with just one blog post, just one tweet, just one small list of publishers, just one directory entry, just one page on a website, just one online group they lurked in.

Everyone has to start somewhere. None of us creates a marketing strategy and nails it a month later.

And marketing gets easier over time because there comes a point where it starts to work for you instead of being a burden. Take me, for example ...

I can use scheduling tools to quickly access old content and share it.
I have old blog content that I can repurpose.
My website’s up and running so I’m tweaking rather than building.
I’ve already created my directory entries so I only need to renew and tweak once in a while.

Some years back, I was still in the process of developing that stuff. I didn’t do it all at once. I did a bit, then a bit more, then a bit more. Over time, the foundational work was completed, leaving me space to focus on the marketing activities that work best for me now.

Look at your marketing list. Instead of seeing it as an ocean in which to drown, break it down into cups from which you can sip.

Create a doable schedule. Choose a couple of things and an acceptable time frame in which to do them. Then choose a couple more and do those ... small steps that respect and reflect your client base, your personality, and the demands of your work and personal life.

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 6

Think in ones. Schedule step by step so that your goals are achievable in the long term and suit your business, not mine or anyone else’s.

Beating the overwhelm: A downloadable checklist
There’s more than one way to do marketing. Your way might look different to mine. It might be less visible. It might involve targeting different clients. It might require a different pace. That's all fine.

Download the infographic below and pin it on your wall. It'll remind you that marketing is not about catching up with colleagues. It's a journey, a building process. It does require your time, but you get to choose the methods and the schedule.

If you feel the paralysis setting in, join my Facebook group, tell me what's holding you back, and we'll work out some steps to get you moving in a way that works for you.

Overcoming overwhelm. A manageable marketing mindset

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

9 Comments

How to get fiction editing and proofreading work

2/4/2018

10 Comments

How do you get fiction editing and proofreading work? This post offers some pointers for newbie freelancers, and experienced editors looking to shift specialisms.

1. Start with baseline training
To be fit for working in any editing discipline, fiction or otherwise, training is the foundation. Even if you’ve been devouring your favourite genres for years, you need to understand publishing-industry standards.

This isn’t about snobbery. It’s about serving the client honestly and well, especially the self-publisher, who might not have enough mainstream publishing knowledge to assess whether you’re capable of amending in a way that respects industry conventions.

It’s about the reader too. Readers are canny, and often wedded to particular genres. They’re used to browsing in bookshops and bingeing on their favourite authors. They have their own standards and expectations.

One of our jobs as editorial professionals is to ensure we have the skills to push the book forward, make it the best it can be, so that it’s ready for those readers and meets their expectations.

And so if you want to proofread or edit for fiction publishers and independent authors, high-quality editorial training isn’t a luxury: it’s the baseline.

What kind of training you need will depend on what services you plan to offer.

CLICK IMAGE TO TWEET

Courses
I recommend the Publishing Training Centre and the Society for Editors and Proofreaders for foundational copyediting and proofreading training. I’m based in the UK, and those are the two training suppliers I have experience of so I’m in a position to recommend them.

That doesn’t mean that other suppliers aren’t worth exploring. Rather, I don’t recommend what I haven’t tested. Keep an open mind. Check a range of suppliers and their course curricula. Then choose what suits your needs.

Basic Proofreading: Editorial Skills One (Publishing Training Centre. Despite the word ‘Basic’, this is a comprehensive, flagship, industry-recognized course)
Essential Copy-Editing: Editorial Skills Two (Publishing Training Centre)
Proofreading 1–4 (Society for Editors and Proofreaders)
Copy-editing 1–4 (Society for Editors and Proofreaders)
See also this list of professional editorial societies; they’ll be able to advise you if you live outside the UK

If you want more information about how the PTC and SfEP courses compare, talk to the organizations’ training directors.

2. Decide which fiction editing services you want to offer
Some beginner self-publishers don’t understand the differences between the different levels of editing, which means they might ask for something that’s not in their best interests (e.g. a quick proofread even though the book hasn’t been critiqued, structurally edited, line- and copyedited).

It’s essential that the professional fiction editor is able to communicate which levels of editing they provide, and recommend what’s appropriate for the author.

That doesn’t mean the author will take the advice, but the editor must be able to articulate her recommendations so that independent authors can make informed decisions.

CLICK IMAGE TO TWEET

3. Invest in appropriate specialist fiction training
The next step is to gain skills and confidence with fiction editing and proofreading work. As with any type of editing, the kinds of things the editor will be amending, querying and checking will depend on whether the work is structural, sentence-based or pre-publication quality control.

When deciding what specialist fiction editing courses to invest in, bear in mind the following:

Even if you have experience of developmental editing non-fiction, this skill will unlikely transition smoothly to story-level fiction editing without specialist training.
Even if you’re an experienced sentence-level fiction editor, this skill will not make you fit to offer structural editing or critiquing without specialist training.

Courses and reading
Explore the following to assess whether they will fill the gaps in your knowledge. Check the curricula carefully to ensure that the modules focus on the types of fiction editing you wish to offer and provide you with the depth required to push you forward.

Switching to Fiction (Louise Harnby; course: webinar and book)
Introduction to Fiction Editing (Society for Editors and Proofreaders; course)
Developmental Editing: Fiction Theory (Sophie Playle, Liminal Pages; course)
Developmental Editing: In Practice (Sophie Playle, Liminal Pages; course)
Editing Fiction (Publishing Training Centre; introductory e-learning module)
Introduction to Developmental Editing (Author–Editor Clinic; course)
Write to be Published (Nicola Morgan; book)
The Magic of Fiction (Beth Hill; book)

This isn’t a definitive list but it’ll set you on the right track.

CLICK IMAGE TO TWEET

4. Get in the right mindset
Fiction editing requires a particular mindset for several reasons:

Style and voice
We’re not only respecting the author, but the POV character(s) too. The fiction editor who doesn’t respect the voices in a novel is at risk of butchery.

Being able to immerse oneself in the world the writer’s built is essential so that we can get under the skin of the writing. If we don’t feel it, we can’t edit it elegantly and sensitively.

Intimacy
Non-fiction is born from the author’s knowledge. Fiction is born from the author’s heart and soul.

If that sounds a little cheesy, I’ll not apologize. Many of the writers with whom I work are anxious about working with an editor because they’ve put their own life, love and fear into the world they’ve built.

A good fiction editor needs to respect the intimacy of being trusted with a novel. If that doesn’t sound like your bag, this probably isn’t for you.

Unreliable rules
At the recent fiction roundtable hosted by the Norfolk group of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders, guest Sian Evans – an experienced playwright and screenwriter – talked about how punctuation in screenplays is as much about ‘the breaths’ the actor is being directed to take as about sentence clarity.

These ‘breaths’ exist in prose. They help the reader make sense of a sentence ... not just grammatically, but emotionally. And so the addition or removal of just one comma for the sake of pedantry can make a sentence ‘correct’, or standard, but shift tone and tension dramatically.

The fiction editor needs to be able to move beyond prescriptivism and read the scene for its emotionality, so that the author’s intention is intact but the reader can move fluidly through the world on the page and relish it.

All of which is a rather long-winded way of saying that if you want to get fiction editing work, and keep on getting it, you’ll need to embrace rule-breaking with artistry!

Fiction work requires us to respect both readability and style. The two can sometimes clash so gentle diplomacy and a kind hand will need to be in your toolbox.

5. Read fiction
If you don’t love reading fiction, don’t edit it.

And if you don’t love reading a particular genre, don’t edit it.

Editing the type of fiction you love to read is a joy, and an advantage. If you read a lot of romance fiction, you’ll already be aware of some of the narrative conventions that readers expect and enjoy.

I started reading crime fiction, mysteries and thrillers before I’d hit my teens. I turned 51 in March and my passion for those genres hasn’t waned. That stuff makes up over eighty per cent of my work schedule too. Here’s the thing though – my pleasure-reading has supported my business.

I get to see first-hand how different authors handle plot, how they build and release tension, how they play with punctuation, idiomatic phrasing, and sentence length such that the reader experiences emotion, immediacy and immersion. And that helps me edit responsively.

Honestly, reading fiction is training for editing fiction. In itself, it’s not enough. But professional training isn’t enough either. Love it and learn it.

CLICK IMAGE TO TWEET

6. Learn from writers
If you want to understand the problems facing the self-publishing author community, listen and learn.

Join the Alliance of Independent Authors. Even lurking in the forum will give you important insights into what self-publishers struggle with an how you might help.

Take advantage of online workshops aimed at beginner writers. Penguin Random House offers regular free online webinars via The Writers' Academy. Experienced writers and instructors take you on whistle-stop tours of setting, dialogue, characterization, point of view, crime fiction writing, children's books and a whole lot more.

Listen to published novelists’ stories. My local Waterstones hosts regular author readings/signings. I’ve seen Garth Nix, Jonathan Pinnock and Alison Moore speak. In April 2018, Harry Brett is chairing a session on how to write crime with Julia Heaberlin and Sophie Hannah.

In May, fellow editor Sophie Playle and I are attending 'Why Writing Matters', an event hosted by the Writers' Centre Norwich in association with the Norwich & Norfolk Festival. And Jeffery Deaver's coming to town too. Ticket booked!

These workshops cost from nothing to £12. That's a tiny investment for any fiction editor wanting to better themselves.

7. Get in front of publishers
The best way to get publisher eyes on your editing skills is to go direct. Experienced fiction editors are sometimes contacted direct but sitting around waiting to be offered work never got the independent business owner very far and never will.

Experienced ... but not in fiction
If you’re an experienced editor or proofreader who already has publisher clients but they’re in a different discipline (e.g. social sciences, humanities) you’ll likely have built some strong relationships with in-house editors.

Publishing is a small world – in-house staff move presses and meet each other at publishing events. It might well be that one of your contacts knows someone who works in fiction and, more importantly, will be happy to vouch for your skills.

With specialist fiction training, you’ll be able to leverage that referral to the max. So, if you have a good relationship with an in-house academic editor, tell them you’d like to explore fiction editing and ask them if they’d be prepared to share a name and email and give you a recommendation.

Newbie
If you’re a new entrant to the field, it’s unlikely that a cold call to HarperCollins or Penguin will be fruitful. The larger presses tend to hire experienced editors with a track record of hitting the ground running.

There are two options:

Target smaller, independent fiction presses. Ask if they’d consider adding you to their freelance list. Be clear about the training you’ve done and your genre preferences. The fees might not be great, but I recommend you look at this as a paying marketing and business-development opportunity. You’ll be able to leverage the experience, the testimonials and the portfolio entries later.
If the small press responds by saying that they aren’t in a position to hire external editorial work, ask if you might do a one-off gratis proofread/edit for them as a way of gaining experience and supporting their independent publishing programme – mutual business backscratching. Again, you can leverage this experience when targeting paying fiction clients (publishers and indie authors).

CLICK IMAGE TO TWEET

8. Be visible online
There’s no excuse for any twenty-first-century professional editor to be invisible. There’s no one way to visibility – take a multipronged approach.

Directories
If you’re a member of a national editorial society, and they have a directory, advertise in it as a specialist fiction editor/proofreader.

If you’re not a member, become one. It won’t be free, but running a business has costs attached to it. If we want to succeed, we need to be seen. That doesn’t land on our plates; we must invest.

If your society doesn’t have an online directory, lobby for one to be set up and promoted. I’d go as far as to argue that a professional editorial society that isn’t prioritizing the visibility of its members isn’t doing its job properly.

The Society for Editors and Proofreaders IS doing its job properly. I rank highly in Google for certain keyword phrases, but it’s not always my website that shows up – sometimes it’s my SfEP directory entry. It thrills me to know that my membership sub is providing me with networking, friendship, training opps, and visibility in the search engines.

If you don’t qualify for inclusion, make doing what’s necessary a key goal in your business plan.

Reedsy – despite what you might have heard – does NOT set low rates that encourage a ‘race to the bottom’. Editorial professionals set their own rates and Reedsy takes a cut of the fee. I receive several requests a month to quote for fiction copyediting or proofreading via Reedsy and have worked with some wonderful authors. Entry in Reedsy’s database is free but you must have a certain level of experience to be invited.

Again, if you don’t qualify for inclusion, make doing what’s necessary a key goal in your business plan.

Create content for indie fiction authors
Any self-publishing fiction writer looking for editorial assistance is more likely to think you’re wowser if you help them before they’ve asked for it.

Create resources that offer your potential clients value and you’ll stand out. It makes your website about them rather than you. And it demonstrates your knowledge and experience.

Doing this might require you to do a lot of research, but what a great way to learn. Don’t think of it as cutting into your personal time but as professional development that makes you a better editor.

And think about it like this: Who would you rather buy shoes from? The shop where the sales assistant tells you all about her, or the shop where the sales assistant helps you find shoes that fit? It's no different for authors choosing editors.

I have an entire Self-publishers page dedicated to resources for fiction authors. I’m not alone. These fiction editors have resource hubs too: Beth Hill, Sophie Playle, Lisa Poisso, Kia Thomas and Katherine Trail. There are others but I’m already over the 2,000-word mark!

CLICK IMAGE TO TWEET

Shout out your fiction specialism
Shout your fiction specialism from your website’s rooftop. Why would a fiction writer hire someone who doesn’t specialize in fiction when there are so many people dedicated to it?

Related reading
Here are some additional articles that you might find useful if you're considering moving into the field of fiction.

Good luck with your fiction editing journey!

Here's a PDF booklet. Download and review the guidance on getting fiction editing and proofreading work at your leisure, and on your preferred device.

And if you're thinking about transitioning from non-fiction but are unsure what else you need to know, take a look at my short course, Switching to Fiction.

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.

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

10 Comments

How to blog for business growth: 13-step programme

26/3/2018

1 Comment

Blogging for Business Growth is open for registration now! Learn how to build an editorial business blog in 13 steps.

About the course
In 13-steps, Blogging for Business Growth shows you how to build a discoverable, captivating and memorable blog-based content platform that drives traffic to your website, makes you visible in the search engines, and compels clients to get in touch.

It doesn't matter where you live. The principles underlying the teaching are relevant to you as a global editor with a potential global client base.

And there are no time restrictions on the training. Once you've bought a course you can access the materials whenever you wish ... for as long as you wish.

What's included?

a recorded webinar
an ebook (circa 24K words)
an ebooklet with 62 blog-post ideas
a build-your-blog workbook
a sample workbook filled in by a fictional editor
a pre-publication blog post checklist
a ready-to-go content log template
a success metrics checklist
exclusive video tutorials
quick-access links to related materials
a 20% discount coupon

Course curriculum
The course is designed so that you can build a purposeful blog step by step. Topics include:

Introductory principles of a quality blog-based content platform
Blog content creation: How to never run out of ideas
Branding your blog so that it's recognizable and appeals to your target clients
Hosting and creating second homes to drive visibility
Blog design: What to include
Blog promotion: How to get your content seen
Keeping a content log to enable repurposing and internal linking
Creating a publication schedule and using scheduling tools
Building a subscriber list
Bringing your blog alive with video
Tips and tools to overcome technical problems and emotional resistance
Video hosting and embedding
Measuring the success of your blog

The webinar and written materials

The webinar takes you through the key steps to building a blooming blog that will drive visibility and offer compelling value to potential clients. The complementary ebook includes the core written content and links to all the tools and resources I cite in the webinar.

Additional PDF booklets help you with the following:

Generating ideas for over a year's worth of blog content
Incorporating video into your blogging
Repurposing blog content creatively for social media

The workbook
The course includes a workbook, At the end of each episode you can record the key takeaways you'd like to implement that are relevant to your business blog, and what action you need to take.

Plus, I've created a sample for you so you can see how you might summarize key learning points and drive your editorial business blog forward. I use the example of an editor who specializes in working with writers of children's books.

Additional video tutorials
Each course comes with additional tutorials available exclusively to Fingerprint students ... videos that show you how to use some of the tools I refer to in the training.

However, the content will expand over time. If there's something extra you need directly related to the course, just ask me. I'll create a custom walk-through ... but you won't pay a penny more.

Scroll through the slideshow below to see what's on offer.

Early-bird registration is open!
Registering your interest doesn’t oblige you to buy the course. It just means you’ll be contacted when the course goes live in mid-April and given the option to order at the reduced price.

And if you’ve already bought my social media course, you’ll be able to use the additional voucher on the course page that gives you even more money off!

Early-bird registration closes on 20 April 2018. Register now to save 20%!

Standard price: £59.99
Early-bird price: £48

Take me to the registration page

Louise Harnby is a fiction copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in helping self-publishing writers prepare their novels for market.

She is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors, and runs online courses from within the Craft Your Editorial Fingerprint series. She is also an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. Louise loves books, coffee and craft gin, though not always in that order.

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.

1 Comment

6 treatments for a sickly blog

19/3/2018

3 Comments

Some blogs are poorly right from the get-go. If yours is feeling under the weather, here are 6 treatments that will turn it, and your website, into a vibrant resource centre that drives your business forward.

I’ve been blogging since 2011 and my blog is the single biggest driver of traffic to my website – around 36,000 page views per month. Given that 99% all of my clients come to me via Google and two online directories, having a strong web presence is the difference between being booked up six months in advance and being unemployed.

Those visitors end up on my blog for three reasons:

They want to hire me because of the job I do (copyediting fiction books)
They want to find out how to do the job I do
They’re already doing the job I do but are stuck

Big-picture focus
This article doesn’t focus on the technical minutiae of whether to use Wordpress or Weebly, filling in metadata, writing great headlines, breaking up text with pictures, adding in calls to action, SEO keywords, paragraph length and so on and so forth.

That’s not because all the micro stuff isn’t important, but because none of it will amount to anything if the macro issues aren’t in order.

Instead, I focus on six big-picture reasons why blogs become poorly, and offer some medicine that will turn them, and the websites hosting them, into vibrant resource centres that drive our businesses forward.

Problem 1: The blog doesn’t solve problems
Some of the blogs I wrote between 2011 and 2015 are a technical disgrace but they worked – and still work – because the content is helpful and shareable.

A blog that doesn’t solve problems is a written exercise in self-indulgence and won’t make us the go-to professionals for anything. At best, we’ll be instantly forgettable; at worst, people will talk about us for all the wrong reasons.

A colleague recently told me about a piece of video content he’d watched: ‘After 10 minutes I’d lost the will to live. After 20, I’d lost the will for the vlogger to live.’ I trust my colleague, whereas I don’t know or trust that vlogger. Consequently, I didn’t watch the video.

There are a ton of online examples of desperate business owners employing attention-seeking methods to get eyes on their content. It can work once, maybe twice. But if we rely on shock, surprise, upset or gaining sympathy with our audience, and no solution, our content-marketing successes will be short-lived.

Don’t puke over the reader
We all have problems – that doesn’t mean we have to vomit over our audience with our content. Plus, shock and controversy have a short shelf-life. Today’s audiences are easily desensitized and quickly bored, so high-quality problem-solving content will trump the shock factor every time.

Nothing should appear on our blogs that doesn’t help the reader move forward in some way. And if we can’t solve a problem, we should hold off, research and rewrite.
Only once we have a solution should we publish.

When we do solve problems, we make ourselves valuable. People are more likely to talk about, share, like and comment on our blog content.

And that has huge SEO benefits over time because the search engines love seeing evidence of a great user experience. Focus on solving the audience’s problems from the get-go and we are well on the way to building a platform that puts us top of mind and discoverable in the search engines.

Problem 2: The blog is published irregularly
Lack of regularity is probably the most common reason for blog failure. We do it for a bit, then run out of ideas, or time, or passion.

This is how a reader perceives a blog that publishes content irregularly:

The blogger doesn’t know their stuff well enough to solve problems
The blogger isn’t committed or can’t be bothered to solve problems

Those feelings don’t inspire trust. If your window cleaner couldn’t be bothered to clean your windows on a regular basis how quickly would you try to find a replacement? It’s the same with blogging. No one’s going to talk about or share our content if we can’t be bothered to create it regularly.

Earning the rankings and referrals
We have to earn the right to be top of mind for referrals and benefit from our colleagues’ and clients’ SEO-driving activity.

And without those likes and shares, Google won’t recognize us as business owners who are actively engaging. That will impact negatively on our rankings.

Build a blog plan
If you don’t have the time or commitment for blogging, that’s absolutely fine. Don’t do it – focus on making your business visible in other ways. Blogging is just one option.
However, if you do want your blog to be your primary content platform, the solution is to build a blog plan beforehand.

Here are four initial steps for your plan:

Identify your audience. Consider colleagues as well as clients.
Create 52 draft titles for problem-solving content. If you plan to publish once a week, that’s a year’s worth of content ideas; twice a month and you’ll have two years’ worth.
Decide on your publication schedule.
Draft your promotion schedule.

Here are four ideas for how to generate content:

Take inspiration from your job. What do your clients and colleagues struggle with? What have you struggled with? Answer those questions on your blog.
Take note of the questions people ask in your industry’s forums and at conferences. Answer those questions on your blog.
Invite questions on your website via a box or pop-out.
Review products, apps, courses, books, tools, forums and conferences related to your industry.

Here are four ideas for how to save time:

Write efficiently – create batches of articles around a theme.
Repurpose existing content (e.g. from slideshows, presentations, case studies, reports, guest articles, books, meetings and conferences) as blog posts.
Update stale content using your existing knowledge base. Blogging is a journey and it’s perfectly acceptable to revisit old topics; you’re demonstrating your readiness to review and adapt.
Set aside time in your working week for your blogging.

Problem 3: The blog is unnavigable
No one searches online for a blog. They search online for solutions. If they click through to our websites, the first place they’ll head for is unlikely to be the blog tab. And even if is, will our visitor find the answer to their problems in the content that’s visible on the first page of the blog?

If we only have 10 pieces of content, yes. What if we have 40? How about 500?

Second homes
The solution is to create second homes for our blog content – libraries, hubs, resource centres ... call them what you will.

I have two on my website – a self-publishers page and an editor resources page.

There is not one single piece of fresh content on those pages. They’re libraries of titled images that depict what problem I’m solving. However, if you click on the images you’ll end up reading the full articles on the blog.

These libraries help my audience find my very best content – the stuff that’s most likely to be talked about, get me known, and make my visitors think I’m helpful and knowledgeable.

I only started creating content for one of those libraries in May; it’s already the fourth most popular page on my site ... and that’s because it’s obvious what’s on offer and whom it’s for.

Few business bloggers funnel their content through to other pages, and it’s the biggest lost opportunity I can think of. Do this and you will stand out from your competitors for very little additional effort.

Here, we’re using our blog content to turn our websites into resource centres rather than all-about-me-and-how-great-I-am sites.

Problem 4: The blog is shallow
My marketing coaches Andrew and Pete preach the art of creating content that makes people fall in love with you. I love this idea because it focuses on emotion – of getting under people’s skin, making them feel something.

This sits nicely with the problem-solving principle discussed above. When we solve problems we make people feel something – happy, grateful, relieved, empowered.

Emotion born from solutions
Just to be clear, those emotions should be evoked as a result of our solving a problem. For example, our funnies alone won’t be enough to make anyone subscribe to and share our content in the long term. No one will waste time reading a funny photographer’s blog if he or she doesn’t solve photography problems too. That’s because if all we want is a laugh, Dara Ó Briain and Rich Hall will do it better.

Tone on top of solutions
Even if our content is technically good, we have competition. Readers need to hear our voices and our personalities in our posts so that we stand out. I tend to go for warm and friendly.

Other tone options might include cheeky, funny, blunt, sweary or ranty. All of that stuff is great but bear in mind that it’s just dressing at the end of the day. It should always hang on a body of solutions.

Going deeper with solutions
There are already a bajillion blogs with the basics just, about everything. Repeating the same old stuff is boring, and boring blogs are a killer. We need to bring our blog posts alive with case studies (made-up ones if necessary), and stories based on our own experiences, so that our readers have gravy on the meat and two veg.

That kind of deeper detail draws people in, makes them feel like we’re really talking to them, not just stuffing our websites with keywords. That is not to say we shouldn’t aim our content at beginners or focus on the basics – far from it. Rather, our content needs to have personality and detail.

When we go deep we make an old subject sound fresh because it’s rich with our voices and our experiences.

Problem 5: The blog doesn’t fulfil audience expectations
I don’t visit a dentist’s website expecting to find a treatment for the verruca on my foot. I’m there to sort out my teeth. A blog needs to have a recognizable and understandable raison d’être too.

We’re busy and none of us has time to read everything, join every group, watch every vlog, listen to every podcast, do our jobs, and have a life. Blogs that don’t give people a very good reason to be there are doomed. They won’t be bookmarked, subscribed to or shared. If a reader doesn’t understand why they should bother, they’ll quickly lose patience and go elsewhere.

There are two reasons why an audience could become confused and disengage:
The content is coherent but isn’t aligned with the business creating it. This happens when the blogger has misunderstood the audience’s expectations even though there are myriad specialist solutions that could be offered.

The content is incoherent and there are too many audiences. This can happen when a business – usually a product-based one – can’t sustain long-term content creation around the product alone. To compensate, the blogger covers multiple topics for multiple audiences whose problems are already being solved in depth by relevant specialist bloggers elsewhere.

Here are two examples where those problems have been solved.

Coherent and aligned: The pro presenter
There’s plenty one can write about presenting, and that content can be targeted at non-presenters who need to tackle the process, and those who want to run a presentations business.

Relevant content might cover the following: dealing with stress, introversion, lack of confidence, speech impediments, organization and planning, which software to use, which venues are best, managing acoustics, scheduling, equipment, payment terms, contract problems, learning resources, apps and plugins to aid preparation, training opportunities, marketing a presentations business, getting published, creating engaging slides, finding and retaining clients, and so on.

The presenter is blogging about topics aligned to their core service and targeting an audience with problems related directly to it. The blog is therefore coherent and aligned.

Coherent and side-aligned: The condom company
There’s only so much one can write about condoms. Durex knows that it will not be able to sustain its audience’s interest in latex and lube, and there are only so many flavours and colours.

However, it also knows that its audience is interested in sex, otherwise people wouldn’t need condoms.

Durex has created a blog called Love Sex that offers all sorts of tips about perfect massages, advice on STDs, relationships, other forms of contraception, orgasms, positions ... you name it, it’s there.

It’s a very clever way of creating content about a related but more interesting issue.
If you can’t sustain long-term content creation around your product or service, shift your thinking sideways but make sure it’s focused on your audience’s problems.
Durex isn’t blogging about condoms, but it’s still focusing on content that’s related sideways to its core product. Its blog is therefore coherent and side-aligned.

Nudging with a name
Naming our blogs can help signal purpose. Mine’s called The Proofreader’s Parlour, which should be an indication that my focus is on words.

I also publish a lot of content about marketing, but it’s marketing for editors and proofreaders. And I offer content about training, but it’s training for editors and proofreaders. It’s not as interesting as the Durex blog but it solves my clients’ and colleagues’ problems and that’s all that matters!

Problem 6: The blog is invisible
Blogging without blog promotion is a supreme waste of time. It matters little that we’ve nailed all of the above if our blog’s invisible. We could spend hours crafting beautiful content for our target audience, but if we don’t invest the time or effort in making it visible it will have no purposeful business or economic value.

Superhero delivery
There are numerous ways to promote a blog, and what works for you might not work for me. One thing’s for sure though – social media is the superhero when it comes to content delivery.

Three huge platforms – LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook – offer a superb suite of tools to help us get seen out there.

What clear is that it’s about more than just posting links and pretty pictures, now more than ever. Indeed, we have to work increasingly hard on these busy platforms with their ever-shifting algorithms.

However, persistence pays and there is no faster way to get your blog content, and your business, in front of people than by embracing social media.

Automating to make space for crafting
Content should be scheduled regularly because on some platforms, Twitter especially, the feed moves so fast that your blog-post links are more likely to be missed than seen. I post on Twitter ten times a day, seven days a week.

Automate your evergreen posts where you can (full automation will shortly not be possible on Twitter via the likes of Recurpost). That will free up time for posting manually on your core platforms. Manual posting allows us to craft our posts with the algorithms in mind.

An example: Crafting for Facebook
Here are some of the ways in which you might promote your blog content on Facebook:

Upload blog posts natively (direct to the platform) rather than linking.
Create mini summaries of a blog post on a Page that invite conversations. Place a link to the blog post in the first comment.
Upload cute, shareable videos that summarize the core themes of a post.
Run chatbot campaigns that include booklets repurposed from blog content.
Upload vlog versions of blog content.
If your broadband connection is stable, go live with a discussion of your content.
Post links to blog posts in groups if that content answers a specific question. If in doubt check with the admins that this is acceptable practice.
Join blog carnivals (threads of links to blog posts) in Facebook groups where the practice is encouraged. If it doesn’t yet exist, suggest it to the admins.

Six-tip summary

Be purposeful with problem-solving
Build trust with regular publishing
Spotlight your best content in second homes
Infuse the key takeaways with deeper stories and case studies
Align or side-align your content with your business so that it makes sense for your audience to bother with it
Commit to promotion so that your hard work is visible

Good luck building a healthy blog!

Here's a free ebook (for those of you who missed it the first time round). Just click on the image to download your copy. And if you're ready to dig deep, take a look below at my new Blogging for Business Growth course.

3 Comments

5 ways to use audio for book marketing and reader engagement

15/1/2018

2 Comments

Here are 5 ways to use audio to promote your book and create engagement with your readers.

This post featured in Joel Friedlander's Carnival of the Indies #88

‘Listening is active. At its most basic level, it’s about focus, paying attention.’ Simon Sinek

Does sound still engage? It does – audiences still absolutely love sound because they can do something else at the same time. Food for the time-hungry!

I’ve deliberately not included audio books or podcasting. They’re both valuable ways of delivering your book and the story of your publishing journey, but need scaled-up levels of expertise, planning, equipment, time and money.

I’ve also excluded options that involve video – we’ll look at them in other dedicated resources (e.g. video book trailers, and online video launches). Today is all about sound!

1. Narrate your own sample chapter
Narrating a chapter of your book is a lovely way to offer your fans the personal touch – for no other reason than they get to hear your voice. It’s a phonic version of Amazon’s ‘Look Inside’!

And it’s a totally different kettle of fish from a full audio book …

In Audio Book Production: A Primer for Indie Authors from an Audio-Book Producer, Ray Greenley, a professional voice narrator, explains how easy it isn’t to create a high-quality audio book yourself – one that’s fit for market and done to the highest standards. The equipment, the noise dampening, the time, the fluency, the editing – the author who takes on all of that has a will of iron and more than just a talent for writing. Narrating is, after all, a very different skill to writing.

With a sample chapter, though, you don’t need to worry about any of that. It’s a taster, a way for your audience to enter the world you’ve created via the sound of your voice. And because you – the author – are providing all the emphasis and tone of voice, listeners know they’re experiencing the world you created exactly the way you intended it.

They’ll even forgive you if you stammer, or mispronounce a word, or stumble halfway through a sentence and have to go back to the beginning. They’ll forgive you if the dog barks, or a siren wails, or your office chair squeaks … because you’re engaging with them, speaking to them.

Don’t get me wrong, it has to be listenable. If it’s such poor quality that the sirens, dogs, and stumbles are so frequent that the sample is painful to engage with, you’ll do yourself no favours. But a little blip here and there is fine.

Audio samples, like written ones, are gifts from you to your reader. They’re charming, and generous, and your fans will love the fact that you’ve taken the time to record one for them.

I asked my own marketing coaches and some of my colleagues what they use to upload audio to their websites. SoundCloud got an overwhelming thumbs-up. There’s a free option, too.

A YouTube video with a thumbnail picture would be another option. If you’re uploading natively to your website this could slow down load times so, instead, embed a link and host the content on your YouTube channel. In case your audience clicks through to YouTube, make sure you include all the relevant book-buy links under the video on your channel. Be sure to include captions for those who choose to engage with the sound muted (it happens … a lot!).

You don’t need an expensive mic either. I have a Blue Snowball, which works brilliantly, looks charming, and came in at under fifty quid. I chose it because I wanted something decent that would allow me to create video without being encumbered with a headset. However, if you’re just doing audio, you can probably get away with a headset/mic system for under £25. Try different options and see what gives the best results.

2. Giveaways – usable audio content
For non-fiction, you could take the audio sample to the next level. Give away an audio version of one chapter of valuable, usable content – something your listener can actually solve a problem with.

This is a powerful offering and goes well beyond the plot taster of a novel.

For example, imagine you’ve self-published a marketing book for small businesses. One of the chapters is dedicated to Pay Per Click (PPC). The chapter outlines the principles behind PPC advertising, and offers guidance on which businesses would or wouldn’t benefit from this strategy, and why.

You create an audio version of this chapter – and because it’s something that your target audience can listen to and use to make informed decisions about an aspect of their digital promotion strategy, they’re compelled to buy the written version and extract all your words of wisdom!

In this case, you’ve repurposed valuable business content but in a deeply personalized way.

3. Host a live sound event
Readers love live author events. The Norwich branch of Waterstones has hosted a stack of live author readings. I’ve been to see Garth Nix, Jonathon Pinnock, and Alison Moore.

With an audio-only version, you’re recreating the feel of a radio author event because the audience gets to talk to you afterwards and ask questions. Ideally, you’ll want the stream to be recorded so that it’s available as archive content afterwards.

Daniel J Lewis, in ‘New live streaming options for podcasters’, says, ‘Maybe you want all the interaction and accountability of live-streaming, but you don't have the technology or bravery for video. That's when an audio-only live stream can be a great choice. It also makes a good option for those with lower bandwidth.’

So what are the options?

Mixlr and Spreaker are Lewis’s recommendations for those looking for lower-cost solutions.

Another option is using the audio-only option of Facebook Live. This has slightly less flexibility in that all the engagement with your listeners will take place in the comments below. Still, this could have some advantages in that you have a record of what people are asking, and if you don’t have time to handle all the questions, you can join in the written discussion later.

Live audio streaming is public and, obviously, live. You don’t get to edit if things go wrong … which is great because it adds emotion and excitement to the event, but requires a little courage. Make sure you have some friends in on the gig who have your back if you’re new to this type of engagement.

One of the best things about reader-facing author events is that fans can get a signed copy of the book. In the digital world, this is tricky.

How about this as an alternative? Get some promo postcards printed; the front will feature your book’s cover. At the end of the show, invite people to email you with their postal addresses if they’d like to receive a signed postcard with a personal message or dedication. You could team this up with an invitation to join your mailing list so that they don’t miss out on future events.

4. Broadcast an interview
This requires more effort but it’s worth it because it allows you to talk about the journey of your book and your journey as a writer.

You’ll need an interviewer and a script.

It’s tempting for the inexperienced sound eventer to think that a script will detract from the flow and authenticity of the broadcast. It won’t. A script ensures everything stays on track, that the questions and answers are remembered, that neither of you ramble off on a tangent or fall off a pregnantly paused cliff.

You could do a swap with a fellow author, perhaps someone from your writing group – you interview them and they return the favour. That way you both get to promote your books and share your thoughts on the challenges and joys of writing and self-publishing.

Again, SoundCloud is a good option here (or YouTube).

5. Audio sign-up requests
In ‘9 ways to use audio’, digital marketer Steve Cartwright asks: ‘When your target audience clicks to get more information for your products and services, do you think it would make a difference if you were actually talking to them with your voice to explain what you have to offer?’

Most of you are probably already building your mailing list. Perhaps you include links at the end of your written books, blog articles and website book pages that encourage people to sign up to your newsletter. This is the perfect place to test whether you can increase your sign-rates by using your voice to ask your readers to join the party.

If you’re not building a mailing list, consider these wise words of experience from full-time, self-published crime writer Jeff Carson:

‘I have a newsletter email list. This is one of those things I heard people preaching but never did anything about. It took me four freaking books to finally put my email list in place. But I finally did, and that’s when I was finally able to write full time. It only took two days to write and publish a short story, which I give away on my blog as a thank-you if somebody signs up for the new-release newsletter. Now, when I have a new release, I launch the book to thousands of people, versus dropping it into a field of crickets.’

How about doing the same thing, but asking people to join that newsletter with your voice?

Other things to consider with audio

If you fancy adding some animation to your audio, take a look at the Music Visualisation Video Creator.
Don’t forget to include discount coupons and book-buy links under your audio stream, wherever you host it.
Always include a call to action, so your listener knows exactly what you want them to do.
Be available to your readers – let them know how they can contact you.

2 Comments

Training for editors and proofreaders: Social media for business growth

5/1/2018

2 Comments

Available now!
Social Media for Business Growth shows you how to use social media platforms to increase your visibility, expand your audience, reinforce your brand and generate leads ... without falling into a rabbit hole and without spending any money.

This is the first course in the Craft Your Editorial Fingerprint series ... online marketing classes that enable editors, proofreaders, indexers, translators and other wordy folk to develop a compelling and recognizable business presence.

The social media kit
You'll receive access to a social media fingerprint kit comprising:

a recorded webinar (1 hour 50 mins)
a 92-page ebook
a PDF tip sheet
a 14-page PDF strategy checklist
quick-access links to related materials
additional video tutorials exclusive to Fingerprint students
a 20% discount coupon

No limits on access
Some online courses restrict the period of access to the materials. I think you should be able to choose when you study.

After you've bought Social Media for Business Growth you can access the class whenever you wish ... whether that's immediately after you've created your login or 8 months down the road.

And for your convenience, you can download the supporting PDFs to multiple devices, multiple times ... whatever works best for you. Just log in, watch, click and grab whenever you like.

On-demand tutorials ... at no extra cost
My training approach is dynamic. Here's how it works ...

Each course comes with additional tutorials available exclusively to Fingerprint students ... videos that show you how to use some of the tools I refer to in the training.

However, the content will expand over time. So if there's something else you need that's directly related to the course, I'll create a custom walk-through, visible to you and any other student who's bought the class ... but none of you will pay a penny more.

And because there are no time restrictions, you'll have lifetime access to an ever-expanding library in which to achieve your goals.

For more details about the class content, or to sign up, go to Social Media for Business Growth.

2 Comments

Editors and proofreaders: Forget the ‘race to the bottom’. Just be compelling

1/1/2018

6 Comments

The topic of editing and proofreading rates is always hot in our community. And the 'race to the bottom' especially has been known to garner more attention than an Olympic 100-metre final. So what should we do about it?

Competing with cheap
Here in Norwich there’s a mall. In that mall is a discount store selling techie stuff ... phones, tablets and whatnot. You go into that shop expecting a deal.

It’s where people go when they’re price-shopping. Not because they’re terrible people who are always looking for cheap but because the coffers are low. Maybe the car failed its MOT and they had to find an extra seven hundred quid that month. Or they recently lost their job. Or something.

In that mall on the floor above is an Apple store selling shiny things for shiny people. You don’t go into that shop expecting a deal. You go in expecting to pay what you have to pay to get the shiny thing you want.

It’s where people go when they’re product- or service-shopping. The coffers are flush. The car passed its MOT and the job is secure. Or something.

All clients are not the same
Now, Apple could decide not to have a store in that mall. It could say, ‘This is ridiculous. No one’s going to buy our stuff when they can get similar products from the shop on the floor below for one fifth of the price. Being in that mall is a race to the bottom.’

But Apple doesn’t say that. Why? Because it knows that the customers who come into the mall aren’t all the same. Some won’t come near its store because the prices are too high. But others – those who are looking specifically for an Apple product, those who are Apple fans, those whose cars passed their MOTs – might pay Apple a visit.

If it doesn’t have a store in the mall, Apple knows it will lose the custom of all the people who’d like to buy there but can’t because it’s decided not to set up shop ... and all because it got the hump about the race-to-the-bottom store on the floor below.

In fact, Apple doesn’t focus on the store below. It doesn’t care what that store is charging. That store can service the price-shoppers – those customers whose budgets are limited – because those customers are NOT Apple’s customers.

Instead, Apple invests its energy in making the service-shoppers – its fans – have an amazing experience ... lots of knowledgeable, passionate staff on hand, a Genius Bar, technicians out back who’ll fix or replace a product in-store or replace it, and lots of lovely shiny stuff to play with while we wait.

Apple knows that there’s room in the mall for both types of store and both types of customer.

And it’s the same for editors and proofreaders.

Standing up for the market or hiding behind a curtain?
If you decide not to make yourself visible in particular directories or other online spaces because you know there are colleagues charging what you consider to be unacceptably low rates, and you think no one will hire you because you’re charging more, you’re assuming that all clients are the same. But they’re not.

Some clients will have low incomes or busted cars that need expensive repairs, and they will be attracted to the discount editors. Some will have more flexible budgets and will be focused on finding the right-fit editor first and foremost. Price will not be the clincher for the latter group.

However, clients can only commission services from an editor whom they know exists. If you have the hump about the race to the bottom and have decided not to join the party, you’re not standing up for the editorial market. All you’re doing is hiding behind the curtain, making yourself invisible to those clients who would have liked to work with you if they’d been able to find you.

And don’t forget that Google is the biggest directory of all. There’s no other online space with more editors in it. Some of them are cheap as chips. Has that stopped you having a website? No. The same logic should apply elsewhere.

How to be the Apple editor
Of course, we can’t have it both ways. If we don’t want to compete with discount editors then we need to get attention in a way that shifts the client’s focus away from price.

Expecting to benefit from the same footfall as the discount editor without offering a compelling alternative is just wanting to have our cake and eat it.

We need to stand out for some other reason. We need to make the client think: That editor looks perfect for me, seems to get me, is really generous and knowledgeable. I hope she’s available and that if I save up I can afford her.

Sure, the price-focused clients aren’t going to touch us with a barge pole. But that’s fine because we’re not targeting them; we’re targeting the service-focused clients.

To be the Apple editor we need to present potential clients with an amazing experience – a story that says we have solutions, that we have their backs, that we can help them achieve their goals ... a story that persuades them we’re worth waiting for and worth paying for.

It’s about the words we use to convey our understanding of our clients’ problems.

It’s about the images we use to convey our professional values. Blurry headshots with our mates or kids in them won’t do.

It’s about how we instil trust. Telling them that we know our stuff – that we have the skills, the knowledge and the experience – is one thing. Showing them with free resources and a knowledge base that helps them more easily walk the publication path ... that’s quite another.

Time well spent on standing out
Every minute we spend worrying about what other editors are charging is a minute in which we could be building our own compelling brand identity and creating our own valuable resources, stuff that helps our potential clients feel we’re the right fit.

Every directory that we don’t advertise in because we think it’s a race to the bottom is another tick on our invisibility list.

If you’re invisible, it doesn’t matter how high your prices are. No one will hire you. Not because your prices are too high but because you can’t be seen. Being invisible is of no economic value to any editor or proofreader.

So charge what you want to charge. If you want to compete on price, go ahead. If you want to compete on compulsion, go ahead.

The compulsion route isn’t easy. It means investing time and effort in standing out – all that content marketing stuff I bang on about! It means thinking deeply about how every word of your directory entries and every page of your website helps a potential client and makes them feel that you’re just too wowser to ignore.

All that hard graft pays off though. You can sit beside the cheaper editors without fear. You can let them have the price-shoppers while you work with those who can afford you.

Just like Apple and the discount store, we’re dealing with two different markets.

The idea that your business could be undermined by a colleague charging way lower than what you deem to be acceptable is, says Jake Poinier, ‘nonsense. Creative freelancing is a market, and only you can establish the value you bring to it. I don’t view the low end of the freelance rate scale as my competition’ (Stop worrying about freelancers who undercharge). I agree with Jake.

Honestly, there’s room for everyone. Don’t waste your valuable time on the issue. Instead, build your business, your brand identity, your visibility and your value. Therein lies success.

Want a reminder of this article? Download this free ebook to your preferred device. Just click on the image to get your copy!

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, connect via Facebook and LinkedIn, and check out her books and courses.

6 Comments

Q&A with Louise: How to move from fiction author to fiction editor and proofreader

27/12/2017

0 Comments

Yolanda is a self-published author who wants to build a fiction proofreading and copyediting business. In this Q&A I consider the steps she should take to get her editorial business off the ground and fit for purpose.

Says Yolanda:

I am a fiction author located in U.S. and I've been self-publishing for almost 6 years under various pen names. I still work full-time (over 20 years in the administrative field), however I would like to start a freelance career as a fiction proofreader/copy-editor. I am a certified legal proofreader but outside of my day job & my own books I don't have experience proofing. I intend to use freelance job sites & my connections with self-published authors to build my portfolio. As far as blogging, I'm not sure what I would discuss since my focus is fiction & I'm not an expert yet to give other proofreaders advice.

What would be my next steps to transition from fiction author to fiction proofreader/ copy-editor for self-published authors as far as getting my business up & running, classes (if any), pricing, etc?

Hi, Yolanda!

Thanks for your question. I’ve broken down my advice as follows:

Training
Services
Visibility ... especially content marketing
Pricing

Training
I think you’re wise to consider training. It’s essential that your knowledge of grammar, spelling and punctuation conventions is top-notch. If it’s not, you won’t be able to correct your clients’ files to industry standards.

I'd recommend that you search for a grammar brush-up course as a first step. That will enable you to discover whether your technical knowledge is on point and if there are any weaknesses that you need to attend to. Here are a couple of options for you to consider:

Grammar Lion (via Ellen Feld)
Grammar 1 and Grammar 2 (via Copyediting)

Fiction work does require an empathetic hand because editors and proofreaders are often faced with the dilemma of how to amend such that we remove errors and improve readability but respect narrative voice and flow.

However, it’s only when you know what a problem is that you can decide whether to fix it! Training is absolutely the right place to discover your weak points. Better that than via a disgruntled client.

Your second step should be to undertake professional editorial skills training. This will be of particular use to you because it'll move you into the editing mindset and away from the authorial one that you're used to.

I appreciate that you've self-edited, but editing one's own work is a very different proposition to offering professional services to paying customers, as you clearly realize.

Professional training will also enable you to determine the level of intervention that each type of editing requires. In turn, that will help you avoid scope-creep and undercharging. Especially when proofreading, knowing when to leave well enough alone is an art in itself!

Here are some reputable US-based programmes to consider:

Editorial Freelancers Association: Education
Copyediting: Individual Training
Editcetera: Educational Programs
University of Chicago: Editing Certificate Program
University of California San Diego: Copyediting Certificate

Services
You’ll need to develop a service model that differentiates between the different levels of editing. Many self-publishing authors don’t know the differences between proofreading, copyediting, line editing, and developmental editing.

Many editors' definitions vary too. And so while the lines are often blurred, especially when we compare different independent editors’ service descriptions, professional training will help you clarify how you'll describe your services so that your clients understand exactly what’s on offer.

You can see some examples of how I’ve tackled definitional issues here:

The different levels of editing. Proofreading and beyond
Louise Harnby: Proofreader & Copyeditor: Services

I’d advise taking a look at a range of editors’ websites to familiarize yourself with the breadth of services on offer and the way your future colleagues describe these. There’s no right or wrong. Rather, it’s all about clear communication and helping the client understand how you can solve their problems.

Visibility
Blogging needn't necessarily be your primary content platform, though I think it works well for editors and proofreaders because our wordy clients are comfortable with wordy information!

Even if you don't concentrate on vlogging or podcasting, at least think about how you can introduce audio-visual material into your marketing mix in order to stand out and offer your audience alternative ways to get what you're offering.

You don’t need to focus on colleagues either. Far from it. Fifty per cent of my content is created for beginner authors.

I’d recommend you consider using your experience as a self-published author of fiction to guide potential clients on how to navigate their own publishing journeys.

Think about what their problems and questions might be. Think about what your own problems and questions were! For example, you mentioned having used a pen name; that would be an interesting topic to any beginner author wondering whether they should publish under their own name.

Great content marketing solves problems. If you decide to blog, offer fantastic value by helping other writers solve their conundruns using all your knowledge and experience ... the rough and the smooth. Everything you’ve learned on your own journey has the potential to help others.

Don’t forget that your experience of self-publishing can be used as a unique selling point that makes you stand out. Combine that with high-quality training and you’ll be on the way to building a compelling online presence.

Consider how you might make your content visible beyond the blog (or vlog or podcast) by creating a resource hub that makes what you’ve created accessible via different pages on your website.

It’s my belief that having an individual, standout online fingerprint is essential for those entering the editorial freelancing market. There’s too much competition out there to create a website that looks just like everyone else’s. So do focus on your marketing so that over time you can be as discoverable as possible.

Here are a few examples:

Louise Harnby: Proofreader & Copyeditor: Self-publishers
Lisa Poisso. Book Editor. Writing Coach: Clarity: Tools and Skills for Authors
Julie Gray Story Editing: Writer Resources

Pricing
Many national editorial societies have guidelines or suggested minimums for what editors should charge. I look at these but don’t use them to determine my own rates because they distract me from the important things than any pricing model needs to take account of. These are:

What I need to earn in order to make my business viable (e.g. my expenses)
What I want to earn in order to achieve job satisfaction
What various clients will pay

In relation to your needs, it matters little if the Editorial Freelancers Association thinks that $30–50 per hour is a common and acceptable rate for copyediting if you need $70 per hour to keep the bailiffs from the door.

With that in mind, when you start to think about pricing, work out first what you need to earn as a minimum to make your business viable. That’s your baseline. From there you can work upwards to what you want to earn and what your clients will bear.

Self-publishing authors aren’t a homogeneous market when it comes to writing skill, genre or budget. Some will be shopping for an editor whose fees are lower than that which you need to earn. Others will be prepared to pay more than you want to earn. Yet others will sit somewhere in the middle.

It’s not only the budget that will vary; your authors' locations will too. And so if your potential client is based in Sweden, it’s likely that what $40 will buy in Sweden is not the same as what it will buy in the US.

Since the cost of living varies from country to country, what an American client thinks is a high rate might seem an absolute steal to the Swede. And that’s another problem with professional association pricing tables – they focus on the domestic market whereas your potential market lies well beyond the sovereign state in which you reside.

That’s why it makes more sense to build your pricing model on your own needs rather than some notion that there’s one universally applicable rate (or range) for editing or proofreading. There isn’t.

There’s some excellent detailed guidance on editorial rate-setting from Rich Adin on the American Editor blog. Start with the following:

Sign-off
I hope all that gives you a few ideas for how to move forward, Yolanda, and I wish you well on your editorial business-building journey!

There’s plenty more information on my blog in the following archives: Money Matters, Marketing, Starting Out and Training. Dig into that and start connecting with other editorial pros online. There are lots of us on Facebook (the Editors’ Association of Earth is a good place to start), Twitter and LinkedIn ... and beyond!

See you there!

0 Comments

FOR EDITORS, PROOFREADERS AND WRITERS

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 1

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 2

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 3

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 4

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 5

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: TIP 6

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

PDF MARKUP

BOOKS FOR EDITORS AND WRITERS

TRAINING COURSES FOR EDITORS

TESTIMONIALS

Dare Rogers

'Louise uses her expertise to hone a story until it's razor sharp, while still allowing the author’s voice to remain dominant.'

Jeff Carson

'I wholeheartedly recommend her services ... Just don’t hire her when I need her.'

J B Turner

'Sincere thanks for a beautiful and elegant piece of work. First class.'

Ayshe Gemedzhy

'What makes her stand out and shine is her ability to immerse herself in your story.'