Editors on the Blog: June 2018

Editors on the Blog is a monthly column curating some of the best posts from the editing community – articles written by editors and proofreaders for colleagues and clients alike.

My thanks to this month's contributors!

THE BUSINESS OF EDITING

• 2018 goals: Midyear update by Denise Foster, published on Fostered Creativity. Denise writes: ‘At the end of 2017, I published my Year in Review and Goals for 2018. I promised I’d post a midyear update to take stock of where I’m at now with my business, so enjoy!’
• 5-minute branding by John Espirian, published on Espirian. John writes: ‘This quick exercise will help you sharpen your written voice and add consistency to all your communications.’
• Compromise or opportunity? How does your editing garden grow? by Louise Harnby, published on The Parlour. Louise writes: '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. Is accepting this work a compromise or an opportunity?'​
• How to use bubble charts to get a snapshot of your clients' value to your business by Hazel Bird, published on The Wordstitch Blog. Hazel writes: ‘A bubble chart is a great way to get a snapshot of your clients’ value to your business, both monetarily and in terms of how much you like working with them. It can provide helpful clarity about how you conceptualise your clients’ value to your business, enabling you to set smarter goals for the future.’
• Pricing models II; or why a per-word rate benefits freelance copyeditors by Jeanette Fast Redmond, published on the FastEditing Eye. Jeanette writes: 'I review a common pricing model for copyediting – namely, the per-word rate – and examine how a per-word rate lets freelancers separate money from time in our pricing models.'
• Pricing models IV; or why copyeditors should pitch a flat fee (and why clients should accept) by Jeanette Fast Redmond, published on the FastEditing Eye. Jeanette writes: 'These days I often convert my word rate to a project rate so I can pitch a flat fee to my copyediting clients. In this post I look at project rates, or flat fees: what they are, why to pitch them, when to pitch them, and how to calculate them.'

​CLIENT FOCUS​

• A beginner's guide to narrative point of view in crime writing by Louise Harnby, published on The Parlour. Louise writes: 'Beginner authors sometimes get in a tangle with narrative POV. This post offers an overview, and features examples from published crime fiction.'
• Author revision time: what should you do after you’ve received your sample edit? by Lesley Jones, published on Perfect the Word. Lesley writes: ‘Authors sometimes have between a few weeks and several months to wait from receiving their sample edit and the substantive work commencing. Should they be thinking of tweaking their manuscript during that time in the light of their editor’s comments?’
• Be irresistible: The secret of good scientific writing by Claire Bacon, published on Bacon Editing blog. Claire writes: ‘Many scientists think that their writing should be dull and complicated. I challenge this view and explain how to liven it up.’
• How to get an agent by Rachel Rowlands, published on The Parlour. Rachel writes: 'If you want to get published traditionally, agent are key. Getting an agent is competitive, and it isn’t easy. I hope my journey and what I’ve learned along the way will inspire you and help you.'
• Theses and dissertations (part 1): An easy way to make sure tense is consistent by Beverley Sykes, published on Superscript Proofreading. Bev writes: ‘Tense is almost always inconsistent in the theses and dissertations I work on, but you can easily avoid this by following the simple guidance I suggest in this blog post.’
• Theses and dissertations (part 2): How to avoid inconsistency of style by Beverley Sykes, published on Superscript Proofreading. Bev writes: ‘Inconsistency of style might seem like a difficult problem to sort out, but there is a really simple way of tackling this early on to save yourself time.’

EDITING IN PRACTICE

• When editorial project managers expect too much by Hazel Bird, published on The Wordstitch Blog. Hazel writes: ‘When a project manager expects too much of a freelancer – or of themselves – it can introduce the risk of things going awry. This post considers three key ways to mitigate the risks that will inevitably arise in text-based projects of all sizes.’

LANGUAGE MATTERS

• A very sweary dictionary by Kia Thomas, published on Kia Thomas Editing. Kia writes: 'I like to swear, so much so that last year I decided to do daily tweets of my sweary style choices, under the hashtag #TheDailySwear. This post is a compilation of those tweets, resulting in a resource you never knew you needed – a dictionary of compound swearwords.'

• How Star Trek: The Next Generation predicted meme culture by Madeleine Vasaly, published on Twin Cities Geek. Madeleine writes: ‘A comment that editor and linguist James Harbeck made at the ACES conference in April comparing the classic Star Trek episode "Darmok" and how we use memes online inspired me to write a whole article about the subject. I reached out to James and to “Internet linguist” Gretchen McCulloch for insight.’

To include your article in next month's edition of Editors on the Blog, click on the button below. The deadline is 16 July 2018.

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

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