What's the point of networking? Editorial colleagues and what they can teach us

This article is for editorial folk who currently choose to operate their businesses in isolation. There's nothing wrong with that at all if that's your bag, but I hope this will show you just some of the benefits of networking.

In ‘The rates debate’ and 'The highs and lows of editorial fees', I argued that colleagues shouldn’t be the primary determiners of the price we set or accept for editorial work.

They are, however, our go-tos for much else, and the professional editor and proofreader would be bonkers not to take the opportunity to exploit the myriad learning opportunities on offer from those with different skills, levels of experience, subject specialisms and environments!

Rather than just writing a list, I thought it might be more interesting to give you a few examples of how some of my colleagues have helped me to develop my editorial business. The list isn’t exhaustive – it would be a book if it was – but it should give you a flavour of what’s on offer.
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Learning a new macro
I like to consider myself pretty strong on the editorial tech-tool front. And yet I’d lost count of the number of times I’d forgotten to switch Track Changes back on after I’d toggled it off. I needed a solution – some sort of visual or audio reminder.

My pal Gordon Hooper came to the rescue. Gordon’s a fellow member of the Norfolk SfEP local group. Turns out that my other colleague Paul Beverley had already tackled the problem with a macro: if you fancy trying it for yourself, you can read about how it works and how to install it at ‘How to never forget you’ve switched off Track Changes!’.

Tightening up my marketing message
Last year, I spent some time thinking about how I could better present my services so that they reflected the reality of what I spend most of my time doing – proofreading and copyediting for indie authors.

I understand perfectly well the traditional definitions of these skills but in the real world they’re rather tangled (see, for example, ‘The proofreader’s corner: Untangling proofreading’). Again, it was my professional network that came to the rescue.

• Conversations with Sophie Playle and Victoria Woodside helped me to unpick my own services and gently redefine them while staying true to my brand.
• Then John Espirian hooked me up via Twitter with marketing masters Andrew and Pete, who are helping me and thousands of others to make our businesses more engaging and visible.

Understanding another skill
Development editing isn't a service I offer. That doesn't mean I'm not interested in learning about it, though. I've started to expand my knowledge via colleagues who have experience in this macro level of editing.

• At one of my Norfolk SfEP group meetings, Sarah Patey, John Ingamells and Julia Sandford-Cooke talked through what their non-fiction development editing roles involve. One of the most interesting points to come out of the discussion was not just the similarities in what they do but also the differences – demonstrating the importance of getting more than one viewpoint when you’re leaning something new.
• Then Sophie Playle recommended Nicola Morgan's Write to be Published, which I found to be a thoroughly engaging text (and I'll be posting soon about why I think its novel-craft guidance is useful for copyeditors and proofreaders even if they don't offer developmental editing services). Sophie's Liminal Pages blog is also full of interesting and accessible posts on big-picture work and well worth a read for those who want to learn more about developmental fiction editing.
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Using Word more efficiently
In the past 18 months, two editorial colleagues have written blogs that have had a significant impact on how I use Word.

• Hazel Bird taught me how to create drop-down boxes in Word (read ‘Using combo boxes in style sheets’ if you want to take advantage of her excellent advice). I used this information to redesign my style sheets so that I don’t have to retype recurring options every time I create a sheet for a new client (e.g. -is- or -iz- spelling; full points or not after Mr, Mrs, etc.). Invoice elements (e.g. settlement terms and repeat-client names and addresses) could benefit from the same treatment.
• Adrienne Montgomerie taught me how to customize Word’s ribbon so that it works more efficiently for me (see ‘Make a custom tab on Word’s ribbon’). I used this to easily run the new macro I’d learned from Gordon (see above).

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Using a gadget
One of my bugbears has always been having to use hyphens for en dashes on my iPad and iPhone. A discussion on the SfEP forum, started by Lisa Robinson, showed me that Apple has provided en and em dashes – I just hadn’t realized that if you hold down the hyphen button a small window opens and you can slide your finger to your preferred dash. I was delighted, and I wasn’t alone! That thread was full of useful tips. If you’re an SfEP member, you can access it via ‘Dashes’.

Discovering new tools
I love any editorial tool that can increase my productivity or enhance my professionalism. Colleagues alerted me to two particular favourites.

• Sophie Playle used Facebook to ask whether anyone else had encountered a wee problem with Jack Lyon’s FileCleaner. I don’t know how but I’d missed out on that little gem. I went and checked it out and promptly signed up for the free trial. You can read about it on The Editorium website.
• CK MacLeod’s article ‘DIY design with Canva’ on Tech Tools for Writers was another eyeopener and got me completely hooked on Canva. This neat online graphic-design tool is a staple when I want to create icons, badges, business holiday cards, and covers for my books and booklets.
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Maxing out an existing tool
I hadn’t been getting the best out of PerfectIt, even though I’m a long-time user. At another SfEP Norfolk meeting, Mary Sheridan and Sarah Patey taught me how to use the wildcard function more effectively.

This, combined with Jack Lyon’s Wildcard Cookbook for Microsoft Word, has been a real productivity enhancer. PerfectIt tends to handle wildcards a lot better than Word when Track Changes is switched on, something else Sarah taught me via Facebook!

Quoting mechanisms and publicizing rates
Pricing issues affect every editorial freelancer, and although fee setting needs to be done using a deeper level of analysis than just following what colleagues are doing, there’s still a lot a colleague can bring to the table.
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• I’d long used a per-hour method to determine my prices, but I was open to new ideas. Kate Haigh talked with me at length about her preferred approach (quoting per 1,000 words) on several occasions over a two-year period (including a camping weekend where we met face-to-face for the first time despite being professional buddies for years!) and encouraged me to test it. It had a dramatic effect on my business. Not only did it become quicker to quote, I also boosted my earnings, increasing my average hourly rate by £8 per hour.
  
  
• John Espirian blogged about being transparent about prices (see ‘Pricing: a question of trust’). His article convinced me that a test was in order, where I would publish my prices on my website. I wasn’t entirely happy with the results of my test and unpublished my prices (though I don’t yet have enough data to be sure that transparency was actually the wrong decision for my business). Regardless, what’s important is not the result. What’s important is that I tried something new. I consider the test a success because I have confidence in my current decision to not publish my prices online.

​These two examples proved to be excellent reminders that testing is essential for the editorial freelancer who wants to learn whether a colleague’s way of doing things is appropriate for their own business.

Making friends
My colleagues can do something a book or a course can’t. They can become friends. I’ve made so many edi-buddies that I can't even begin to list them all.

​What I can say is that Kate Haigh's campsite spag bol borders on legendary; the AFEPI crew at last year's SfEP meeting almost made me want to emigrate.​ I wish Sophie Playle still lived in Norwich because I miss having coffee with her. I wish Rich Adin lived in the same country so that I could have just one coffee with him. Nick Jones has made me laugh via Facebook Messenger too many times. Janet MacMillan's soup ... 

You get the point.

Sourcing professional help
I decided to hire a couple of proofreaders for my blog in 2016. When I’m writing, I don’t behave like a proofreader. I have my authorial head on. That means I’m too close to my own words to spot all my errors.

I bit the bullet and decided to work with some fellow professional proofreaders. Whom to pick though? I needed some recommendations. John Espirian, in his capacity as guardian of the SfEP directory, had a couple of names up his sleeve and they haven’t disappointed.

Cally Worden and Anna Black are my go-tos. They’ve done a fantastic job for me and I wish I’d sourced them years ago. Of course, I still have to upload their gently edited work to the Parlour, and, I’ll be honest, sometimes I just can’t help making a little tweak here and there, post proofreading (I know, I know!). So if a typo has slipped through, it’s my fault.

Finding your tribe
There’s a tonne of other stuff that colleagues can help with – I’ve only scratched the surface. If you’re reading this and you’re not connected, consider the benefits of changing the situation.

• Your editorial society’s annual conference might be a fab opportunity. If you find the idea a little daunting, try a chapter meeting first where the numbers are smaller, or join in the discussion in an online forum.
• If you attend a course, take business cards with you so that you have something to hand out that will remind other attendees who you are.
• If you’re already a member of an editorial society but there’s no local group in your area, why not start one yourself? It could turn out to be one of the best moves you ever made!

Ultimately, editorial freelancing is about running your own business, but there are plenty of people who’ll support you in its growth if you find a comfortable space in which to meet them!

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.