Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business

Being interesting and discoverable

Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business is for any editorial freelancer who feels that marketing is their Achilles’ heel. With it, I demonstrate that marketing needn't be difficult, overwhelming or boring. The book takes proofreaders and editors through the core principles of developing and implementing an effective marketing strategy that will get them noticed and generate business leads.

Conceptual and practical
Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business tackles the 'wheres', 'hows', and 'whats' by detailing the promotional activities that can be built into your marketing strategy, as well as the the key concepts that underpin them.

The book is divided into four parts. The Introduction discusses the importance of having a promotion strategy and provides a reassuring, user-friendly way of defining marketing that instils confidence – even in the most fearful marketer. Parts I and II address, respectively, concepts to think about and activities to do. Throughout, mini case studies illustrate the issues being discussed. Part III offers a fictive sample marketing plan, using the example of a new entrant to the field. Part IV concludes with a list of useful resources and works cited.

An alternative: the Omnibus

If you'd prefer to access Business Planning for Editorial Freelancers and Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business straight from your desktop, laptop or tablet, take a look at the PDF Omnibus edition, which includes 42 chapters of additional related content.

Order the Omnibus

Chapter outline

Part I: Marketing concepts – things to think about

What are you selling?
Where is your market?
Thinking in a joined-up way
Hooks, USPs, pitches and calls to action
Testing
A value-on approach to pricing
Putting yourself in your customer’s shoes
Adding value
Using multiple promotion channels
Regular Marketing
Time management: goals and priorities
Search engine optimization
Building a professional, believable brand

Part II: Marketing activities – things to do

Building a dynamic website
Online networking: Social media plus
Blogging for business
Face-to-face marketing: Business networking, events, workshops and meet-and-greets
Promoting yourself to existing clients
Directory advertising
Going direct
Building a CV/résumé
Business cards
Creating an online portfolio
Gathering testimonials
Using video and audio
And why not?
Conclusion: Blow your trumpet!

Part III: Sample outline of a marketing plan

Sample outline marketing plan

Part IV: Resources

Language: English
Words: Approx. 79,000; 306 pages
Published: April 2014
Availability: Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business is available through multiple online stores including Amazon, CreateSpace, WH Smith, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, and Smashwords

Formats and devices: Paperback and ebook (multiple file formats, e.g. EPUB, LRF, mobi, PDB, HTML, and PDF, for multiple devices, e.g. Kindle, iPad, Sony Reader and Palm Doc)
Published in association with The Publishing Training Centre

Further information

Reviews

Harnby’s book, Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business, demonstrates that any of us can do successful marketing ... It is the first book on marketing for freelancers that I would whole-heartedly recommend. It covers the essentials in sufficient detail for any freelancer to start a successful marketing campaign. Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business is a must-have book in my library. I learned quite a bit that I was unaware of and that I am not taking advantage of in my marketing efforts, which I will think about rectifying. I am convinced that freelancers who follow Harnby’s advice – and persist in their marketing efforts – will ultimately find themselves overwhelmed with offers for work.

Rich Adin, Freelance Editorial Services; more in-depth review at An American Editor

Katharine O'Moore-Klopf, ELS, KOK Edit

Being self-employed as an editorial professional doesn't have to be feast or famine. If you market your services consistently, not just when you're out of projects to work on, you'll be able to say good-bye to dry spells. And for your marketing to be successful, you have to do it in a way that is true to who you are. I enthusiastically recommend Louise Harnby's book, Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business, because it shows you, step by step, how to do that.

There’s plenty of smart advice to be found here. Louise Harnby never wastes a sentence – every section tackles a fresh marketing concept or suggests helpful marketing tactics, expertly tailored to what editors need to know in practice. I also appreciate the book’s emphasis on value, which is something I try very hard to communicate to my clients – it’s so important to create (and, if you can, influence) a conversation with your market about all the ways editing adds value to publishing. For me, that’s what effective editorial marketing strategy is all about, and this book focuses on practical, non-jargonny ways to do it. Highly recommended.

Katy McDevitt AE

A comprehensive, engaging and actionable guide to developing a proofreading business. This book offers valuable information on a wide range of topics and issues pertinent to running a successful proofreading venture. Highly recommended.

Zac Wearden, Manager, Cambridge Proofreading

Louise Harnby is a highly experienced proofreader with a strong background in publishing and also marketing. She is also an engaging writer with a friendly, inviting style that will draw you in rather than scare you off – which is important because this book is quite long considering it focuses on one aspect of being a freelancer (longer than her previous book, in fact, which was more of a general introduction to running an editorial business). Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business is jam-packed with invaluable insights from Louise and her colleagues – read it, apply it to your own editorial business and you won't go far wrong!

Nick Jones, Full Media Ltd

The marketing plan is a stroke of genius ... [I]f you’re in the early stages of an editorial career, perhaps especially if you are not sure of the market in which you wish to work, ... read it cover to cover.

Liz Broomfield, Libro Editing; more in-depth review at Adventures in reading, writing and working from home

Harnby has put together a collection of excellent advice for anyone who is starting out or who would like to give their business a boost.

Amy Haagsma, BoldFace, The official blog of EAC's Toronto branch; and West Coast Editor, blog of EAC's BC branch

I just finished your book Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business. WOW! I consider it to be the Bible for new freelance copyeditors and proofreaders. What a fantastic collection of case scenarios and insider information. Your book is a MUST HAVE for people like me who are trying to take a part-time copyediting/proofreading business to full-time.

Jerry Berardi, MS, Clear Cut Academic Editing Services

Paperback: Available from Amazon or direct from CreateSpace. Check which postage deal suits you best before ordering.
Ebook: Available via Smashwords and Amazon.
Downloading ebook from Smashwords: Refer to the Smashwords download instructions (NB use the Safari browser for downloading to the iBooks app).