Could you be a professional editor?

Hello Manuscript Workers,

We’re still going strong with the newsletter theme of developmental editing this month. Hope you’re finding it illuminating so far.

Today I’m shifting gears a little bit from the author side to the editor side of Developmental editing. If you’ve ever been curious about what it takes to become a professional developmental editor—including running a full-time editing business—I’d love to have you at my free webinar happening later today.

It’s called “Developmental Editing for Academics” and I’ll be covering how DE fits into the academic publishing process, the nuts and bolts of how DEs work with academic manuscripts, and how self-employed editors find and work with clients.

There will be a Q&A period too, where you can ask any questions you might have about running a business, making the transition from an academic career or in-house publishing position to freelancing, or anything else you’d like to discuss. I’m happy to answer questions about my own journey if you’re curious.

If you’d like to pose a question anonymously, please feel free to reply to this email and I’ll answer it during the presentation.

In order to attend live, you must register today by 8:30am Pacific (11:30am Eastern). You’ll then receive the Zoom link via email an hour before the webinar starts.

If you can’t attend live, don’t worry. I’ll post the recording shortly after the event and you’ll be able to access it indefinitely as long as you’re registered.

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If this whole world is new to you and you’d like a super quick overview of the different kinds of professionals who work with academic authors, check out this post from the Manuscript Works archive: “Editors, Coaches, and Consultants — What’s the Difference?”

If you already know about developmental editing — maybe you’re already working as a freelance editor? — and are looking for some professional development, please do take a look at my self-paced course, Developmental Editing for Academics.

It’s the only course of its kind that I’m aware of; most DE courses focus on general nonfiction or fiction but not the specifics of working with academic texts and clients. Other academic editing courses don’t focus specifically on developmental editing. This is the course I wish I’d had when I was learning how to run professional developmental editing business seven years ago.

The course is geared toward people with some editing experience, whether that’s as a freelancer or in-house in book or journal publishing. The curriculum is also ideal for academics who have had some experience working with student writers or giving feedback to colleagues and want to sharpen their skills and/or start earning income from this kind of work.

If you register for today’s webinar, you’ll get a discount code for 10% off the course as well (even if you can’t attend the webinar live). Hope to see you there if this seems like a career path (or side gig) you might be interested in!