Thinking Fiction: Hooray for a new “Copyediting Fiction” style guide!

© Carolyn Haley

For many a moon, I’ve been among the fiction editors craving a professional-level style guide for our work. The Chicago Manual of Style has been our best resource, but it’s oriented toward nonfiction, so it often doesn’t address the creative anomalies that crop up in novels and short stories.

Now — at last! — we have The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction, by Amy Schneider, copyeditor nonpareil. It not only advises about how best to handle those anomalies, but also serves as a primer for people new to the profession.

Experienced copyeditors will find the book a valuable refresher and an aid to being better at organizing their thoughts and practices. These days, many (most?) fiction copyeditors are independent, and come to their work from different directions. They’ve learned their craft piecemeal, and often had no mentors. Only in recent years have formal education programs arisen that provide systematic training and certificates of achievement.

In addition, copyeditors trained and employed in traditional publishing houses have a different reality from those who entered the business from outside and serve independent authors. The mix-and-match of our individual experiences has led to inconsistent performance in a profession focused on consistency.

This book will help reduce that unevenness by providing a reference directly relevant to our concerns. I recommend that all fiction copyeditors, whether they work in traditional publishing or indie publishing, read the book cover to cover. I have worked in both realms and find that the material in this book embraces their different and common concerns. Most valuable are the examples offered to support every technical point.

Equally valuable is the extensive coverage of style sheets. These are perhaps the trickiest and most useful tool in copyediting, yet the hardest to master.

The book also covers fundamentals such as file organization, maximizing the use of multiple monitors, and the best mindset for approaching the fiction-copyediting task.

Especially helpful is the fact that the book is not a doorstop-sized tome. It’s easy to keep at hand on the desk and find the topic you need, thanks to good chapter organization and index. The narrative is concise and presented in a friendly tone.

I have met, worked with, heard about, and/or read pieces by everyone cited in the acknowledgments, and believe they represent the cream of today’s fiction-copyediting crop. Hats off to all, but an extra round of applause and thanks to Amy for bringing it all together. I’m confident I will be a better copyeditor after reading, absorbing, and referring to this book.

Carolyn Haley is an award-winning novelist who lives and breathes novels. Although specializing in fiction, she edits across the publishing spectrum — fiction and nonfiction, corporate and indie — and is the author of three novels and a nonfiction book. She has been editing professionally since 1997 and has had her own editorial services company, DocuMania, since 2005. She also reviews for the New York Journal of Books, and has presented about editing fiction at Communication Central conferences. She can be reached at dcma@vermontel.net or through DocuMania.

On the Basics: Dealing with idea “theft”

© Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

© An American Editor. Content may not be recirculated, republished or otherwise used without both the prior permission of the publisher and full credit to the author of a given post and the An American Editor blog, including a live link to the post being referenced. Thank you for respecting our rights to and ownership of our work.

Freelance writers often worry about having their story ideas stolen. It’s rare, but sometimes it does happen. On the other hand, what appears to be idea theft might be something innocent. Here’s a recent example — and some tips for idea theft prevention.

A colleague in a social media group pitched a story to an alumni magazine. After asking whether they took alumni profiles, the writer had some seemingly positive e-mail exchanges with the editor via LinkedIn. Then the writer received this message and asked the group how to respond, if at all, to what felt as if the editor stole their story idea:

< Thank you so much for sending this idea our way. Dr. //// sounds like they are doing some wonderful work! … we might consider this story for a Q&A in the Class Notes section, but not for a feature at this time. We generally cover Q&As with our in-house staff and as such do not hire freelancers to conduct those interviews which are generally a few email exchanges.

< Thank you for being in touch and for sharing information about Dr. /// with us. >

As I responded in the group conversation, I sympathize (the only thing worse is being told that they’ve assigned your idea to an intern). Keep in mind that we can’t protect or copyright ideas — only the actual written expression of an idea can be copyrighted. This editor did take the writer’s idea, which would have upset me as much as it did the colleague, but the writer might have been able to protect that idea with a slightly different query approach.

When I suggested not naming the subject of a pitch, the colleague said that editor asked for the person’s name, which I said would be tricky. I probably would have responded with something like, “I’d rather not reveal the person’s name until I have a contract or agreement to write the story, as either a Q&A or narrative profile.” Again, that could result in the editor deciding not to assign the story to you, in part because it could imply a lack of trust, but it does give you some protection against your pitch being hijacked.

A response to the final decision in such a situation could be something like, “I’m not comfortable with having my pitch adopted as an in-house project. This feels like theft.” Doing that is likely to mean never working with that editor/publication, but it can be satisfying. Maybe write the message and then delete it unsent …

Another option could have been: “I appreciate the explanation and understand your process now, but would like to receive recognition for providing this idea. Do you pay for ideas that you assign in-house?” The answer probably would be no, but the question could generate a small fee, or at least plant a seed in the editor’s mind about a fair way to handle such situations in the future.

Fellow writers with similar story ideas might consider describing the person you’d like to profile without revealing the subject’s actual name: “An alum who …” Although even that doesn’t always work: I did something along those lines several years ago and the editor both immediately guessed who I was talking about and gave the profile to a staffer. The pitch was about a prominent local person, so maybe not all that surprising that my description could have given away their identity, but I’m still annoyed several years later!

If the subject of your pitch is someone you know who might sympathize with your quest to write about them, you could ask them to tell editors that they will only work with you — but that could backfire as well. Some editors might react by banning you from their pages forever.

In the online conversation, a group member suggested responding to the editor with something along the lines of “Thank you for letting me know. Please keep me in mind for paying feature assignments.” That shows grace and keeps the communication lines open for the future. Then keep looking for other outlets for that idea!

When you have a story idea in the future, look at several recent issues of a publication you plan to query to see which types of articles are labeled as staff-written or have no bylines. Those are often handled in-house, so craft your query to fit a different type of article.

Most publications nowadays publish their editorial calendars — planned themes and topics for the year’s issues — at their websites. Before querying, go there to check whether your idea, or a version of it, is already scheduled. You might even be able to see that it’s already been assigned. If your idea fits a given issue or theme, craft your query to make your idea stand out from whatever is already planned.

If you have a profile in mind, maybe pitch the person’s professional association(s) instead of their university alumni association publication. Other potential markets would be the person’s hometown publication, current local publication, even high school alumni association instead of college (although high school ones are less likely to pay), etc.

Writer’s Market remains a useful guide to what many publications seek from freelance writers, and Writer’s Digest magazine is still a good resource for information about new publications and the writing field in general.

Pitching a story idea is always iffy. Most editors are honest and won’t steal your ideas, but it can happen. The best way to protect your unprotectable ideas is to craft queries that are as detailed as possible without giving away what’s needed to write piece, and showing why you’re the ideal writer for that piece. And don’t write an entire article without a formal assignment or contract — on speculation (spec) — because that’s asking for your work to be used without compensation.

How do you craft your queries to protect your ideas from being hijacked? If you’ve had an article idea stolen, how did you handle it?

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and owner of An American Editor. She created the annual Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com), now co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com) and sponsored by An American Editor. She also owns A Flair for Writing (www.aflairforwriting.com), which helps independent authors produce and publish their books. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.

Guest Article: A Robot Wrote My Press Release

© Vivian Hood, Co-owner, Jaffe

Reprinted with permission of the author. May not be recirculated, republished or otherwise used without both the prior permission of the publisher and full credit to the author, including a live link to the post. Thank you for respecting our rights to and ownership of our work.

The advent and growth of social media created a huge leap in technology for public relations, but since then, few other new tech entries have made much impression beyond tweaking algorithms, adding features and providing updates.

Until now.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is trending on news sites and social media for being hyped as potentially making all kinds of content generation faster, easier and cheaper for everyone, including professional services firms. I decided to see how it works and what could make sense for use within the legal industry.

Putting Content Generators to the Test

My exploration focused on what application AI content generators might have in PR … Two available content generators that I checked out are Jasper and ChatGPT.

Jasper requires a monthly subscription after a free trial, and offers several plans depending on expected word number usage, type of content, type of user and other features. Jasper states it delivers original and optimized content at 10x the speed, presumably of normal human creativity. The platform offers many templates based on the needed content, and it offers to work with more than 29 languages. Jasper’s AI recently wrote its own press release to announce a new chat interface on its platform, providing one representation of its claims of robust abilities.

“Some have breathlessly proclaimed ChatGPT to be the most important technological development since the invention of the printing press or the splitting of the atom,” noted Joe McKendrick in a Forbes article about the ownership of content generated by AI. I simply had to try it out for myself!

I registered for ChatGPT, which became available in November 2022 to initially use as a free platform during its research preview, and entered this request: “Explain what an AI content generator does for writing articles.” Within seconds, the following response appeared:

“An AI content generator is a tool that uses artificial intelligence algorithms to automatically generate written content. It can be used to produce articles, news stories, social media posts, or any other type of written material.

“The AI content generator works by analyzing a set of input materials, such as a list of keywords or a sample article, and then using this information to generate new content that is similar in style and content to the input. The generated content is not necessarily a copy of the input, but rather a new piece of writing that is based on the input and uses similar language and ideas.

“AI content generators can be useful for a variety of tasks, such as generating filler content for websites, creating social media posts, or producing articles for marketing and promotional purposes. They can save time and effort for writers and content creators, and can help to produce a large volume of written material quickly and efficiently. However, the quality of the generated content may vary, and it may not always be suitable for all uses.”

Not bad. For me to formulate that response, I would have had to research and cull information from a variety of sites and write it up. That takes time, so witnessing the speed of this reply in seconds in real time was remarkable.

I next asked ChatGPT to write a press release to announce a new partner named Al C. Yuencourt who joined the Jacksonville, Florida, office of the national law firm Wee Winnit Allwaze, and who practices general litigation. The resulting draft of the press release surprised me with the content provided; it contained nearly all the elements I would have included had I written it. I finetuned the request to add other elements about this new partner’s background, and the revised results acceptably incorporated those new points.

I had to chuckle at the quote prepared on behalf of John Doe, the managing partner of Wee Winnit Allwaze, since it was very generic. I visualized this AI generator whizzing around its data stash, reviewing every press release with a law firm managing partner quote welcoming a new partner, and collating the most common phrases to draft the quote — all in under 3 seconds! Editing for additional messaging, voice and tone would not be too difficult at this point.

First Reactions

My initial thoughts about using AI-generated content:

• Key messages requiring advance strategic thinking must be incorporated into the request or added during editing, but AI learns with feedback to develop more refined responses.
• Time is needed to learn full functionality, which can offset the speed of content being generated once the request is entered. Once that is learned, the process should be much faster.
• AI could generate a typical and basic press release with speed.
• A solo practitioner, or a small law firm without the resources for a PR consultant or communications employee, could reasonably turn to an AI tool to prepare a straightforward press release.
• Editing is always necessary.
• I found it useful for sparking prompts and ideas.
• Word choice in my example press release was rather simple and repetitive in some spots, and there was loss of context and depth, along with a lack of nuanced details that would come from someone who understands the industry and audience.
• Personality was missing — but I read that AI could learn voice and tone style, so improvements could be made. For example, I could have provided personality traits about the managing partner that would be reflected in the word choice of the draft welcome quote.

New Thoughts

Overall, I predict PR and marketing professionals will start to incorporate AI into daily work, and it will become as ubiquitous as asking Siri now for reminders and data requests.

It’s almost inconceivable to imagine a world now without Siri or Alexa, even if their results can exasperate and frustrate almost as much as they can delight and inform. How does ChatGBT fit in? Think of Siri for Q&A, giving you immediate facts at your voice command, one and done. Now imagine that you can continue the conversation over time, albeit only in written format —that is ChatGPT. Unlike Siri or Alexa, it remembers earlier conversations and learns and adjusts for continuing back-and-forth responses. I’m simplifying matters, but ChatGBT is designed for engagement in a written format.

Ways to Use AI
[AI could be used to] to help develop questions to ask in a new-business meeting, job interview or networking event … Furthermore, sharing the experience about using AI for your conversation would be an interesting icebreaker!

Another obvious content need … is social media, and AI could easily help write social media messages. Reviewing and editing would still be necessary.

Humanity vs. Humanoid

In another Forbes article about the future use of AI, author and professor Ajay Agrawal offers a valuable reminder. “Despite advances in computing power, AI remains a tool about prediction, not judgment. Judgment is what humans must still do with the predictions that computing serves up.”

In other words, the humanity behind our writing — the nuances and factors and history and personality and all the rest of what makes a writer — cannot be entirely replaced by AI when we share our stories.

While AI content generation seems promising, it is still very early in the game and requires strategic human thinking and eloquence for direction, instruction and — of course — editing. It’s always exciting to witness industry shifts and growth from the use of technology, but I’m not worried about human writers losing their jobs anytime soon. (Indeed, I never thought I’d have to clarify and spell out “human writers,” but here we are!)

What other uses, benefits and drawbacks do you see with the use of AI-generated content? Would you use it, and if so, how? If not, why not? …

Jaffe provides a wide range of public and media relations services, including websites and graphics, for the legal industry. For the whole article, especially the context of AI for law firms, go to: https://www.jaffepr.com/blog/robot-wrote-my-press-release?utm_source=Newsstand_011123&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsstand_011123&utm_term=Vivian_Blog.

On the Basics: Making the most of job postings

© Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

© An American Editor. Content may not be recirculated, republished or otherwise used without both the prior permission of the publisher and full credit to the author of a given post and the An American Editor blog, including a live link to the post being referenced. Thank you for respecting our rights to and ownership of our work.

One benefit of belonging to a professional association is access to job opportunities. Postings and leads also turn up in LinkedIn and Facebook, among other venues, as well as from colleague and previous client referrals. There are ways to stand out from the (often huge) crowd of other applicants who respond to the same listings. Here are a few tips for increasing your chances of being the one who gets chosen.

• In general, always have a current résumé handy, and schedule regular updates. Ask a friend or colleague to proofread it (and any cover message accompanying a job post response or application for you, if there’s time) — it can be very difficult to proof our own material, and you want your résumé to be perfect.

• Only respond if you really have the experience and skills in the listing. There’s nothing wrong with going after new opportunities if they arise, but applying for jobs or projects you aren’t qualified for makes you look bad. It also can interfere with the ability of qualified competitors to be considered; when unqualified applicants flood the field, clients feel overwhelmed and cut off further applicants. 

• Don’t underbid. It’s expressly forbidden by some professional organizations when responding to their job or project opportunities, and many colleagues consider it unethical, but it’s a bad idea even if there aren’t any strictures against it. If a potential client or employer offers a great rate, respect it, and yourself, and your colleagues. Offering to do the job for less — or for free — undercuts everyone seeking to maintain decent rates for our editorial services. And it makes you look desperate, unprofessional and unethical.

• Make multiple use of your qualifications and activity. When you write a response to a current/recent posting, save it in Word so you can adjust it for future listings. It should include a basic opening sentence noting what you’re applying for, a “nut graf” about how your qualifications or experience relate to the job or project, and a closing graf that asks for — when appropriate — fee/rate, deadline and any other important details not covered in the listing.

• If you include a résumé or promotional brochure as an attachment, make sure the filename uses your name so it stands out from applicants who just use “Resume.doc” as the filename for theirs. You’ll look more professional and will be more memorable, and your material won’t get confused with anyone else’s.

And speaking of résumés, freelance colleagues might benefit from the Editorial Freelancers Association booklet “Resumés for Freelancers: Make Your Resumé an Effective Marketing Tool … and More,” by Sheila Buff and yours truly (I don’t profit from sales). It’s available at https://www.the-efa.org/booklets/#post.

Outside the organizations

For cold queries and responses to leads from sources other than your professional membership associations, which usually provide at least some information about scope, detail and rate, keep a list of items to include and confirm in an agreement, assignment or contract:

• Scope, such as length/number of words (if an editing or proofreading project is defined in pages, make sure to do your own word count before using the client’s number of pages as the basis of your fee and deadline), number of interviews or images, etc.

• Preferred style manual

• Deadline(s)

• Fee or pay rate/amount

• Payment policy (on acceptance vs. on publication vs. X days from invoice date, etc.) • Kill fee

• Protection against scope creep

• Copyright protection

What has worked for you in responding to job services or leads? What hasn’t?

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and owner of An American Editor. She created the annual Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com), now co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com) and sponsored by An American Editor. She also owns A Flair for Writing (www.aflairforwriting.com), which helps independent authors produce and publish their books. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.

On the Basics: Tips for starting the new year off right

© Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

Hard to believe — but a relief for many of us — that 2022 is over! I have a few random thoughts for a strong start to 2023, some of which are updates of similar past posts.

The new year means an opportunity to revise or improve some of our work habits to make our lives easier and more efficient. Here are some things to do in the first few days of 2023 that should make your work and personal life better.

• Update or change passwords for all accounts — banking, blogs, social media, associations, subscriptions; anything and everything, but especially anything related to finances and personal security.

• Remind clients to update the year in their document templates, website copyright statements and any other elements that might now be out of date — and do that for your own materials, website, etc.

• Review the style guide(s) that you use and check for any updates, revisions, additions and other changes that might affect this year’s work for current and new clients. If you don’t already subscribe to the online versions of the ones you use, do it now.

• Establish or refresh a connection with a family member, friend or colleague to back up passwords and access to phone, e-mail, social media, banking and other important accounts — your own and theirs — just in case. Think of it like giving a key to a neighbor or building super so you can be found/reached in an emergency.

Business resolutions

The new year offers the opportunity to learn new things and do things in new ways. Here are a few suggestions.

• Instead of relying on the luck of clients finding you, make an effort to seek new clients on a regular basis, through cold queries, responding to membership association opportunities, social media resources, updating (or creating) your website, etc. This is especially important for colleagues with only one major “anchor” client.

• Find a way to be visible in at least one professional membership organization or social media group to enhance your credibility and expand your networking activity. Even I do that, and I’ve been crowned the Queen of Networking! If you already belong to an association, look for a new one to join as well.

• Learn a new skill, something new about the topic area of a client or an entirely new topic to write about, edit, proofread, index, photograph, illustrate or otherwise work on to expand your career or business.

• Draft a few potential posts to use for your own blog, if you have one, or as a guest on colleagues’ blogs. Having drafts in hand makes it easier to get ahead of deadlines and actually publish new articles.

• Look for new projects or services to offer to existing clients.

• If you have regular editing or proofreading clients who haven’t gotten the memo yet about only needing one space between sentences, or have other writing habits that appear in every document and are easy for them to change, consider doing a “Welcome to the new year” note suggesting that they incorporate such things in their drafts before sending anything to you. Emphasize that doing so will cut down at least a bit on the time you need to handle their requests, as well as free you up to concentrate on more substantive aspects of their projects. Whether this will work depends, of course, on the nature of your relationship with those clients and won’t work for all of them, but could be a relief as you work with those who would be amenable to such suggestions.

• Save toward retirement!

• U.S. colleagues might not have to file taxes until April 15, but getting going early on this nerve-racking task is always a good idea. Among the many resources for end-of-year tax planning are the Freelancers Union blog and ones from experts such as my own invaluable tax person, Janice Roberg (https://robergtaxsolutions.com/st-louis-tax-expert-jan-roberg/). Two useful tips: There’s a relatively new simplified process for deducting a home office, and if you delay invoicing from December until January, it’s easier to manage those late-year payments that reach you in January with a December date and/or for December work.

• Start or return to non-editorial creative projects to give yourself the occasional “brain break” and a way to refuel — write poetry or short fiction, make something crafty or artistic, even just spend time at a museum or art gallery (or library/bookstore).

Perks of the new year

• I’m clearing out some of my bookshelves again. I’m donating half of every January 2023 sale of my short story, “Sometimes You Save the Cat …,” to the Humane Society of Missouri. Contact me at Ruth@writerruth.com for information about getting your copy (the print version is $10, including postage/shipping, and the PDF is $5).

I’m also offering my “Get Paid to Write! Getting Started as a Freelance Writer” booklet at $5 off the usual $20 price through January. Again, contact me by e-mail for details.

What are your new year’s plans and aspirations?

Guest article: Perspectives from an editor who is blind

© Billy Horsburgh

© An American Editor. Content may not be recirculated, republished or otherwise used without both the prior permission of the publisher and full credit to the author of a given post and the An American Editor blog, including a live link to the post being referenced. Thank you for respecting our rights to and ownership of our work.

Who would have thought a blind person can edit. With the correct tools, knowledge, skills and experience — lot of things are possible.

I haven’t been blind from birth. I used to have perfect vision. Well, near-perfect, anyway. I wore glasses since I was five years old, and it wasn’t until I was in my late teens that I lost my eyesight due to glaucoma. But I did not lose my vision.

I was never a reader, or indeed a writer, until I lost my sight, although my favorite school subject was English and I was often distracted and wrote little stories during lessons when I was supposed to be doing something else. It was only when adaptive technology began to emerge during the late 1990s that I was able to consider reading and writing properly. I liked to write, but I didn’t like to read. However, in later life, I learned that you can’t write if you don’t read. And this is true.

Twenty-three years have passed since I lost my sight. I write regularly now. This would not have been possible without audiobooks and my screenreading software called supernova. Screenreading software has allowed me to write several books, graduate with two degrees and launch my own editing business.

The clients I edit for are more than satisfied with the quality, care and professionalism of my work. Due to my blindness, I must establish a close relationship with anyone I take on board by explaining about my situation. The Royal National Institute of Blind people (RNIB) suggests that it takes a blind person six times longer to carry out a basic task. This is no different when editing. I make sure my client knows this before accepting any editorial work. My clients understand that my turnaround may be a little longer than others but the professionalism will be the same. The price, however, will always be lower.

Because I can’t see the words on the page, I have to rely on my listening skills. Many people think that because you lose your sight, your hearing is heightened. This is not true! You just learn to use it better, and that I do. And I probably have to concentrate more when writing and editing. Once I’ve finished a piece, I read through my work by pushing a button on my keyboard, which allows me to continuously read what I have been working on. This makes me listen closely so I can pick up any additional errors.

I only launched my editing business in mid-July of 2022 and I’m gradually building a portfolio of clients. I haven’t developed a large client base as yet, but the ones I have secured do return to me.

I often find, when I do a readthrough of someone’s work, that I think, “This is well written. How am I supposed to edit this?” However, when I re-visit with fresh eyes, as they say, I pick up on many areas that do need to be re-worked or revised.

Some of my clients don’t see what I see when suggesting edits. For example, when I recently edited for someone, I said, “This paragraph would be better moved here. And this sentence doesn’t flow. It may be better placed here, or not [used] at all.” When editing for another client, I noticed a very different picture: Her stories are about her but when I began to edit, I suggested she restructure her story so it focused on her from the outset, because otherwise, the audience wouldn’t know about her disabilities until many chapters later.

The author may overlook these simple changes.

These are just a couple of examples of how I edit for clients and they are happy with the way I work. They don’t mind if I take that little bit longer due to the nature of my disability. As long as they are getting the service they are looking for, both parties are satisfied.

Because I can’t see facial expressions, I pick up on [tone and meaning] when I edit for other people. I believe my writing and editing skills have improved over the years as I have had to learn to adapt to different methods. I can notice ambiguities and errors in continuity; if there are too many repetitions or too many adverbs; as well as basic spelling, grammar or errors of weak intensifiers.

A blind person can edit. And I am not the only blind editor. I know of another who has regular clients she edits for, and the outcome is the same for her. We have similar university degrees and are both creative writers, but I have a master’s degree in creative writing. Thanks to my two degrees, I have gained the appropriate and correct tools, knowledge, skills and experience to become the professional editor all my clients are happy with.

On the Basics: The business of a business plan

© Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

© An American Editor. Content may not be recirculated, republished or otherwise used without both the prior permission of the publisher and full credit to the author of a given post and the An American Editor blog, including a live link to the post being referenced. Thank you for respecting our rights to and ownership of our work.

I often see advice from colleagues and outside experts who say the key to success as a freelancer or consultant is to have a business plan, ideally before you launch your editorial business. Most recently, colleague April Michelle Davis of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors reminded members that December is National Write a Business Plan Month, saying, “As a freelancer, you are a business owner, so consider writing a business plan this month!”

I can’t argue with the advice and urge AAE subscribers to at least keep it in mind, but I have to admit that I’ve never had a formal business plan. I started freelancing when I was in high school, kept it going while in college, and took on freelance projects when I had full-time in-house jobs in journalism or communications.

The closest I ever came to a business plan was when I reached that point of “can’t do this any longer” at a full-time job at a trade association where I enjoyed the work of writing, editing and producing a monthly newsletter but was tired of the slog to and from the office, meetings, and other aspects of being in-house, along with the demands of focusing almost exclusively on one topic. My one and only formal plan involved preparing a pitch to my boss to turn my “regular job” into a consulting contract and going from there, backed up by the resources of a regional writers’ organization to find more freelance gigs. The pitch worked, and I was in business — and that was as planned as I ever got.

Essentially, my business plan has always been:

1. Get trained and experienced.

2. Network and become known for skills and willingness to share knowledge/resources with colleagues.

3. Find projects/clients.

4. Do the work.

5. Get paid.

6. Suggest that clients with one-shot projects use me for future projects and pitch ideas for new topics to cover or services to offer.

Boom!

And repeat. That last item has been a huge factor in keeping my writing, editing, proofreading and speaking business/career going for lo these many years. Clients often told me that I was the only freelancer they used who was proactive in keeping the relationship going beyond what was conceived of as a one-time assignment.

It wasn’t really anything conscious, formal or structured, and a lot of what the experts advise were things I did without realizing I was contributing to a plan. If you’re thinking about going out on your own, or have already started your editorial business but want to expand or improve it, here are some of those elements that you can adapt into a formal plan of your own.

Training and experience

The ideal — at least in my book — is to start with an in-house job where you get hands-on experience and meet colleagues who can provide guidance and mentorship. A lot of people skip that step these days, which can be understandable. Editorial jobs can be hard to find as publishers and publications merge, consolidate and even shut down, but I still think that working in-house is an important source of experience. It’s where you learn how publishing works and start building your network of colleagues and contacts who can be invaluable sources of not just advice and examples, but future connections with or as potential clients for your business.

A regular job can also pay for tools like training, software programs, memberships, events, etc. Look for memberships, courses, conferences, books, blogs, videos and other resources to learn or enhance the skills you need to be professional. You don’t have to take a full-scale degree-type certificate or certification program — there are lots of practical, reputable sources of training to build and enhance your skills.

If you haven’t joined a professional association yet, do it now. That’s a great way to find sources of development and skill-building, as well as enhance your visibility and value to colleagues and potential clients.

Networking and interacting with colleagues

One of the best ways to get freelance work is through former employers and co-workers, as well as colleagues we meet through professional associations, online groups and social media, and — if you have them — previous clients. As I’ve often said, be more than a “checkbook member” of any association or online group you join. When you offer advice and answer questions you become known as a valuable resource and someone whom colleagues will recommend, refer, hire or subcontract with.

That doesn’t mean you can’t post questions or ask for help. Such posts can create fascinating and useful conversations. It just means that you give at least as much as you take — and you don’t sit back and wait for the organization(s) to do the work for you of becoming visible and finding leads to projects or clients.

An actual plan

The smart move is to actually have a plan before launching an editorial business. That isn’t always possible; many of us go into freelancing without time to plan or organize ourselves because we get laid off or fired, our employers go out of business, we have to cope with a health crisis of our own or a family member. Responding to such crises is a lot more fraught than moving into freelancing/consulting with forethought and foresight.

The foundation of any such plan is to have some funds set aside to cover basic life’s expenses until the freelance effort starts to pay off and become sustainable. It isn’t easy to do, but try to set aside something every month in savings to tide you over during the first few months to a year of being in business. Knowing you have a savings cushion means you won’t feel desperate if it takes time to build up your client base and will be less likely to accept bargain-basement rates or work you don’t enjoy.

A new plan — for the future

If you’re already in business, or if you had a business plan focused on launching your business, now — the dawn of a new year, but really anytime — is a good time to think about a plan for the future. Have a plan for expanding, enhancing or adapting your editorial business to be more profitable, incorporate and offer more services, or otherwise change to fit current conditions. A new plan for an established business could include looking as far ahead (which for some of us isn’t very far at all!) as succession and retirement.

Elements could include:

• Financial goal

• Increased rates

• Amount to save every month (this time for paying self-employment taxes and for updating or purchasing essential equipment and software, memberships, conferences, emergencies)

• New associations to join or activities to participate in with ones you already belong to, such as board or committee service

• Potential new clients/outlets to query

• Projects, assignments or story ideas, or services to pitch to current and past clients

• Training to take to develop new skills or strengthen current ones

• Promotional outlets to use and efforts to make, such as creating a website (or updating the one you have), blog or newsletter; platforms to join; posts to make about new successes, etc.

• Conferences to attend — and maybe speak at

• Charitable cause to support

• Vacation

And by the way, you can develop a business plan for your career even if you are or plan to remain an in-house writer, editor, proofreader or other publishing professional (photographer, graphic artist, website designer, content creator, etc., etc., etc.). It might be called a career plan or matrix, but it can still considered a business plan. That plan could include:

• Raise and/or higher title

• Expanded responsibilities

• Additional training

• Memberships, including committee or board service

• Expanded benefits (conference or membership support, work from home, etc.)

• Move to a new department or location

What is or will be in your editorial business plan? If you have a business plan, how has it helped and what will you change? If not, how would a formal plan have given you a stronger start in launching, maintaining or expanding your business?

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and owner of An American Editor. She created the annual Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com), now co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com) and sponsored by An American Editor. She also owns A Flair for Writing (www.aflairforwriting.com), which helps independent authors produce and publish their books. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.

On the Basics — In-person events and holiday gifts call for lasting giveaways

By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

In-person events and conferences are back, and I’ve attended several recently that offered opportunities not only to meet, greet, network with, and learn from colleagues, other freelancers, and potential clients, but to think about how to make the best use of exhibitor and sponsorship offerings.

Cruising the exhibit area of any conference is always fun — and often educational, and even profitable. We can learn a lot about new products and services, sometimes try some out and maybe win prizes and raffles to attract us to various booths.

What I’ve always found interesting is the items that exhibitors give away. Chocolates and other candies are popular, as are packets of chips, popcorn, and crackers or cookies, especially for people whose products don’t lend themselves to portable samples.

The problem with giving away food by the bowlful is that it’s temporary (and attendees can be allergic to much of it). Exhibitors should think beyond the candy to giveaways that attendees will keep and use.

That means logo- and contact info-imprinted pens or pencils, mugs, flash drives, paper cutters, mouse pads, laptop or cellphone covers, tote bags, small backpacks or fanny packs (yes, those are still a thing!), notepads, keychains, T-shirts, and even stuffed animals, brain-power toys such as puzzles or action figures: anything that will last beyond the event. I’ve heard from and even seen colleagues who still have mugs and sweatshirts from my Communication Central conferences of several years ago!

And the more timeless, the better, so dropping the event date is often a good idea — although “timely” can be relative: This past year, facemasks showed up at several events, and might still be appreciated for another year or two as we continue to cope with Covid-19 mutations and variations.

Some of these might seem commonplace or over-done, but they work because they’re practical, useful and lasting. As several people said at a recent conference where I represented a reporting organization that was giving away pens and notepads, “We can never have enough pens.”

I would avoid anything magnetized, since magnets placed too close to a computer could damage files.

All of this is not to discount the value of the smell of popping corn to lure people to your booth in an exhibit hall — the popcorn might not last, but you could always include a lasting tschotchke to go along with it!

With the holidays approaching, the same philosophy of lasting items applies to gifts for our clients, especially because we rarely have any idea of what they might be allergic to. One of my favorite gifts to clients several years ago was a mug imprinted with the coming year’s calendar, along with — of course — my name and contact info. It was very well-received — but only good for that year. Since then, I’ve done mugs with my business name and contact info, but nothing with any dates.

And before you invest in such items, as well as the cost of shipping or delivering them, keep in mind that some clients — primarily those working for government agencies at any level — might either not be allowed to receive gifts from consultants/freelancers at all or have monetary limits on what they can accept.

What have you used or have tried using as event giveaways and client gifts? Which ones worked, and which would you not use again?

Thinking Fiction: Finding Your Audience

© Carolyn Haley, Fiction Columnist

Anyone who writes fiction and is serious about publishing it has surely seen advice from many “gurus” about how to sell their work.

The core concept is something most of us have heard in different areas for all our adult lives. In general business: Get the right product or service into the right people’s hands. In traditional publishing, it’s more specific: the right book on the right person’s desk on the right day. Indie fiction publishing broadens it to: the right book in front of the right genre audience.

Finding that audience is a challenge. I’m still not sure how to do it after many years, especially since I write cross-genre novels. But one day, I accidentally received a clue from out in left field.

It came through Facebook. I use this social media platform only for personal interaction, not for business promotion. Well, not 100% true. On the occasions that I get a nice review, win an award, or run a promotion, I post it on my personal page and get a handful of “Likes” (but usually zero book sales in response).

In comparison, my cat postings get from 20 to 50 Likes per photo or story. When I post more-serious subjects, rarely two or three respond, and usually the same folks. For interesting general subjects, perhaps 10 to 30 will react.

But then …

My spouse chanced upon a Facebook enthusiasts group for B-17 Flying Fortress WWII bombers. This is an interest we share, and we’ve had many interesting and intense experiences related thereto, so we joined the group.

Sharing our stories and photographs with them instantly brought tens to dozens of Likes, many Shares, and lots of miscellaneous Comments. Wow! Best response either of us has ever received for our postings on any subject. Cool!

Then I posted a photograph of myself peeking out the cockpit window of the B-17 that I arranged to visit at our local airport. It was a big deal on several levels and took four years to achieve. But what astonished me was how big a deal it was to other people. Over the course of a week, that posting received more than 800 Likes, two dozen Comments, and a dozen and a half Shares before it flattened out.

Holy moley! Who’d’ve THUNK???

The big question is: Why?

The surface answer is obvious: I delivered the right content to the people who most want to see it.

The same phenomenon occurred when we hosted the B-17 itself at our local airport in 2019. That turned into the biggest event ever to happen in the entire state aviation system. Not only that, our event was the fifth most successful on the plane’s national tour that year. Amazing for our little city of ±20,000 people! We moved 3,500+ of them through the aircraft on the ground, and flew 150+ of them in the plane, all of whom paid many dollars for the privilege.

That event remains my greatest personal success. The Facebook repeat on the micro scale with Likes reflects the same thing. In both cases, I never saw it coming. I never even tried for it. But I’m party to the proof of the sales bottom line: Give people what they want and they will respond positively.

We see this over and over in literature and entertainment with genres and tropes. People buy what they want to read/see/listen to/experience. My B-17 story illustrates the importance of identifying a receptive audience. I’ve known this intellectually forever, but to actually see it and experience it, albeit in the “wrong” context, has driven home the lesson more effectively than anything else.

It doesn’t solve my fiction marketing problem, because I still don’t know how to find the audience for my mixed-genre novels. But now I understand the value of identifying audience in a way I didn’t before.

The aircraft experience raises new literary questions. Should I write an aviation romance or adventure featuring B-17s? No, this Facebook audience is into historical nonfiction, as are most enthusiasts we’ve encountered elsewhere. Am I qualified to write nonfiction about the B-17 that hasn’t been covered already? No.

What is it about the image of my little head peeking out of the cockpit that triggered such a warm reaction? Is it simply because it’s cute? Or because I’m female in a predominantly male context? Is it because so few people alive today — especially civilians — have the privilege of being in that position?

Should I write an article about how I got to be in that position? Would the same 800+ people care? Would any folks outside this particular Facebook group care? Would a full-length novel about the experience be interesting to anyone? Do I want to bother?

The answer to these questions is likely, or certainly, to be no.

So what does the experience actually teach me? And how could AAE readers benefit as well?

Time to go back to the starting line. My new perspective — frosting on the cake of studies about marketing and promotion — has moved me to look at my novels from a different angle. This would be problematic if the books were traditionally published. Initially, two out of three of them were, but years ago, when those contracts expired, I took back the rights and self-published the same material in new packages.

Now I have full control of what my covers look like, what my blurbs say, and how I place the novels in the marketplace. I can change all of these elements, as well as revise or rewrite the novels, any time I want.

The unrelenting reality for indie authors is “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.” My B-17 Facebook surprise has motivated me to try yet again, rather than settle for “whatever.” I’m feeling my mind stretch in a way it hasn’t before. I’m agitated by ambition I haven’t felt before. All because 800+ people I don’t know and will never meet, in an arena I considered secondary in my life, surprised the heck out of me with their vigorous response to my accidentally giving them what they want!

How have AAE readers reconsidered and revamped your marketing efforts, whether as author or editor? Feel free to comment!

Carolyn Haley is an award-winning novelist who lives and breathes novels. Although specializing in fiction, she edits across the publishing spectrum — fiction and nonfiction, corporate and indie — and is the author of three novels and a nonfiction book. She has been editing professionally since 1997 and has had her own editorial services company, DocuMania, since 2005. She also reviews for the New York Journal of Books, and has presented about editing fiction at Communication Central conferences. She can be reached at dcma@vermontel.net or through DocuMania.

Thinking Fiction: An Open Letter to the Fiction Publishing Industry

© Carolyn Haley, Fiction Columnist

Dear authors, editors, publishers, and readers:

I think we can all agree that novels exist for entertainment, enlightenment, and education — ideally in balanced combination.

Authors, your job is to create those stories. Take your vision — whatever it might be — and write it out with all your heart and soul, in the best language you can compose.

Editors, your job is to help authors refine their vision and language so their stories are clearly and easily comprehensible to the people who want to read them.

Publishers, your job is to convert authors’ visions into consumable products aimed at the people most likely to be receptive to the content and appreciate it. (For authors who self-publish, the idea is the same.) Then help get the word out.

Readers, your job is to seek out the kinds of novels you enjoy reading, expanding your tastes and horizons now and then — and support the people who provide the works by purchasing and/or reviewing and/or referring their stories to other readers and influencers.

The one thing that none of you can rightfully do is stop anyone from expressing themselves and putting out their work to the public, nor stop any reader from selecting what they want to read. No book banning or burning. None of you are the thought police.

Here’s how it works instead.

Authors, who usually are readers first, don’t have to read or write about what doesn’t interest or compel them. Their best efforts arise from what does interest and compel them, usually resulting in their most powerful stories. Such stories might prove to be controversial, which can make or break a book’s sales or even an author’s career. If an author isn’t willing to accept that possibility, then they should not release the book.

Independent editors are under no obligation to work on manuscripts that don’t interest them, or that offend or repel them. Their business goal should be connecting with authors who are producing materials that do interest and excite them. If they see an incompatible book coming or receive one (whether unsolicited or discussed beforehand), then they should decline it. If they make the wrong call and end up with a project that upsets them, then they should get out of it by whatever means. Having contracts with escape clauses helps with handling this aspect of the project or interaction.

The problem is different for staff editors at publishing houses: To keep their jobs, they might have to work on material that upsets them. In such cases, they must act according to their principles. That means either sucking up and dealing with the upsetting book, or waving good-bye to their employer.

Publishers can reject manuscripts that don’t support their business or editorial positions. There is no moral obligation for them to publish everything.

Readers have the option of not buying a book that doesn’t work for them, and to close it midstride if they realize it’s the wrong story for them. They can also publicly diss or not recommend any book they feel is unworthy, just as they can praise and promote one they admire.

Designers have a role to play in this equation, too, by helping authors and publishers produce covers and descriptions that convey to readers what lies within. Done properly, this eliminates the need for “trigger warnings,” which in turn eliminates catering to political trends.

Everybody in the chain from first idea to product-in-hand has a responsibility toward the story content. Art — a broad umbrella that covers fiction — exists for people to view and respond to. It reflects the myriad qualities of the world, like it or not. Just because we disagree with an author’s work of fiction or find it uncomfortable doesn’t make it wrong or something to burn/ban or declare unpublishable.

It boils down to free choice in response to free speech in a free world. Unless the country you live in has a totalitarian regime, then writing, editing, publishing, and reading fall within the “to each their own” philosophy, letting us savor the vast and wonderful choice of creative works out there across the globe.

“Thinking Fiction“ columnist Carolyn Haley is an award-winning novelist who lives and breathes novels. Although specializing in fiction, she edits across the publishing spectrum — fiction and nonfiction, corporate and indie — and is the author of three novels and a nonfiction book. She has been editing professionally since 1997 and has had her own editorial services company, DocuMania, since 2005. She also reviews for the New York Journal of Books, and has presented about editing fiction at Communication Central conferences. She can be reached at dcma@vermontel.net or through DocuMania.