-
SUBSCRIBE VIA RSS
-
SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL
-
ABOUT ME
I’m an editorial project manager, copy-editor and proofreader of non-fiction who makes things happen and keeps projects moving. I manage 10–20 projects at a time and handle over 5 million words per year, project managing academic books and encyclopaedias and copy-editing and proofreading pretty much anything non-fiction. My clients include major global publishers as well as businesses, charities and individuals. When I’m not editing, I’m generally roaming the Mendips with my dog, Darcy, or poring over genealogical documents, trying to corral my ancestors into some sort of order.
-
ABOUT THE BLOG
This is the blog of Hazel Bird, a copy-editor and editorial project manager who has worked with hundreds of authors, editors, proofreaders, publishing and business clients, typesetters and other publishing professionals on over 400 projects since 2007. The Wordstitch Blog offers a view of publishing and freelancing from the middle: from someone who both tries to get herself hired and hires other people. It also aims to foster great working relationships, from a belief that the best books (and other texts) come out of genuine collaboration and communication.
-
CATEGORIES
-
RECENT POSTS
- A day in a life of a freelance copy-editor and editorial project manager
- Plagiarism: How to spot it and what to do about it
- Monetising feedback and embracing fragility
- Macros, wildcards, editorial project management and a new look
- #sfep16: reflections on the 2016 Society for Editors and Proofreaders conference
- How to help (and hinder) your typesetter
- Using combo boxes in style sheets
- Respect and the inner robot in editing
-
ARCHIVES
-
META
Category Archives: Pick ‘n’ Mix
Editorial Pick ’n’ Mix is an eclectic weekly roundup of five tips or news items relevant to publishing, copy-editing and proofreading. The premise is that only a few minutes of semi-targeted reading every day of the (working) week will inevitably expand your editorial brain with new perspectives, ideas, resources and skills. Take a look at my recent post on professionalism – the inspiration for Editorial Pick ’n’ Mix – for more tips on how to boost that all-important asset.
Monday: New editions of Oxford’s trio of style essentials released
New Hart’s Rules, the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors and the New Oxford Spelling Dictionary, published by Oxford University Press, are now out in their second editions (confusingly, these are now the second of the ‘new’ editions). OUP are trumpeting that the new-new editions have been ‘updated for the twenty-first century’ in collaboration with professional copy-editors and proofreaders.… read the rest >>
FREE SWEETIES!
OK, now that I’ve got your attention.
This is a new blog series born from my recent list of what makes a professional editor or proofreader. In that post, I urged editorial professionals to read something every day. Blog posts, Twitter, forums – it doesn’t matter; mix it up to maximise your opportunities for learning new perspectives, ideas and skills.
So, this series will be an always-arbitrary, strictly eclectic, necessarily selective and sometimes capricious mélange of my reading, showing that it really takes very little time to expand your editorial brain every day of the (working) week.
Monday: For stability and growth as a freelance, set your rates based on a three-day week
Money: The three-day rule | The Freelancery
Digging back through my Feedly, I found this post from July from The Freelancery. The theory runs roughly like this: (1) set your hourly (or per-1000-word) rates as if you’re only going to be working three days a week; (2) enjoy financial stability and have space for professional growth; (3) become awesome, work five days a week and get paid bucketloads (but also be secure if your work drops off for a while).… read the rest >>
