What is high performance in editorial project management?

A small black dog in a muddy field, wearing an orange coat and holding a green frisbee

‘High performance’ is a concept that’s been around in business for a while. It can be interpreted in different ways and can apply to individuals, teams or whole workplaces. In essence it’s just jargon for ‘functioning very well in a chosen field’ and as such it can mean pretty much whatever anyone wants it to mean.…

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Absolutely everything in my FY21/22 freelance annual report

A woman holding a mug reading 'Like a boss'

Last year I posted about my first experience of writing an annual report for my freelance business. I found the exercise invaluable for the clarity it gave me, so clearly I was going to repeat it this year. In doing so, I reflected on last year’s findings and added some more topics, and the result was even more helpful and inspiring than last year’s.…

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Ruthless balance: are you protecting your freelance business?

The idea of protection might sound like something that only applies to ‘proper’ businesses. If your only employee is your dog and your physical assets principally consist of a temperamental PC and a slightly wonky desk and chair that you bought at IKEA in 2008, what do you have to protect?

Well, first of all, if you’re a freelancer with one or more clients, you are a proper business, whether you like it or not.…

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Why freelancers should write annual reports

This year, for the first time, I wrote an annual report for my freelance business.

But wait, isn’t that a bit of a paradox – a freelancer writing an annual report? Surely annual reports are designed to be shared with government, shareholders and the media (entities unlikely to have much interest in the average freelance business)?…

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How to be a trustworthy freelancer

What’s your most precious asset as a freelancer or small business owner?

I’ll give you some hints.

It’s not your qualifications or professional memberships. Up to a point, anybody with enough tenacity and funding can acquire those.

It’s also not your website or portfolio. Again, however informative they are and however long they took you to build, there will be many other freelancers out there with credentials that are just as impressive.…

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Trust and conquer: why you should trust your freelancers

In today’s volatile business world, businesses are increasingly looking for ways to be agile rather than fragile. One way of achieving this is to use freelance talent to quickly source resources when – and only when – they are needed. This model sees groups of people come together to carry out a specific project and then part ways when the project is complete.…

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Working in an editorial team Part II: copyeditor, typesetter or designer, proofreader and indexer

For an editorial project to meet its goals, multiple people (sometimes many) need to work together, but potentially without ever actually communicating with each other. This requires each person to have a clear understanding of their role in the process and the ripples (good or bad) they can create for others in the editorial team.

Part I of this article gave some suggestions on how the author, developmental editor and project manager can contribute to each other’s work and the work of people later on in the process.…

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Working in an editorial team Part I: author, developmental or structural editor, and project manager

I almost called this article ‘How to Avoid Screwing Things Up in an Editorial Team’, but the SEO gods said it was too long. However, that’s essentially what this article and its follow-up are about.

All editorial projects require collaboration. The simplest might only involve an author and a proofreader, whereas the most complex can involve many more people working together in an editorial team.…

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We are already surviving

Lighthouse

Working as a freelancer means inhabiting a strange world of paradoxes:

We must be solid and grounded in our professional self-sufficiency but fluid in responding to our clients’ needs.

We must strive for stability but embrace the inevitability of change – both self-imposed and thrust upon us.

We must invest in building and refining our skillset even when we’re wondering where our next paying job will come from.…

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Psychological safety in editorial work: better results through empowerment

People shaking hands while standing on others' shoulders

HBR defines psychological safety as allowing for ‘moderate risk-taking, speaking your mind, creativity, and sticking your neck out without fear of having it cut off’.

In the professional sphere, it’s about trust, openness and confidence that we will receive a reasonable and proportionate response when we raise questions or concerns with our colleagues.

As a project manager, it’s something I try to establish in all my projects.…

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