Which editorial service do you need?

A flowchart to help you decide which editorial service you need

Knowing which editorial service to choose can be tricky. Everyone’s heard of proofreading, but what is it really? And how does it differ from copyediting or line editing, or even developmental editing? And when might you need an editorial project manager?

If you contact an editorial services professional via a reputable source such as the directory of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) (of which I am an Advanced Professional member) or ACES: The Society for Editing, they will be able to help you decide.…

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Why AI won’t replace human editors – and AI agrees

A caveman writing on a stone tablet with stone tools

Spend half a second on LinkedIn at the moment and you’ll find endless posts about the wondrous capabilities and/or ominous threats of ChatGPT and other AIs (and, by this point, endless posts like this one about how many such posts already exist). So I’ll keep this musing as brief as possible, because all I really want to say is this: to me it is patently obvious that AI won’t replace human editors – probably ever.…

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Why giving better-quality feedback to freelancers means better project quality

Yellow balloons with smiley faces

It would be fabulous if editorial freelancers always submitted amazing work. But unfortunately this doesn’t always happen. Whether for reasons within the freelancer’s control or not, sometimes an editorial project manager (EPM) will be presented with work that is below the expected standard.

Bad feedback versus balanced feedback

In such situations, it’s easy for the EPM to jump to the idea that they need to send ‘bad feedback’ to the freelancer.…

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How to hire a freelance editorial project manager

So you need to hire a freelance editorial project manager. Perhaps you have an overspill of work from your in-house editorial team, or perhaps your business needs expert editorial help with a major project (such as the creation of a new website or the ongoing management of a journal). Whatever the case, you may be wondering how best to find a person who will be a good fit for your company and processes.…

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Why editors should know about PRINCE2

White jigsaw puzzle pieces on a grey background

It’s rare to hear clients or editorial project managers explicitly talk about using PRINCE2 (or indeed any specific project management methodology). So why should editors should know about PRINCE2?

Well chances are, you’re probably already using PRINCE2’s ideas in much of your editorial work – even if you’ve never heard of it.

PRINC2 Practitioner badge

I know this because, having spent the past couple of years getting myself qualified as a PRINCE2 Practitioner, I’ve had plenty of time to see how it works.…

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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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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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Disengage, re-engage: 13 tips for proofreading text you’ve already copyedited

A woman with her hands in the air and shrugging her shoulders, and with many different hats piled on her head.

In the editorial world, it’s generally thought that the person who copyedited a text shouldn’t also be the person to proofread it.

This is a sound rule to follow wherever possible: a proofreader is often referred to as a ‘fresh pair of eyes’, and this freshness can be invaluable. In the same way that an author can become blind to the errors in their own work through overfamiliarity, a copyeditor tends to lose the ‘edge’ that comes with seeing a text anew.…

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Sending difficult feedback on a messy editorial project

A black and white photo of a woman hiding her face behind a piece of paper with a face drawn on it with marker pen. The drawn face is winking and has a wry expression.

At some point (hopefully very rarely), every proofreader and copy-editor will find themselves working on a project where it seems that somebody, somewhere, at some point, dropped the ball in a big way.

As a copy-editor, you might discover that the developmental editor seems to have let through major inconsistencies and that swathes of detail are missing.

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