I wanted to highlight a few recent collaborations that are now published. In addition, I’ve had a productive winter editing test questions for a large publisher, copyediting journal issues for University of Illinois Press, and managing permissions for eight different health textbooks. As I always say, this career offers me the opportunity to learn about so many topics.
If you need help with anything related to publishing, please reach out so we can discuss your needs.
Thank you again to all of my clients who kept me busy writing, editing, and completing other publishing-related tasks this year. Thanks to you, I have been a freelancer now for nine years and in the publishing industry for seventeen years.
I had the pleasure of working with large-scale clients as well as individuals in 2022. Some highlights included:
Writing articles for Healthline
Copyediting journals for University of Illinois Press
Copyediting materials for Wolters Kluwer
Obtaining permissions for Wolters Kluwer and the American College of Sports Medicine
Helping individuals with book manuscripts, page proofs, dissertations, proposals, and more on Reedsy and through this website and Facebook
I am winding down the year today to celebrate the holidays with my family, but please reach out next year if you would like to collaborate on a book project. I am honored to be part of the process.
Finally, I will sign off this year with a quote from a grammar book I read this fall, which underscores why this profession remains so interesting year after year:
When I’m teaching grammar, I actually talk a lot about humility, because there are always surprises. You think you have a handle on things, and then you realize there are surprises.
I am happy to announce a new book from a fierce female entrepreneur: Choices Change Everything. I collaborated with Cheryl Ecton a few years ago to get the ball rolling on her memoir about being a woman entrepreneur in a male-dominated business, the commercial cleaning industry, while also raising two children, one who required a lot of medical attention in her early years.
Cheryl was a joy to work with, and I wish her the best as she gets her book out into the world.
Natalie is amazing. I am a first-time author, and Natalie instilled life into my nonfiction manuscript. Thank you.
—Recent Client
Greetings from the office of Silver Scribe Editorial Services! It’s been a very productive few months, and I wanted to share some recent projects.
The above quote is from a review I received via Reedsy for a developmental editing project I completed this month. The author needed me to help him organize and massage his book on video game addiction in children and teens. I wish him the best as he completes the publishing process and works to get this book in the hands of exasperated parents.
I also copyedited a book in March about parenting infants from birth to twelve months and am wrapping up an edit for a manuscript about skin care practices that reduce the effects of aging. Both of these authors found me on Reedsy.
Another client and I are collaborating to publish his memoir. We’ve had several meetings on Zoom to discuss his writing journey, and I’ll begin editing the manuscript this spring. He began with just a kernel of an idea in fall 2021 and will have a finished memoir by the end of summer.
I continue to write for Healthline, copyedit various academic journals, and complete miscellaneous publishing administrative projects (permissions, test question editing) as well.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to work on such a range of projects and am happy to help make your publishing dreams a reality. Please reach out if you need any guidance.
I recently reread Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. This is a wonderful book about the creative process, and it encapsulates the value creativity brings to our life. Gilbert, who you may know from her wildly successful memoir Eat, Pray, Love, is the author of both nonfiction and fiction works, and she brings a strong work ethic to her vocation.
Some of the advice that she shares in Big Magic relates to just putting one foot in front of the other (or, in the case of writing, one word in front of the other):
“Perfectionism stops people from completing their work, yes—but even worse, it often stops people from beginningtheir work” (p. 166).
“I keep remembering what my mother always used to say: ‘Done is better than good'” (p. 176).
“A good-enough novel violently written now is better than a perfect novel meticulously written never” (p. 177).
“Be careful not to quit too soon” (p. 247).
—Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic
These are inspirational for anyone considering writing a book or, more specifically, their memoirs.
Might you consider these quotes as you endeavor to publish that book you always meant to write?
I’d love to meet with you about your creative process and help you map out a writing schedule that works for your needs but also factors in some accountability. I can check in with you regularly and create a publishing plan so your work in progress (or, for that matter, idea for a book) can become a fully realized goal by year’s end.
My years of experience pushing deadlines through will help you become a published author. You can reach out to me at silver.editorial(at)outlook(dot)com.
Thank you to all of my clients for another successful year. This marked my eighth year in business as a freelancer and sixteenth year in the publishing industry.
Here are some of the bright spots of 2021:
I helped write and edit someone’s memoir
I copyedited several issues of four journals from University of Illinois Press (and will add a fifth journal to my workload in 2022)
I wrote more than thirty articles for Healthline
I edited test questions for Wolters Kluwer
I obtained permissions for several textbooks
I wrote case studies for a large corporation
I connected with several authors on Reedsy and helped a few of them on their dissertations and self-published books
I met some people in the publishing world who are experts in production and self-publishing who can help push your book out into the world (after I help with writing and editing, of course!)
I look forward to seeing what 2022 will bring. If you need help with any editorial project, please reach out.
Here’s a quick digest on fall 2021 happenings in the home offices of Silver Scribe Editorial Services.
Recent Projects
I mentioned previously that I helped someone write their life story this spring and summer. I am so pleased that the author is getting positive feedback from his family and friends about the book. I’d love to help you write your memoir as well!
I continue to work for University of Illinois Press, copyediting issues of several journals, including Journal of Animal Ethics, Jazz and Culture, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and Process Studies.
I write several articles monthly for Healthline, an Internet resource for all things health and lifestyle. An editor was kind enough to point out that my article “How to Read an Audiogram” was getting a lot of traffic. Other topics I’ve covered in articles recently include nail health, laser eye surgery, and insect bites and stings.
This summer, I edited test bank questions for a large publisher and wrote case studies for a consulting firm.
In addition to editing and writing, I also offer publishing services. This includes permissions projects for publishers. In this capacity, I contact individuals and companies to acquire formal permission to reprint material in forthcoming publications.
A Stroll Down Memory Lane
Books displayed in the Frankfurt Book Fair Stall, 2009
Headed to the book fair, 2007
I wanted to share a piece of my professional past here, as it’s useful to visit our memories from time to time to remember interesting things that we’ve done (especially if you’re writing a memoir—see above). I had the good fortune of attending the Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, four different times in the aughts. This celebration of books occurs every October in Frankfurt, and it’s where publishers gather to acquire and sell rights to their books (think translations).
I attended the fair as a young editorial assistant and then as a managing editor. I worked for a small book press and wore many hats, so I was in charge of selling book rights to publishers in other countries. During this massive book fair, I would hold meetings in my small stall in the English-speaking convention hall (hall eight, in case you ever attended), showcasing my publisher’s new releases on shelves. I got to meet people from all over the world, and after a few years had befriended several young professionals my age. While the task of traveling, setting up the stall, and meeting with publishers was a big undertaking for a twentysomething, it was also a huge opportunity to understand and contribute to publishing.
I wish my time in Frankfurt had occurred in the smartphone era, as I would have done a much better job documenting these trips. Nonetheless, I was able to dig up a few pictures that brought me back to my early days in publishing.
I wanted to pop on here today to say the publishing world is still spinning, and I have my hand in many different projects right now. I am grateful for the continued work in spite of these crazy pandemic times.
Here are a few of my most recent projects:
A personal narrative written by a retired professional (editing)
A doctoral dissertation on psychotherapy (copyediting)
Articles for Healthline (writing)
Journal issues for the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Jazz and Culture, and the Journal of Animal Ethics (copyediting)
Permissions projects for several nursing and medical textbooks (publishing administration)
Please reach out if you need any publishing services. I enjoy working with a variety of clients, from individuals to large publishing companies.
I plan to close up shop tomorrow until 2021. After this particularly exhausting year in a global pandemic, I’ve vowed to rest and recharge in the final days of December 2020 to head into the new year with as much vigor as possible. I hope you are also able to do the same.
Despite massive shifts in how we live in 2020, I am thrilled that my freelance publishing business could keep chugging along this year. I began Silver Scribe Editorial Services in May 2013 after leaving my job as managing editor at a book publishing company to find a better work-life balance with my young children (who are now well into elementary school and learning virtually next to me as I write this post). Thanks to loyal clients and new opportunities, I’ve been able to “have it all” in my eyes — keeping a career going while also balancing the demands of parenthood.
Thank you to everyone who has sought out my services over the last seven-plus years. It’s my hope that I’ll be able to continue working in this capacity for many years to come.
I always like to review my work by the numbers, so here’s the brief summary of 2020:
40-plus articles for Healthline (writing, including articles on some pretty gnarly animal bites, including the blue-ringed octopus, the venomous box jellyfish, ball pythons, chiggers, and carpenter ants, oh my!)
10 academic journal issues (copyediting)
6 books for self-publishing authors through Reedsy or this website (copyediting and proofreading)
5-plus permissions projects for a large textbook publisher
These numbers remind me again how lucky I am to work on a variety of projects. I am truly never bored in this line of work!
A final remark I wanted to make is about changes in editing and publishing in 2020. Changes to grammar, usage, and style evolve over time, and this year had a few seismic shifts, in my opinion. Mainstream style guides embraced the move to a singular “they” and shifted the treatment of racial terms in the wake of our national conversation on race. Where I was once a stickler on using “him or her” or something of that effect when a singular pronoun was ambiguous, I now openly embrace the singular “they” and believe it is a great compromise to our language’s lack of a gender-neutral singular pronoun. Also, I am now in regular conversation with editors and authors about whether to capitalize racial terms. I think this is a positive move forward, as it opens up a dialogue about how to address these issues in our culture and offers an opportunity for authors, editors, and publishers to be more intentional in the conversation surrounding race.
Again, thank you to everyone who supported my work in 2020, and I look forward to a productive and successful 2021!
Rachel Simmonds, author of the newly released Parenting Teens in a Digital World, and I collaborated on her work back in September. I copyedited this informative, concise handbook for Rachel and was impressed with her knowledge and strong beliefs in how to introduce children to various technologies and manage them in their teen years.
Rachel is a teacher and parent who brings real-life experience to her topic. She is also a dream author to work with. I wish her well in getting this book into the hands of parents who need her wisdom!
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