Tag Archives: editing

Fall 2020 Update

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In spite of these unusual times, I am here to report that the written word still lives! Of course 2020 has taken more twists and turns than we could have ever anticipated, but in spite of these circumstances, we continue to produce, publish, and read.

In the last six months I have worked on the usual projects with longstanding clients, but self-publishing authors have also approached me to work on their books as well. I recently edited works on topics including infertility as well as parenting and the digital age.

Earlier this summer I marked five years as a writer for Healthline. I write more than fifty articles a year for this site, and some recent ones include:

Should You Go to Bed Hungry?

Self-Assessment: How Much Do You Know About Managing Asthma?

What to Do If You’re Stung by a Venemous Box Jellyfish

This sampling of articles shows the variety of topics I get to research and write about. Life as a writer is never boring, and I am always learning.

In closing, I want to thank my one-time, sometimes, and regular clients who continue to keep me in business. I have been working as a freelancer now for seven years and am eternally grateful for the opportunities to contribute to so many publications.

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Thoughtful Praise from a Recent Client

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Hello there! It’s been a few months since I posted, and boy has the world changed! As a small business owner, life has turned upside down in many unexpected ways during this time of COVID-19. These days, I am still taking on work, but I am also editing second- and third-grade writing too, since my kids have been out of physical school since March 13.

Even though the last few months have been unpredictable at times, I have been able to complete several work projects. One of them is with an individual who is publishing a book on Erroll Garner, the jazz pianist. Early on, the author and I established a great rapport, which resulted in a very successful editing process.

I recently wrapped up the project with him, and I received this touching note in the mail from the author today, including this praise:

Please accept my sincere thanks for the great job editing my book on Erroll Garner . . .

The letter’s envelope even featured Erroll Garner stamps!

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Thanks to this author and so many of my clients for making our collaborative process so fulfilling and enriching.

2019 by the Numbers

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Another twelve months have passed, and it’s time to take stock of what this year brought in terms of editing and writing work. This year proved to be my best and busiest freelance year to date, so thank you to my clients for keeping my business afloat for another year. I am very lucky to work with such great people and also balance so many varied projects. Here’s what I turned out in the Silver Scribe Editorial Services factory in 2019:

  • 57 articles for Healthline (writing)
  • 7 marketing case studies for a consulting firm (writing)
  • 11 projects for a health care textbook publisher (project management, editing, proofreading)
  • 11 journal manuscripts (copyediting)
  • 10 books or dissertations (copyediting and proofreading)
  • Numerous other projects that are too difficult to categorize but are nonetheless very important to keeping me in business!

I continue to be humbled by the amazing minds churning out written work to be edited and published. I am honored to be in this profession and feel very fortunate to work in a field that informs and challenges me intellectually.

Here’s to a new decade of content!

 

Recent Work

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Despite my absence here on the blog in the last few months, I am still working away on both editing and writing projects! I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with some individual authors lately on large-scale publishing projects, particularly books and dissertations. Here are a few words of praise I’ve received recently, in the event these hearty endorsements convince you that I am capable and easy to work with for your own project.

“Great job, no complaints. I would be happy to hire Natalie again.” —Barbara, author of a forthcoming book on writing for academia

“Natalie does great work and it was a pleasure doing business with her.” —John, author of a forthcoming book on tuning instruments

“I am reviewing the editing and it is wonderful. . . . Thank you so much.” —Michael, author of a forthcoming book on boating and sailing

Mid-Year Update

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July 1 marked the halfway point of 2019, so I thought it would be a good time to take stock of my freelance work so far this year. Professionally, it’s been a very rewarding year for me, and I hope the trend continues this summer and fall.

Here are a few highlights from the first half of 2019:

  • I continue to write articles for Healthline, an online medical and wellness website. So far my most-read article of 2019 is “Bleeding After Hysterectomy: Is It Normal & When to Call a Doctor” with 52,924 user sessions. My articles range from these very detailed medical articles to topics that are a little less intense like “Why Is Water Important? 16 Reasons to Drink Up.” I just finished an article called “Is My Baby Having Night Terrors?” and I hope it is helpful to parents.
  • I am now collaborating with a few new clients. One client has hired me to write case studies to help a company market products in the higher education field. I have also found new clients via Reedsy and have been helping authors with their works on gestational diabetes, jazz, and instrument tuning (so far). I always say that I love my job because I come into contact with and learn about such diverse material. It’s a great fit for a lifelong reader and learner!
  • I still edit several academic journals each year. I have now copyedited several issues of the Bulletin for Research on Music Education, the Journal of Animal Ethics, Process Studies, and Jazz and Culture. The work going on in these fields is fascinating.

In addition to these highlights, I wrapped up a long-term ghostwriting collaboration with someone, copyedited/proofread a few upcoming trade books, and used my permissions-acquiring skills with a large medical-educational publisher.

Please let me know if there is anything I can help you finish as the year enters its second half.

Do I Need a Writer, an Editor, or Someone Else?

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If you are unfamiliar with the publishing process, you may wonder how a writer, editor, copyeditor, or proofreader can help you. I have worked on projects in all of these roles, and here’s my brief overview of how they serve a publication.

Writer: You may need a writer if you have a lot of ideas but you can’t seem to get them down on paper. A writer can take your stream-of-consciousness thoughts or interview you to create the document you intend to publish. That may be a website, a book, or something else. Writers can also create documents with prompts you give them or a research topic to investigate. I write for many different clients and some of my projects have included writing articles, ghostwriting books or blog posts, summarizing case studies, and more.

Editor: This is a very general title and I would lean toward putting the word “developmental” in front of the title as it concerns an individual seeking help. This person can look at your work so far and give you ideas of how to reshape or retool it to meet your intended audience. A developmental editor can also help you work on flow and ask probing questions to help you dig deeper into your document. At a publishing house, an editor may also be a managing or acquiring editor. A managing editor coordinates all aspects of the publishing process and an acquiring editor finds content to publish.

Copyeditor: This person will copyedit a document that is in very good shape and almost ready for publication. This person uses a style book or style guide (and a dictionary!) to correct grammar, usage, and style errors. A copyeditor may also point out sentences that need clarification or suggest adding headings to improve readability. A copyeditor will also format references in a bibliography or notes section as well as inquire about permissions for artwork or long passages that you borrowed from another source. Your copyeditor may also be willing to fact-check a document if you request it.

Proofreader: A proofreader looks at a nearly published document usually set in its final form. A proofreader will only correct egregious errors like misspellings or the odd (or missing) punctuation mark. The proofreader ensures that everything looks clean and tidy to avoid embarrassing mistakes appearing in the final publication.

There are of course other roles in publishing like typesetters, designers, agents, reviewers, fact-checkers, translators, and more. Before you get too far with your work, however, consider whether you need one (or more) of these types of people involved in your document. Feel free to contact me to chat about your project, and I can provide you with an assessment of what I think you need.

2018 by the Numbers

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Before the clock strikes midnight tonight, I wanted to reflect on my freelance work this year. Thanks to a lot of great clients, I have worked on many different types of projects for the last 12 months. Without further ado, here is my year by the numbers:

  • 36 articles written for Healthline
  • 13 permissions projects managed (a handful with 100+ permissions needed)
  • 12 journal manuscripts copyedited
  • 6 books copyedited or proofread
  • 5 projects completed in my “other” category, including ghostwriting, copywriting, writing coaching, and more

I’ve used The Chicago Manual of Style, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, and the MLA Handbook this year, as well as many other house style guides.

Thanks to everyone who has made this year successful for Silver Scribe Editorial Services. Truly, I am grateful for the work and your support!

 

Thoughts on Copyediting from a Pro

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I just finished reading Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris, a longtime copyeditor at The New Yorker. Her book is a memoir/reference hybrid, combining lovely anecdotes about her life as well as grammar lessons. Some passages in the book resonated with me, especially those about the role of a copyeditor:

On the purpose of copyediting:

The whole point of having things read before publication is to test their effect on a general reader. You want to make sure when you go out there that the tag on the back of your collar isn’t poking up–unless, of course, you are deliberately wearing your clothes inside out. (p. 36)

On what writers think of copyeditors:

Writers might think we’re applying rules and sticking it to their prose in order to make it fit some standard, but just as often we’re backing off, making exceptions, and at least trying to find a balance between doing too much and doing too little. (p. 38)

And on why copyeditors will always be important, despite technology improving:

Because English has so many words of foreign origin, and words that look the same but mean something different depending on their context, and words that are in flux, opening and closing like flowers in time-lapse photography, the human element is especially important if we are to stay on top of the computers, which, in their determination to do our  job for us, make decisions so subversive that even professional wordsmiths are taken by surprise. (p. 113)

Finally, Mary’s enthusiasm of pencils (especially soft-leaded no. 1 pencils!) is particularly endearing in the chapter “Ballad of a Pencil Junkie.” In this penultimate chapter, she also remarks on her lacking handwriting (“I’d had complaints about it since third grade,” p. 171) and shares an interesting observation about those with neat handwriting: “Later, as a graduate student, teaching comprehension, I noted that the student with the neatest handwriting often wrote the dullest prose” (p. 172). The quote reminds me to be gentler on my own children with their sometimes-sloppy (often-sloppy?) handwriting.

This delightful book about the editing life is the twenty-sixth book I’ve read this year for pleasure (only four more to go to meet my goal for the year!). It does not count the hundreds (probably thousands) of pages I have read for work. Nothing makes me happier than sinking my teeth into a new subject or work. I am thankful that I’ve been able to make reading a hobby and a career.

Mid-Summer Review

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My 2018 family vacation is just wrapping up, and I am excited to return to the world of editing and writing after a few weeks away from the computer screen. I have been lucky to have a lot of interesting projects in 2018 so far, and I am looking forward to what will come my way as the year advances.

The projects I’ve completed in this calendar year include the typical copyediting, proofreading, and writing tasks, but I’ve also been securing permissions for several large textbooks as well. I love having variety in my weekly and monthly calendar, so keep me in mind for whatever publishing services you need.

I continue to work with several publishing clients, including independent, academic, and trade publishers as well as individuals who need writing, editing, and communications services. I appreciate your referrals to others who are facing the daunting task of editing a dissertation, blogging regularly, retooling a website, or trying to write a book. It’s a pleasure to help people achieve their publishing aspirations.

Enjoy the rest of your summer. I hope you are in the middle of a good book and relishing these more leisurely days of the year as I just did. When you are ready to get back to work, I’ll be here!

Current Projects: 2017

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I realize I have not come up for air to share my recent work on this blog for some time. Despite the silence, I am living and breathing and in the midst of many different writing and editing projects. I am lucky to have a lot of variety in my schedule, so I have been copyediting several academic journals and a trade book, writing articles for Healthline, and helping a businesswoman write her memoir.

Even with plenty of work, I have not let the summer pass by without some time in nature and on the road. My family and I have enjoyed spending time on both coasts this year. We spent a week in the Pacific Northwest in July (the picture above is from the Oregon Coast) and have dipped our toes in the Atlantic Ocean as well.

As summer comes to a close and you begin to think about writing and editing work ahead, please keep me in mind for editorial services.