Recently I started work on a copyediting project that intimidated me. I’ve copyedited hundreds of books, so this is unusual. A lot of the work I do is for returning clients, meaning that even if every book is different, there is enough that is similar about projects to make each beginning slightly less unknown. Even with new clients, I have … Read More
What yoga practice is teaching me about editing
I’ve been practising yoga for about five months now, which isn’t really long enough for me to have a clear idea of what it even is yet, let alone be able to write about it. It’s possible that I will only ever scratch the surface. But despite this newness, I feel so strongly that it has already helped me in … Read More
Learning to say yes
Last week I took part in a panel session on blogging at the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, #CIEP2021. This being 2021, it happened via Zoom. I attended the 2020 conference too, but as a delegate only, so this was my first presentation online. (Of course I’ve been taking part in Zoom meetings for the … Read More
Respond and connect
It’s been just over half a year since I relaunched my business as Responsive Editing. I wrote then about the process of renaming, rebranding and the new website, and in that post I said I would write again in six months’ time on how it had all gone. That time is about now. Apparently in other news, yesterday evening we … Read More
How can we do the best job possible?
Recently, I had some disastrous tiling done in a small shower room in our house. (Not the tiles in the featured image. I couldn’t bear to include an actual photo.) It was so bad I almost felt I could have done better myself – and I’m no expert, having only ever applied nine tiles in my whole life. Meanwhile, the … Read More
If I don’t write it down, can it even happen?
I love to-do lists. As the owner of a small business, I have a million and one things to remember to do, from meeting major deadlines to all of the minuscule pieces of admin that keep things running smoothly and legally. Then of course there are the parallel demands of a fairly busy household. I used to keep a notebook … Read More
The ages of freelancing
Recently, I’ve been pondering age a lot. Last September I turned 45, and I’m at that point where I’m starting to feel it. Not in a terribly dramatic way, because I am fortunate enough to be in good health, but more a notion that I need to take a little more care of myself, that I am not as physically … Read More
Blog appreciation: February
Here are some posts by other editors and writers that I’ve enjoyed reading recently. Why you need and how to work with a book indexer: a guide for authors by Paula Clarke BainAs Paula explains in this fascinating article, many authors are now routinely asked by publishers to organise their own indexing. While some will opt to index their books … Read More
Proofreading or copyediting? That which we call a rose …
Every time I write a blog post, just before I hit ‘Publish’, I let myself be tormented briefly by a column of three orange and red faces in the Yoast SEO submenu, which my web designer must have installed when he set up the WordPress site. For example: No focus keyword was entered: red sad face, no comment. Readability analysis: … Read More
When subject matter matters
Last weekend I needed to work for a few hours on both Saturday and Sunday. Usually, I try not to work at weekends, but when my children aren’t in school, as is currently the case, it’s often necessary to make up for working time lost in the week. One thing I’ve found over the years is that I prefer not … Read More
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