2021 in review

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Happy new year, everyone! 2021 was a good year for my business. I made more than I have ever made, while working fewer hours than before. I took several weeks off and also spent quite a bit of time on my volunteer work for SENSE. I moved to Poland and moved my business here as well, which was a lengthy and complicated process. I had to learn many new things. I got upgraded to Advanced Professional Member by the CIEP, which was immensely exciting. I started learning Polish. I attended a number of online conferences and workshops, but noticed the extent to which my Zoom fatigue had set in.

In 2022, I plan to attend fewer online events. I’m involved in the organization of the CIEP’s 2022 conference, which is planned as a hybrid event. I hope the pandemic subsides enough for us to be able to continue organizing the in-person part of this annual conference! I also plan to go back to basics in terms of courses, starting with the CIEP’s Copyediting 2: Headway course. I will continue as SENSE’s Social Media Coordinator. I may work with a designer to create a logo for my business. And I hope to take plenty of exciting trips by train!

New service: Reference checking and formatting

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It’s been a while since I posted! I have been working on developing my business, taking a course with fantastic coach Malini Devadas of Edit Boost. I have been asked to present at the #CIEP2020 online conference of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, taking place November 2–4, 2020. And I have become the Social Media Coordinator for SENSE the Society, on whose behalf I now post on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, with the help of others.

After what feels like a year of me just working, working, working, I am once again actively developing my skills and thinking about the direction in which I would like to take my business.

It is with this in mind that I have decided to offer a new service: reference checking and formatting. Clients who want to save time, who seek to preserve their energy to focus on the content of what they are writing, or who are held back from submitting their manuscript because they dread dealing with the references and citations can now hire me to fix their references and bibliography.

I will not only ensure that all required elements are present in their reference list entries but also consult each reference online to check that all details are complete and correct, including the author name and the title. I then present them with a clean list in the required citation style.

I am super excited about this new service and have decided to offer it at an introductory rate of 1 euro per reference, plus VAT if applicable. More information can be found on my services and rates page.

My YouTube interview for Freelanceverse!

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I am very honored to appear in an episode of FreelanceVerse, a YouTube channel created and hosted by translator Adrian Probst.

In this video, I talk about how I became an editor, what I did to grow my business, and which resources and training helped me get ahead. Check it out here if you are interested!

How do I perform a structural edit?

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This post was written for the Peerwith blog in the context of the company launching its new book editing service and was published there first. Please note that I currently do not offer structural editing services as I am focusing on other things right now. If you are looking for a structural editor, you can take a look at the CIEP directory.

A client of mine wrote a book proposal based on her dissertation, sent it to a publisher, and was invited to submit the manuscript for a round of peer review. She contacted me after she had gotten the book back with comments and asked me to help her restructure it based on the feedback the peer reviewers had provided.

I took the manuscript and comments, read it thoroughly while taking notes, and designed three options for a new outline and structure for the book, also noting which parts I thought could be deleted. All three options were based on a different type of structure with a different story/argument buildup. After my client picked her preferred option, I got to work restructuring the book, moving parts around, deleting other parts, and creating six new chapters. She then took it from me, edited it, and sent it back to me for a last pass. The book has now been published!

This kind of editing is what I call structural editing. Structural editing is the most rewarding but also most taxing form of editing. When writers come to me because they need help developing their argument, untangle their main points, restructure their book or article, or anything else that involves the content of their work, I always know that I’m in for a lot of work. In order to do a structural edit well, I have to know what the author is trying to argue. I have to immerse myself in their writing and their thought process.

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5 things I learned from my editing courses

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Like all other professionals, editors need training. While you may be great at grammar and have always been able to spot typos from afar, the editing process involves a lot more than simply correcting grammar and spelling mistakes (although this is an essential part of it!). In fact, I would argue that the majority of the work I do consists of other things:

  • I strengthen a text’s message and improve its clarity, flow, and coherence by changing words, phrases, and overly long sentences (depending on my mandate of course);
  • I improve a text’s accuracy by fact-checking names, dates, and titles;
  • I clarify a text’s structure by inserting and/or formatting headings to create a clear outline;
  • I ensure that citations and references are formatted correctly, that sources have been properly cited, and that any potential ethical or legal issues are flagged;
  • I ensure that author guidelines, spelling preferences, and style guides are applied consistently and correctly.

All this requires training because how does one, for example, improve a text’s clarity? This is a vague requirement that is made a lot more concrete with examples and exercises, of which I’ve had plenty in the past years. Since starting my editing training, I have completed three out of the five courses of Queen’s University’s Professional Editing Standards program (“Fundamentals of Editing Standards,” “Copyediting Standards I,” and “Copyediting Standards II”) and one SfEP course (“Brush Up Your Grammar“). I’m planning to take the remaining two Queen’s courses (“Proofreading Standards” and “Structural Editing Standards”) next year in order to obtain the certificate.

This is not where it ends, of course; any professional editor will engage in lifelong learning in order to stay up to date and hone their skills. I’m definitely planning to take more advanced copyediting and grammar courses and sharpen my MS Word skills in the future (especially concerning macros and wildcards).

For now, I’d like to share a few things that I have learned from my editing courses, thanks to fantastic instructors and colleagues. Of course, I learned much, much more than I can convey in one blog post, but I hope the selection below gives an idea (warning: long post!).

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SENSE Professional Development Day 2019

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Note: An edited version of this post was published on the SENSE blog.

On September 21, SENSE, the Society of English-Language Professionals in the Netherlands, held its biennial Professional Development Day (PDD), a one-day professional-development workshop for editors and translators. I was excited to be attending my first SENSE conference!

After some coffee and networking, the day started with a plenary lecture by Jenny Zonneveld, who gave us a number of valuable tips on how to gain repeat clients: be an expert in your field, network, attend events, and build sound relationships with clients and your colleagues. This will require leaving your comfort zone, leaving space in your schedule so you can be flexible, spreading your risks, and learning from feedback.

Next, I attended a fascinating presentation by Dianna Beaufort on writing and translating in architecture and urban planning. I have a background in urban studies and am familiar with the embellished writing architects can produce. Beaufort guided us through some examples of problems caused by “architecture and urban development speak” or false friends and showed us how she dealt with these. Translating “een karakteristieke oppervlakte” into “a characteristic surface,” for example, does not work!

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SfEP Conference 2019: In the beginning, there was the word

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The annual conference of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), which took place in Birmingham from September 14 to 16, was an absolute blast. Not only were the facilities at the Conference Aston hotel absolutely luxurious, but the delegates were a delight as well. As a first-time attendee, I was invited for drinks with the council before the start of the conference, and everyone made sure that I felt welcome and included. The conference organizers set up a speed networking event and assigned us random seats for the gala dinner on Sunday, ensuring that we talked to new people. They had also provided us with pronoun stickers, which I thought was a great inclusive move! More entertainment and bonding opportunities were provided by conference choir The Linnet’s performance on Saturday night and the after-dinner quiz that same day, during which I learned that I really, really suck at guessing songs based on their first few lines being read out.

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Summer 2019: Lots of professional development!

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It’s been a while since I last blogged! My summer was filled with work, courses, and conferences. To begin with, I completed another course toward obtaining Queens University’s Professional Editing Standards certificate: Stylistic Editing, now renamed Copyediting Standards 2. This brings my total number of courses to three: Copyediting Standards 1, Fundamentals of Editing (completed this spring), and Copyediting Standards 2. I have two more courses to go before I can apply for the certificate! I also enrolled in a course from the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) titled “Brush Up Your Grammar,” which I have almost completed.

As it turned out, whatever I learned from my courses could be put in practice right away, as my summer schedule filled up with work. I edited two academic monographs, eight journal articles, two dissertations, two book chapters, a conference paper, some blog posts, and even a card game! Thanks to the courses, I have become quicker at spotting issues, and I more readily know what to do about them. The issues I encounter are not just spelling and grammar errors, but also language that is not clear, coherent, or concise. It is nice to feel more confident in my abilities to spot and correct these instances!

My skills were honed even more by the conferences I attended this September: the Annual Conference of the SfEP and the Professional Development Day of the Society for English-language Professionals in the Netherlands (SENSE). While attending two conferences in such rapid succession was intense and left me feeling a bit drained, I am very happy that I went, because I met many people and learned a ton of stuff. I am working on detailed blog posts about these two conferences, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I am booked up until the end of October at least, having started work for Terreform’s publishing imprint Urban Research on a forthcoming edited volume that I’m very excited about: an anthology of essays in honor of legendary urban theorist Mike Davis!

Mini-conference in Newcastle

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The article below was originally published in the July/August issue of Editing Matters, the magazine of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP).

On 22 May 2019, the SfEP’s North East England local group organised a mini-conference in Newcastle. As a relatively new member, I was determined to attend my first-ever SfEP conference, even though it involved taking the overnight ferry from the Netherlands to Newcastle. People warned me that it was a notorious party boat and that I would probably not get much sleep. Thankfully, the trip was perfect: it was more like a pleasant mini-cruise than a hyped-up stag party (more on the boat trip here).

Expectations for this conference were high. Not only was everyone enthusiastic about the programme and looking forward to meeting up with old and new friends but a debate erupted on Twitter that raised the stakes for the treats served during the intervals.The pressure was on for co-organiser and cakesourcer, Kia Thomas!

After a wonderful trip, I met up with fellow editors the evening before for a pre-conference dinner. We went to a gorgeous restaurant in the centre of Newcastle, where we shared stories and had a few laughs about my unnecessary boat worries. I love how inclusive and welcoming the editing community is! The following morning, people arrived at the conference venue early, eager to get started. After registering, I socialised with old and new friends. It was great to recognise people from Twitter!

The pre-conference dinner venue in Newcastle.
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