Projects!

In an effort to get my name out there as a thoughtful and capable editor of words, I put up a post on a message board for writers asking if anyone had manuscripts they'd like edited for free in exchange for use of their piece as an example in my editing portfolio.

Holy avalanche, Batman! I was not ready for the kind of response I got. Short stories! Non-fiction books! Novels! There are tons of people writing, and every one of them needs someone else to put eyes on their work.

Though it's tougher than I expected to find the time/energy to dive into editing after my regular full-time job, I'm really enjoying the experiment. I decided to do this trial run of free editing for a few reasons:

1. To get an idea of how long it takes me to edit a piece (pages per hour). This will aid me in setting up a pricing structure later on.
2. To get feedback from real, live authors about my editing style and what I could do to improve (Bonus: with the author's permission, I can use their feedback on my website!).
3. To gain experience and create a word-of-mouth reputation about the quality of my work.

So far, I've edited a few short stories and about 1/10th of a full-length non-fiction book, and I have loved every second of it. It doesn't even feel like work for me, at times. I love moving words around and watching them fall into place. It's like a puzzle, and the correct solution means finding a direct path to the idea using the fewest possible words. And, the feedback I've gotten so far has been great.

I will keep pressing onward and upward!