In part 2 of our interview, the writers and editorial masterminds behind Networking for Freelance Editors, Brittany and Linda, cover the steps they took to make their book accessible. Linda issues a challenge to all writers. Plus we talk about how they customize the editing process to make it work for their writing and lift up some excellent editors and resources in our Hot & Wholesome Gossip Corner!
If you haven’t already, go listen to part 1, “Audience Over Ego”!
Music: Harlequin by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3858-harlequin
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Show Notes:
Brittany: www.wordcat-editorial.com/@meowdle (IG)/https://www.linkedin.com/in/bdowdle/;
Linda: https://www.theinsightfuleditor.com/@lindaruggerieditor (IG)/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-ruggeri-editor/@LindaRuggeri (Twitter)
Networking for Freelance Editors: Practical Strategies for Networking Success
www.networkingforeditors.com
Editorial Freelancers Association Diversity Initiative: https://www.the-efa.org/diversity-initiative/
Camel text: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_case
Free screen readers: https://usabilitygeek.com/10-free-screen-reader-blind-visually-impaired-users/
How to use Word’s Read Aloud function: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/listen-to-your-word-documents-5a2de7f3-1ef4-4795-b24e-64fc2731b001
Mythcreants.com editing services: https://mythcreants.com/services/
SWOT analysis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis
EFA Rates Chart: https://www.the-efa.org/rates/
ACES: https://aceseditors.org/
PEN: https://pensite.org/
CIEP: https://www.ciep.uk/
Conscious Style Guide: https://consciousstyleguide.com/
Crystal Shelley, Rabbit with a Red Pen: https://www.rabbitwitharedpen.com/
Conscious Language Toolkit for Writers: https://www.rabbitwitharedpen.com/conscious-language-toolkit-for-writers
Conscious Language Toolkit for Editors: https://www.rabbitwitharedpen.com/conscious-language-toolkit-for-editors
Ebonye Gussine Wilkins: https://egwmedia.com/
Sensitivity Reads: A Guide for Professional Editors: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ebonye-gussine-wilkins-and-lourdes-venard/sensitivity-reads-a-guide-for-professional-editors/
Respectul Querying with Nuance: https://www.the-efa.org/booklets/respectful-querying-nuance/
TextExpander: https://textexpander.com/
The Editing Podcast: https://www.louiseharnbyproofreader.com/podcast.html
Transcript:
Ariel: Hi there and welcome to Edit Your Darlings, a podcast that tries to take the sting out of editing by talking with darling authors about their experiences.
I’m Ariel Anderson, and this week we’re completing a two-part interview with two rockstar editors, Brittany Dowdle and Linda Ruggeri. If you haven’t listened to episode 30: “Audience Over Ego,” be sure to check that out, because they say the nicest dang things about their proofreader and share great tips for philosophies that can help drive your editing decisions. Brittany is the mastermind over at Wordcat Editorial, and Linda provides deep edit as The Insightful Editor. Together, they wrote the book on Networking for Freelance Editors–literally!—and I’m so grateful they made time to talk with me.
Linda: Thank you so much for having us.
Brittany: Yes, thank you for having us. We're so excited to be here.
Ariel: And for listeners following along at home, the first voice you heard was Linda, and the second was Brittany.
The last thing I was curious about, in your pre interview questionnaire, y'all said that you wanted to do everything you could to make the content of your message accessible. And I wondered what you meant by that. So are you talking about hitting the right reading level so anyone can understand it? Or are you talking more about making sure the book is accessible for readers with disabilities? And why was that important to you?
Brittany: So we actually did a bit of both in terms of the content and then the format. So Linda and I actually met through the Editorial Freelancers Association’s Diversity Initiative. And, you know, learning about accessibility and how to make sure that everyone is always included in a meaningful way is really important to us. So in coming to write this book, you know, we used our own experiences and what we’ve learned from kind of being in this community and being in this mindset. And we also sought feedback from other editors who maybe had more experience in whichever specific issue it was.
And what we really wanted to do is make sure that we were supporting all of our readers, because freelance editing can be sort of an isolating career at times, especially when you're starting out. And it was important to us, both because our topic is about networking and building that community, but also just thinking of that new editor who is, you know, kind of alone, and they're trying to find their way in a profession and in a community, and we didn't want anything to make people feel on the outside, like they couldn't gain access to the community, to the resources.
So it was really important to educate ourselves and do as much as we could to make the book accessible and include everyone. So for us, this included things like, you know, mentioning our pronouns, when we introduced ourselves. Or we had certain fictional case studies that we wrote up with, like, “oh, this imaginary editor, you know, this is their situation. And this is the challenge that they're trying to overcome, you know, in their work or trying to solve through their approach to networking.” And we tried to make sure that those case studies reflected the diversity that is in our industry, so that everyone felt like they were represented and included.
And then we also wanted to teach our readers who are all editors how they could be more inclusive in their own networking and marketing efforts. So all that is, for the most part, on the content side. But then we studied up on best practices for making print and ebooks accessible, from the organizational hierarchy, or headings, to things like how we use alt text, using, you know, camel text in our hashtags, all the way to the color contrast on our cover on our book cover and in the internal illustrations, which is something that you may not notice it if you don't have an issue with that.
I mean, I—you can't see now—but I wear glasses, I've been wearing glasses since I was a small child. And I absolutely have to have them to function. But for me, I can hold the book up close to my face, and I don't have an issue with color contrast. But my husband is colorblind, and color contrast for him really makes a difference in certain things. But I don't, like… That's not my daily experience. So it was really helpful to us to talk to other people to understand what we needed to do to make the book work for everyone.
And so we also took an extra step of having our ebook coded for compatibility with screen readers. I think, Linda, we’d already had it, the main formatting done? But then we didn't realize that screen readers have very specific formatting needs for it to really work and not be, I guess, not be annoying or just unusable.
Ariel: Yeah.
Brittany: For example, there are some times whenever we, we had underlining in some places—oh, no, it was underscore. And so there are certain places where we had a line, and it was supposed to just be a line, but the way it got formatted initially, it was a bunch of underscores. So then if you tried to read it, it's just gonna say, underscore, underscore, underscore.
Ariel: Oh no!
Brittany: And you're just like, oh my gosh! And so yeah, all that kind of thing we had to be really attuned to, because if you're just looking at it, it looks like a lie. But if you're listening to it, it's an extremely annoying chorus of underscore, underscore. And I'm sure that there's more for us to learn, but it was really, it was a really interesting part of the process to go through. And it really mattered to us that we that we did it.
Linda: Yeah, what I wanted to add to what Brittany was saying is a couple of different things. One is that I challenge every writer that's published a book, or, you know, an E pub, to use a free screen reader and listen to their book on a screen reader so that you understand what readers with visual impairments might be listening to, and it's a whole other experience.
It's 2022, I feel like everybody needs to get with a program. This isn't, you know, the early 1920s. And we know what's happening, we know the technology that's out there. Nowadays, the technology is available to everyone. So if your book is going to have bold print, it's going to have, you know, underscores, or it's going to have italics, if you have images that don't have alt text.
Ours is a workbook. It has, I believe, 20 to 30 worksheets inside, so there's a lot of lines for people to write in their answers. And if all of that is not accessible to everyone, our book just won't sell as well. And then we're leaving out a really big part of readership that should have access to that book.
I considered myself pretty knowledgeable about in self-publishing, whether it be for paperbacks, hardcovers, or ebooks. But when it came time for us to publish this book, we really took it to the next level, because we had the assistance of, you know, a great interior designer and coder who kind of brought to our attention, you know, there's a whole other level of coding that could go in here to make it even more accessible to people. It did cost a little bit more. But I think the benefit that you reap from that is just tremendous, because you're really including everybody.
Ariel: Yeah and it's stuff those of us who don't use screen readers absolutely have no idea about. So I think that that's a really great recommendation. There was something going around on Twitter, not too long ago, where people were putting like a whole bunch of red flags. And then something said that they thought was like a red flag. And the screen readers would go red flag, red flag, red flag, it was just completely inaccessible. And as soon as somebody pointed it out, it like, disappeared immediately. So I really appreciated whoever pointed it out. Brilliant. Brittany: One of the things that we did was, there's a website that you can go to, or I guess a couple of them, where you can actually like download a screen-reader software so that you can actually listen to your book, put it through the screen reader. And so after we got back the additional coding, we did that to verify and make sure that it was actually doing what we thought it would do.
I think many of us use the read aloud function, whether in PDFs or in a Word document, but the way screen readers work, I think is a little bit different. And so it was a good exercise just for us to try that out ourselves as well.
Ariel: Wow. I love that discussion. So let's go to the questions that I ask every author I talk to, and I'm really excited that we have two authors this time. What?! So first—and this one's loaded for y'all: What do you hate about the editing process?
Brittany: We're editors, so we really shouldn't hate the editing process, because it's something that we spend all day doing. And we don't.
There's two questions for me here. One is, as an editor, what do I hate about it? A nd I would say, mainly, I would like it to be less stressful for authors. Because if you're in the editing, if you're in publishing, then you've come to the editing process with certain expectations and certain things that you just understand about it. You know, it's less personal. It's more, “okay, this is what we're trying to accomplish.”
But I think a lot of people feel that editing is kind of like being picked on, personally, by a giant red pen that's like out to get you. The thing is, I always, with my own clients, I always try to communicate that it's not, it's not a judgment, it's not personal judgment. It's not a moral judgment. It's just, you know, so much of editing is subjective. So we're just trying to show the whole picture and kind of help people see how a reader might interpret something. So that's important to me.
As somebody who gets edited, I don't mind the process. I think sometimes, those little—because I'm a copy editor, I have those little sort of irksome feelings about certain word choices and things. And I'm just like, wait a second, that's a completely legitimate use of whatever and I just have to tamp that down and say, okay, you know that because you've been obsessed with, you know, obscure dictionaries, since you were, you know, in middle school. So yeah, you may know that, but most people don't. And you're going to miss out on your goal of communicating with people if you stick to things like that, you know, not everybody cares. So, as a writer, that's what I would say I don't like about editing.
But, you know, for most of the editing that we do, we want to help writers grow and help manuscripts get ready for readers. And we try to make the process collaborative and informative and empowering. So I would say if you're a writer and don't like the process, then ask if it feels collaborative. There are some editors who maybe just don't mesh with your style, who don't support you in the way that that you need support. Being edited should never feel like an angry English teacher is marking up your paper, because that's not what it's about.
Ariel: Yeah.
Linda: I'm gonna jump in again, if I may. Because, you know, Ariel, I've been listening to your podcast and the answers that some of your guests give to this question. And yeah, there's a lot of fear in getting these edits, but I understand where they're coming from and what they're saying. And for me as an author, I go into the editing process knowing that every time I see that file in my inbox, I kind of get queasy and my stomach does kind of tense up, and I will look at it and not open it on purpose because I want to create kind of a safe space for me to be alone without file and that I'm in a healthy, I would say, mental space to deal with what I'm going… you know, what's coming my way.
So when I do make the conscious decision to open that file, I personally go into like business mode. I really try to take my ego and my personal feelings out of the process. I'm writing a book, or I might be writing a blog post that I want to have read by a lot of people. I'm writing a book that I want to make sure that sells well in its market, and so I want to know, what do I need to do to get there? If I hired an editor, you know, and I've paid them X amount of money, it's because I trust their experience, and I trust their insight. And so I really need to trust the feedback they're giving me. I need to listen to my editor who basically is representing my audience and how my audience is going to read me.
There's something else to consider. And this is something that I always ask my clients. You need to know, as a writer, how do you take feedback? You need to know yourself. You need to know, how do you take criticism and critique, and how do you process that information? And so when I'm working with a writer and we've signed a contract, one of my first questions in my intake questionnaire is, how do you take feedback and what kind of feedback works for you, and what feedback doesn't work for you? Because I need to know what's the best way to communicate information to my client.
And so for me as, you know, editor now being author, I need to know, you know, if Brittany is correcting something for me that to her doesn't make sense or I haven't fully developed the idea, I would love to have you know, a blog post article or a YouTube video that explains, you know, sometimes I have trouble with comma splices sometimes that I tend to ignore.
More than once I go to YouTube, and I'll look up for a video of somebody explaining it in a different way. Then I'll go to a style guide or a grammar book and be like, okay, what do… how do they explain the same concept? So for me, I read to understand problems with my writing.
My advice to editor to your writers, you know, is ask your editor or let the editor know, hey, this is how I take feedback and this is the kind of information that helps me. Or if you're having a specific issue with your writing, just let your editor know, hey, I might have a shortcoming in this area, and I would love feedback on this, and if you have specific examples that you can get me, whether they be visual auditory, you know, in writing, just let them know what works for you.
Ariel: I love that advice! I offer an add-on writing word craft feedback to my copy editing services, especially when I work with Mythcreants.com. They offer editing. And if the author already knows where they might struggle, then that's automatically a jumping point for me to start my word craft feedback. And it's so helpful to know where they kind of feel self-conscious because then I can either say “actually, you're doing really great with that” or “here are some resources for this.”
And I also really loved your point about getting that email and just feeling like “oh gosh, I want to avoid this. I'm so scared of even opening this document.” My therapist today—because everyone should be in therapy; mental health is important—was telling me that you know, we work really, really hard to keep ourselves safe. And that uncertainty, that fear of the unknown, we work it up so much in our head that that editorial letter is going to just be so harsh, and the pages are going to be splashed and bleeding with red ink. But in reality, like for me, the editorial letters that I write, start with business as usual, gentle critiques, and then positive feedback. That's what's in there.
So just knowing what to expect, I think gives editors who approach writing and then being edited a huge step up, so any writer that hasn't been edited before is absolutely going to have that fear because they don't know what to expect.
Linda: I think that's a natural feeling to have. And it's a necessary feeling to have because you're in a position of being vulnerable, and it's hard to be vulnerable and to open up and to share what you've written, you know, what's taken you so long to put together with somebody that you maybe you've never met before. So I think those are natural feelings to have. And if you don't have them, that would be, I think, the red flag.
At the same point, I think you need to go in thinking and knowing yourself as a writer as to, I'm going to be getting feedback. If the editor comes back with an editorial letter, and it's just all glowing, then there probably wasn't a reason to hire them in the first place. So, the reason we're hiring someone is because we want to know our shortcomings. You know, it's that whole SWOT analysis thing I need to know my weaknesses and how do I turn those into strengths?
If you struggle with critique to begin with, in your own personal life, be prepared to understand how you're going to process the information, how you're going to parse it. Maybe you're going to do one comments at a time and do that, or maybe you're gonna work with the easiest fixes first and then tackle the heavier ones.
Or, you know, another option is, too, that I offer my clients, if there's something in my editorial notes that you really just don't know how to handle or how to move forward with, let's set up a one-hour consultation and let's do this together. And I can do a screen sharing. I can offer real-time feedback as they’re writing and rewriting. So those are always different options that I think are available for writers.
But you have to go in it with a humility of knowing that, you know, there's going to be a critique, there's going to be fabulous comments and a lot of support, and at the end of the day, your editor is your readers’ advocate.
Brittany: To just add to what Linda's saying, I think that that also comes back to the importance of, when you choose an editor, to make sure it's someone, one, that has the experience, the skills—that of course is the baseline. But beyond that, you want someone that that you can have a rapport with, someone who is really solution oriented in that not only do they want to give you feedback, but they want to support you in having the energy and the enthusiasm to go ahead and implement it. That's why it's a great reason to just, if you don't mind talking on the phone, have a call with an editor.
Ariel: [audible cringe]
Linda: I know, sometimes it's like no. If you don't mind it and if they don't mind it, having a short call just to get a sense of the person or email. I like email, so I find that you can still get a pretty good sense of someone through email. Being able to…to do these small steps to establish trust and rapport and kind of make sure that you feel safe not only giving them this work that you've put so much heart into but that you feel like receiving their edits is going to be a safe experience. So you feel like you're in, like, a place of acceptance and support when you work with your editor.
But of course we're always going to get feedback that maybe we don't love. I find often times, and sometimes, like, when Linda would give me feedback or edits on my things. They were things that I kind of… they were like niggling at me like, like, “ugh, you know, I thought about that, and I wondered if that doesn't… that sentence wasn't working or if that idea just needs to be cut and moved to a different section,” and Linda flagged it so, yeah, she was right, and hey, I should have listened to myself in the first place.
And another thing, like, Linda mentioned being able to just tackle certain parts of the feedback at certain times. And one thing your editor can do is put a little code word in different comments, like #voice or hashtag, whatever. And so that's another thing I'll do with certain clients. If I know that they're struggling with something in particular, I'll put that code in every comment that deals with that issue, and that way, like they can just go ahead and tackle all of the, you know, comma splice sentences where I'm like, Okay, some comma splices are okay for voice in fiction, but too much of it is too much of a good thing.
Linda: I want to jump in here for a second too because, as you can see, that editors that are writers go through exactly the same feelings and the same emotional process that, you know, writers who aren’t editors go through. And on the other side of the coin as an editor, when I have a client sign a contract with me and send me their manuscript, I still get that antsy feeling like, oh my god, here is this person's, you know, life work. They've entrusted me with this document and with, you know, this document, whether it be 30, 40, 50,000 words, 60,000 words, this is their, like, life's creation, and they've chosen me to work on this. So it's a tremendous honor.
There's a huge humility, I think, on the editor side that might not be acknowledged enough when somebody chooses to work with us and pass down, you know, this really wonderful project that means so much to them. So a client might be a client, but it's not that we take any of this work lightly. Every single project—and I can attest to that from Britney to me—that we work on, our whole heart and soul goes into that, you know. When we're working on your manuscript, we're there 100%.
Ariel: Yeah. What's the most common bit of feedback you receive on your writing?
Linda: So I usually hear two things, and I'm really embarrassed to say the first, but I often get asked to reword something to make sure it's even more inclusive. And this is my caveat, because I'm able bodied and I don't really pay attention sometimes. Or it's not in my bandwidth. And I'm so grateful that I have this, you know, trusted team of editors that I collaborate with, not only on this book, but on some of the blog posts that I write, that are really pointing these things out to me. I'm just really, really grateful to that because it's just making me a better writer and you know, you don't tend to make the same mistake twice. So for me, it's a great learning experience.
And the second comment that I usually get is can we use less curse words? Can we drop some of the curse words? And your voice is really friendly, and it's easy going and it's easy to relate to. So that's the kind of feedback that I usually get.
Ariel: You know, I so seldom have writers come on and tell me something positive that they hear.
Linda: I think so, Brittany, because we talk about it all the time. With this whole project, even though we reached out and we had a manuscript critique, and we had, you know, got copy edited and proofread, and we had the ARC readers, I have to say—and not to blow smoke up our own areas—but most of the feedback that we got was incredibly positive, was so supportive.
Brittany: Yeah, and I think that were so grateful to have people take the time and the energy to give us feedback that we were really receptive to whatever you know, our fellow editors or readers-to-be told us, and so our outlook was like, “Thank you so much. Yes, you're right. And we need to look at this. We need to look at that.” So I think that's another part of it.
Ariel: Yeah. So what feedback do you hear most often, Brittany?
Brittany: I often hear that my writing is very clear and easy to understand, which is nice. I'm glad for that. But also, that I can connect better with my audience, if my voice is more casual. And so that's one of the things that I really love about Linda's writing, is that it's very comfortable and conversational, but at the same time very, you know, well thought out and has a great message.
But my background, a lot of my early writing experience was in an academic setting, where I was writing these intensive research papers. And also a lot of my early reading, I had a real—and I still do—but I had a real passion for like 18th- and 19th-century women's lit, and so that tends to color some of my tone and whatnot. And it doesn't really translate to like today's Social Media speaking, and all that kind of thing. So it's something that I'm aware of, but I also know Linda did sometimes gently was like, “Hmm, what's another way we can say that, you know, is a little more informal?”
Ariel: And wow, I feel like there's been so many gems in this episode, but do you have any last words of advice?
Brittany: Don't be afraid of editing. Take the time you need to find an editor who support you, who respects your work and who wants to help you succeed. You know, understand that it's part of the process and your editor is there to help you, and you should always feel that you're coming out of being edited or having those coaching calls—or whatever it might be—you’re coming out better and more supported and further along the road in the direction you want to go. Linda?
Linda: I have a lot of things that I would add. I could just do a podcast on advice. First of all, if you're a writer and you think you can get away with publishing without editing, just don't go there. Don't do that. It just takes one negative review mentioning, you know, your lack of editing or the things that you might have missed, that could have been solved in a copy edit. It just takes one or two bad reviews to bring down your whole average of reviews and you don't want that to happen.
If you're planning on, you know, going to self-publish or indie publish, remember that good editing has a cost and that it’s going to take time. What I usually tell writers that I'm working with is when you're writing, start setting money aside for your editing budget. That editing budget is going to include a lot of things. It might include hiring a developmental editor, or maybe instead it's a line editor or a copy editor or a proofreader. Just plan accordingly.
Research your editors in advance and find one that specifically specializes in your genre or in your audience, and hire them early because good editors are usually booked out months in advance. Brittany, both Brittany and I, I think we're booked out, usually four to five months in advance. Although there's some really great projects that come our way, if it's a last-minute thing, we're usually not able to take them, so plan accordingly.
If you are not sure what editing can cost there, the EFA has an editing rates sheet that's… It's an average editing rate on which editors will base most of the rates off of. That's not the end price, but it's a great starting point for you to understand how much you might have to spend on editing.
Don't wait till the last minute, you know, after you're done writing your manuscript to look for an editor and hire an editor. That's something you can do at the same time that you're writing. Ariel: Yeah, I don't book out four to five months in advance. My goodness, ladies, you’re powerhouses!
Linda: Not yet!
Ariel: But I do agree. I frequently have authors who are looking for someone who's available immediately and the next opening will be in two months. So that is solid advice is get on those calendars early.
Can we get to my favorite part of the program? [loving sigh] The last part of our program is a Hot and Wholesome Gossip Corner! Are there any other writers or creators or editors doing something you're excited about? Any shoutouts you want to give or people you want to lift up?
Linda: We wouldn't be here where we are today had it not been because of all the volunteers that we've worked with at organizations for professional editors. Specifically we're talking about ACES, about EFA, about PEN, and about the Chartered Institute for Editing and Proofreading.
And I also think, you know, the EFA’s Diversity Initiative was the meeting point for both of us. Because I am Latinx I joined because I thought maybe there's something that I can contribute there, and Brittany, slowly and secretly reeled me in and, you know, made me volunteer for things that she was absolutely right, I should volunteer for. And something that we talk a lot about in our book is, you know, volunteering is a superpower, and the connections that you make through volunteering sometimes can last a lifetime and are wonderful to get your work out there.
Another tool that not a lot of writers are aware of is the Conscious Style Guide, and if you're a writer, you really need to make this part of your toolbox and give it the same way you would you know Merriam-Webster or the Chicago Manual of Style or you know your word editor tool. So this should be something that's bookmarked on your computer and that you should refer to often for information.
Brittany: We also wanted to mention a resource that a fellow editor and a fellow member of the Diversity Initiative has created so Crystal Shelley, who's known as the Rabbit with a Red Pen.
Ariel: I love her so much!
Brittany: Yeah, that's her editing, that's her company name, which I love. But she's recreated a resource which is a Conscious Language Toolkit. And it's a practical guide for writers to write with inclusiveness and respect in mind. She also has a lot of great blog posts that kind of delve into inclusive language.
Linda: Which, by the way, Brittany, that toolkit for writers is just a great read in itself. It's really informative, enlightening. The moments of being blown away like “oh, yes, that makes so much sense!” you know, that I had a reading that were incredible.
Ariel: I've had the pleasure of meeting Crystal in a couple of EFA social events and the Editors Tea Club. And so she was a clinical social worker. And when she switched careers to editing, she didn't have it in mind to completely blow us all out of the water with her extensive knowledge of inclusiveness. But she has made huge waves and we all owe quite a debt of gratitude to her willingness to share her knowledge and to promote inclusivity. Yeah.
Brittany: Yeah, she really has created some terrific resources and just really contributed, I think, to the editing community.
And there's another editor, actually, that I want to mention, who has been creating resources for editors for several years now. And she's also a member of the Diversity Initiative: Ebonye Gussine Wilkins. She actually has created a few booklets that you can get through the EFA’s website. One is on sensitivity reading, also known as authenticity reading, and then the other is about it's called nuance, I think respectful querying. She has some really wonderful frameworks that she's developed to help guide editors who maybe don't share the same cultural background with their clients.
What I really like about it, too, is I think, you know, a lot of us come to editing with our own our own style, our own approach. And we've taken classes, but really, up until recently, I don't think there have been that many class-based resources for, you know, knowing how to edit with inclusion. And so one of the great things when I read Ebonye’s books with that, one, it validates a lot of kind of how I approach things, but also it provides a clear framework. And so if you like having frameworks and checklists, and things like that to just kind of guide you, she's got resources at her website, and—
Ariel: Uh, you said checklists and my I just started like drooling a little I'm really interested. I hadn't heard about Ebonye's work yet, so I’m definitely going to check out those books.
Linda: Yeah, she’s really good. From an efficient editing perspective as an editor, if we're smart enough, we take that information in those checklists, and we embed them into our Text Expander. And so every time you're going to do a query that requires you to take those steps, you just pop that into your query and you make sure that you've covered every single point. Ariel: Efficiency is one of my business goals for the year. And text expanders is like top of the list.
Linda: Yeah, I always thought, like, “Ah, I don't need that. I'm okay. I'm a fast typer, I don’t…” And then I took a free 30 minute… I don't want to say class, but I guess workshop or session with somebody from TextExpander and yeah, my mind just got blown. I was like, “How have I been working without this, you know, for the last two or three years?” Like, amazing!
Ariel: I don’t often add my own shoutouts, but Brittany and Linda are also featured on The Editing Podcast today—oh my gosh!—with Louise Harnby and Denise Cowle. They are talking about the nuts and bolts of networking for editorial freelancers. So, all of those topics that you’re really interested in that they didn’t quite get to in this podcast. If you’re not already following The Editing Podcast, you are missing out!
Well, if you want to check out Brittany and Linda’s work, you can find all their handles in the show notes, or head to their websites. You’ll find Brittany at wordcat-editorial.com or Linda at theinsightfuleditor.com. You can hire them for editorial services, or check out Networking for Freelance Editors, that helpful workbook for newbies and veteran red-pen wielders alike. You can learn more at networkingforeditors.com
Thank you both so much for talking with me. This has been amazing!
Linda: This was awesome. Thank you for having us and inviting us!
Brittany: It's been so fun talking with you. Honestly, it's just been… like, I could sit here and talk to you all afternoon, so thank you.
Linda: We don't get a chance to talk with other editors about editing or about the craft of writing that much, you know, live.
Brittany: We were really excited to do this. My first podcast, so hopefully I did okay, but thank you. I really loved it.
Ariel: If you loved this episode of Edit Your Darlings, why not share it with a friend? Remember to rate and review on Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast fix. For show notes go to edityourdarlings. com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @editpodcast, or I'm @arielcopyedits. Until next week, cheers!