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The Club Ed Guide to Starting and Running a Profitable Freelance Editing Business
At Club Ed, we tell the truth. Yes, you should skip the Speedo. No, you shouldn’t feed the sharks. And yes, running a freelance editing business is work. Hard work.But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! The Club Ed Guide to Starting and Running a (Profitable) Freelance Editing Business is a laid-back guide to helping you figure out how to launch and run an editing business, whether you’re planning on doing it as a side hustle or a full-time gig. This book will help •Understand how your purpose drives your marketing•Define your personal and professional goals for your business•Develop effective marketing (and learn how to assess it)•Immerse yourself where your clients are•Manage clients and run the backend of your business•Cultivate the right mindset to succeed at freelancing•Deal with taxes, contracts, and the people who scare you. . . and more!
257 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 2, 2019
27 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 17, 2020
This handbook sits happily alongside my dictionaries, thesaurus, style guides and all the other essential reference books that I use in my work as a developmental editor. It sits there for a reason—I regularly consult it while working.
The book is, of course, a fantastic guide to getting started in freelance editing. Jennifer Lawler covers not only the practical elements of the process but also the mindset required to make your business a success. However, it’s also useful for those who are already freelancing but may benefit from tweaking their existing editorial process or business model.
For example, one of my oft-consulted sections is Chapter 4: Career and Life Management. In this chapter, Jennifer talks about what she calls the three-bucket approach and how to manage a successful freelance career alongside all the other elements of a busy, full life. Although I’ve read her advice many times before, I find myself returning to it when I get stuck and need to re-evaluate my approach, or when I simply need reassurance that the steps I’m taking are the right ones for my business. Freelancing is freeing but it can also be frightening to be the only one making decisions! This is where Jennifer’s guidance has helped me the most.
Her chapters on client and project management and setting fees have also proved invaluable to my business. Not only does she walk readers through these processes, but she also deals with common hurdles that may come your way (scope creep, for example, and how to successfully approach client negotiations). When I’ve encountered challenges with an edit, I’ve often referred to these chapters for advice and, more often than not, her advice has helped me to surmount these challenges.
Although some of the sections are only pertinent to editors based in America (or American editors working abroad who need to comply with the IRS), there’s enough here to justify it sitting on a British or international editor’s bookshelf too.
The book is, of course, a fantastic guide to getting started in freelance editing. Jennifer Lawler covers not only the practical elements of the process but also the mindset required to make your business a success. However, it’s also useful for those who are already freelancing but may benefit from tweaking their existing editorial process or business model.
For example, one of my oft-consulted sections is Chapter 4: Career and Life Management. In this chapter, Jennifer talks about what she calls the three-bucket approach and how to manage a successful freelance career alongside all the other elements of a busy, full life. Although I’ve read her advice many times before, I find myself returning to it when I get stuck and need to re-evaluate my approach, or when I simply need reassurance that the steps I’m taking are the right ones for my business. Freelancing is freeing but it can also be frightening to be the only one making decisions! This is where Jennifer’s guidance has helped me the most.
Her chapters on client and project management and setting fees have also proved invaluable to my business. Not only does she walk readers through these processes, but she also deals with common hurdles that may come your way (scope creep, for example, and how to successfully approach client negotiations). When I’ve encountered challenges with an edit, I’ve often referred to these chapters for advice and, more often than not, her advice has helped me to surmount these challenges.
Although some of the sections are only pertinent to editors based in America (or American editors working abroad who need to comply with the IRS), there’s enough here to justify it sitting on a British or international editor’s bookshelf too.
July 21, 2019
Good handbook on the "nuts and bolts" of owning/operating a freelance editing business. This isn't the substantive of how to be a developmental editor (or copyeditor), but instead more of a "running this type of business 101." I've also read "An Editor's Guide to Working with Authors" and that's more of a handbook on how to be a developmental editor on a freelance basis (rather than at a publishing house), working with authors who hire you rather than culling through the slush and cherrypicking the very best to develop for publication.
The freelance editor client base includes people at all levels. This book helps you identify what skills and interests you have to match up with authors that fit your profile, market to the authors you want to work with. There are helpful exercises in trying to narrow down your target client base to something more specific than "people who write anything" so that you can build expertise and a loyal client base who send you referrals.
Then there is the: "how do I get this all done, marketing, editing, and sending out invoices, going to conferences, maintaining a website-yikes, who is this terrible boss who dumps all of this on me. Oh yeah, it's me." I found this book very informative and helpful.
The freelance editor client base includes people at all levels. This book helps you identify what skills and interests you have to match up with authors that fit your profile, market to the authors you want to work with. There are helpful exercises in trying to narrow down your target client base to something more specific than "people who write anything" so that you can build expertise and a loyal client base who send you referrals.
Then there is the: "how do I get this all done, marketing, editing, and sending out invoices, going to conferences, maintaining a website-yikes, who is this terrible boss who dumps all of this on me. Oh yeah, it's me." I found this book very informative and helpful.
September 29, 2022
This book certainly gave me a lot to think about. Indeed, while I went into it thinking I would pick up freelance editing as a side hustle, particularly proofreading, now I'm less sure I'm up to the task. I'm partially kidding, but it really was very helpful to lay out all of the things I needed to think about before diving into freelance editing. The book is very detailed, written in an engaging style, and a useful resource freelance editors will return to time and time again. Very practical and very much recommended for those serious about the field as well as those wondering if the field is for them.
September 29, 2019
Contains a lot of useful information on the business side of editing.
July 28, 2023
Really helpful and informative.
July 24, 2025
Actually supremely helpful! I recommend to anyone trying to get into the editing biz.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews