Angry Robot's female writers: 2013.

Considering how some outcry existed this year about oh noes, men don't get into the Hugo awards anymore, but they write! as if it was men and not everyone else who had been kept out for so long, I thought it was a nice theme to discover sff by women. Maybe I'm biased?

Nah!


So back when I was freelancing for Angry Robot Books, sometimes I'd read their blog a lot, sometimes not.

I am rather an erratic person on stuff like that. Also, have you been on the Internet? It's wicked huge!

I missed this post back in 2013: Discover some great SF by women writers.  Where Lee said, "We’d like to help promote some great science fiction by our own female writers, to show the incredible quality of SF that can be enjoyed, whatever your gender."

Copyediting: 2008+...

Tom Lehrer talks about people advertising what they've done... and as y'know, I too can do that. 8)

Back when I was starting out, I did more pro bono work. Not only because it is what TNH recommended to me, it was also that I had more free time in 2008.

I'd done nonfiction proofreading since 1989. I was anxious to do fiction next.

What I didn't know... was that inside of two years, I'd be proofreading and/or copyediting two nonfiction magazines, and two fiction 'zines. I started working on fiction novels barely four months after becoming the freelancer who proofread Locus.

Some c/e highlights...

I do work on a wide variety within genre. Horror, dark fiction, GLBTQ sf/f romances, fantasy, sf/f alternate universes, YA, urban fantasies, paranormal fantasies, and much more. Just because I enjoyed working on a project doesn't mean you'll automatically like reading it, of course.

So I highly recommend checking genre first -- unless you, like me, have widely catholic tastes in reading (catholic the adjective, not the religion). If you like being surprised, then just leap in. That's what I do. :D

=-=

In 2014, I was offered Tekken: The Dark History of Mishima. That was fun. Only time I've ever been allowed to use "cartoon physics" as a guideline.

Tekken was translated into English, by an editor I knew... and who'd recruited me for my first paying gig as a freelancer. I really enjoyed working again with her.

Random: Oct. 2016

[Written nearly three weeks ago... on 4-October.]


This weekend's ConClave 40:  Clave's in a new hotel this year, which is amusingly enough a hotel that Penguicon once used -- back in 2006?

We plan on WFC 2016 as well, so Clave will be our penultimate 2016 con together (Allen attends Youmacon, but I don't).


Normally I post during September, which is my birth month and my work anniversary month.  I didn't this year.

I have a couple of publishing tests in right now.  (One arrived on my birthday; pretty cool!)  Seems like whenever I have tests, then other things want very badly to distract me and/or take up my time.  :b

On 4-October, Yesterday we found out that Allen's Olds was on its last legs.  He promptly found a different Oldsmobile, and brought that car home, so we have a reliable car again.

Editing costs.

It's interesting how people vary from the "But -- this just takes you reading it, right?" to the "I want you to catch all the things in my writing!" mindsets.  With, of course, variations all along the range there.

This includes editors too.  I have had editors who thought I just took a few moments to copyedit, that it wasn't a process that involved much time at all.

Car news: good!

Good news from the body shop on my car!  When I spoke to a gentleman there Monday, he said the repair estimate was a few dollars shy of $1700.00.

This is great as I have owned my poor abus'd PT Cruiser not even a whole month.  Having the repairs be considerably less than its list price of $2995, huzzah.  FYI:  its low miles make my car worth rather more than that.  8)

Keep your fingers crossed, I pray you!

Editing, CE job, Adam and my authors...

Can you teach editing?

Amy Einsohn thinks you can -- check out her PDF, Are Editors Born or Made?

I'd agree.  The people I meet who think they can edit and who prove amenable to being trained... are the ones who I think can learn not only how to edit, but how to become freelance editors.  Not everyone can do both.

Here's the shorter report Amy did for Science Editor in 2004, which includes the initial pages of her longer essay.

The Subversive Copy Editor (Carol Saller) interviewed Amy Einsohn in November 2011.

From Carol's blog I found Zombies and bogeymen, aka the zombie rules in grammar.

FYI: early rate change.

Normally I wait until September to post a rate change.  Not for 2015.

(If you're curious as to why, read my About me/rates page.)

This year I'll begin my eighth year as a freelance editor.  Thus I'm announcing a rate change for new clients, starting as of 27-July-2015.  Any current negotiations are not affected.

Words, books, learning.

Jackdaw and the Randoms:  my latest project.  Completed project, that is.

If you're a reader of YA, and/or you like scoundrels, you'll like Jackdaw.  He is who Douglas Richardson (of BBC Cabin Pressure) aspires to be.  No, really.


I was added as an approved freelancer for Tor.com and the Macmillan freelancer pool this month June.  I am working on my first Tor.com novella now.  David Tallerman's Patchwerk.

Action, punctuation, dialog!

Punctuating action beats inside dialog.  It's a little tricky if you haven't done it before.

Howe'er, after much hunting, I found the answers in the 2012 Grammar Tip Tuesday: Punctuating Interrupted and Continued Speech.  Which came from PMS's Em dash page.

September 2014 update.

Almost every year I write a post about September being my anniversary month... and this marks the seventh year of my freelancing as a copy editor.  How's that?

Working from home limits your in-person social interactions -- no workplace with people you see every day -- and that lack has affected me whenever I was depressive.  Like now.

I need to make various changes so my career and my business both continue successfully.  And I want to be healthy.  I don't want depression or anything else to bog me down.


You can tell a bit about my life and my health by my blogging.  That goes up and down -- sometimes because I'm busy, sure.  In September 2013 I wasn't depressive.  I was motivated and that's part of why so many posts happened.

Normally I'm extremely motivated (Kevin Maroney once said I was "made of energy") so this has been a major problem during 2014.

You need motivation to do simple everyday things, but also for complex tasks like running a business.

Language and writing...

Definitions:  No problem -- an idiom -- and tits up, which in this context was an anachronism.

Meta Monday: Smallclothes.  Which the writer brought up because of history, and yes, GRRM.  Heh.

Recognizing Adjectives (a quiz).

Many helpful links via Ann Leckie, such as how not to cut adjectives and the evils of passive voice.

Framing Devices and Nested Narratives at Tor.com.

Goodbye, Electric Velocipede.

Electric Velocipede and Icarus Closing

Electric Velocipede has a story in the Year's Best SF, 31st edition.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies blogged about our final issue.  Locus has a long review of EV 27, which includes spoilers for some pieces (I like to read my short fiction without knowing anything about it, myself, but YMMV, of course).

"I’m unhappy to bid goodbye to Electric Velocipede, of which we have the last issue here. A loss to the field." - Lois Tilton
— Electric Velocipede (@EV_Mag) December 27, 2013

You can buy issue 27 as an ebook for Kindle or Nook.  All the poems and stories were posted 30-January-2013.  [Will link to second post presently.]

"The Soviet Union needs beasts... Is a beast what you want to be?” http://t.co/d1Imh8TZMW @sentencebender in @EV_Mag
— Lara Elena Donnelly (@larazontally) December 30, 2013

Come to ConFusion next month (17-19 January 2014) and help us remember Electric Velocipede!  And if you're in NYC during February 2014, they're throwing a party too.  Huzzah to Matt and Sam!

Electric Velocipede (@EV_Mag) final issue release party, Feb 28th at Bluestockings Books. http://t.co/chnxMkUamU
— Matthew Kressel (@mattkressel) December 23, 2013

But we're having a wake in Michigan.

I am particularly proud of this as it was somewhat my idea, you see.  And I wanted John to enjoy ConFusion 2014; what better way than a party?  Celebration and farewell.  Come raise a glass with us -- there will be door prizes and raffles and STUFF.  Really!

I loved working on EV.  I'm proud to have been part of the team for 2008-2013.  I'm grateful for the others who became part of the team too -- for a little while or a long time, depending on their lives.

I'm thankful for them all, every one:  Adam, Patrick, Damien, Jamie; and all our slushreaders and proofreaders and support staff and... you.  Thank you.  It's been a wonderful ride on Electric Velocipede.

I'm so glad I got to hitch a ride.  With John and with all of you.

Paying it forward: Links and tips.

Five Overlooked SF/F/H Books of 2013  (Must point out that I copyedited the first book in the B and N list. And it's a wonderfully fun book.)

Waterstones offers Twauthors – The best authors on Twitter


Over on Goodreads, Steven Saus tells us The Write Agenda Can Teach You How To Avoid Untrustworthy People... Like Themselves. If you read nothing else, go read that. It will help you with contracts, with understanding the behavior of the anonymous troll -- and the vanity press publishers -- and the many MANY scammers out there preying on the new authors and future authors.

Writer Beware is a major example of paying it forward.


A Few Things a Writer Should Probably Do at Least Once from Doctor Doyle.  Since I'm in SCA, I can tell you that yes, these would indeed help you.  Have I done them all?  No.

As a copy editor, guns and other weapons are something I tend to research a LOT.

Shh: a simple tip for talking about race.

Bonus:  Until this paragraph, this entire post was an example of paragraphing style.  [Which Nero Wolfe will tell you all about in Plot It Yourself; you should read that.]  I tend to do mine a certain way, and I vary it deliberately while writing to make it easier on readers.  And just for variety's sake too.

Links from work: November.

I was checking ribs, and found this image from Wiki.  8)

Explore Forensics on Examining the Body.  Be warned, this may be too much information for some, so keep that in mind when reading it.

From the Absolute Write forum, how far can you walk in a day?  Includes the definition of a league.

All About Snow.

A new word I learned, pantler.  It is a real word.  Isn't it nifty?  Serendipity is a wondrous thing.

Military terms.  I'm not sure about this website; it's interesting, but I found it when another site didn't work anymore... so YMMV.

Garbl's Long Word Replacements.  To help you cut the fat from your writing.  Discovered via my favorite grammar website.

Freelance and editing links.

How Do You Know When You Know Enough?

What is substantive editing?

Fact-checking a new word, part 1 and part 2 from Copyediting.com (link found through EditFish's reading list 5-Sept-12)


Freelancing:

10 Marks of a Self-Disciplined Freelancer


Also be sure to read the comments, as Angela Booth says:

If you decide you want to work with a company, don’t quit if they ignore your first dozen pitches. Keep pitching. Decide that you won’t stop pitching that company until one of three things happens: they go out of business, you die, or they offer you a contract.

Not only the best attitude, but she wins my vote for the best way to put this!

Adventures in full-time self-employment (Libro) has written Going It Alone at 40 in case you feel a need for encouragement.

Training: So You Want to Be an Editor.

This being September, my c/e anniversary month, I suspect more c/e and freelance info will be posted.  Keep an eye out...

Starting with the Editors' Association of Canada (EAC 2011) and So You Want to Be an Editor because So You Want to Be a Wizard is still one of my favorite Diane Duane books.

Make sure you look at that first link carefully...  I'd say that 90 percent of freelance editors still make the lower median wage.


Copyeditor Training Parts 1 (Various Courses), 2 (Other Options), and 3 (More Choices) by Erin Brenner.

KOK Edit (Editor-Mom) adds her views on training -- check her list for many colleges and associations and their editing courses.  Here's how to join the Copyediting-L list to learn more about other copy editors' thoughts on Editing or experience?

She also has the priceless Copyeditors' Knowledge Base.


Does Training Matter? What Publishers Say about Proofreading and Editing Courses by Louise Harnby, proofreader.  Also from Louise Harnby: Proofreaders-to-be: Loving Books Isn’t Enough.

Are Editors Born or Made? by Amy Einsohn [PDF].

Freelance copy editor training.

The importance of training:

Buyer beware!

CPD:  Training counts

Why train?


If you're interested in freelance editing, you should look into training.  I really can't stress this enough.

Some publishers won't hire freelancers without training or certification.  In the USA, we have the Editorial Freelancers Association; they offer online courses.  Other organizations exist, but I check EFA courses first.  The EFA's invaluable.


Margaret Aherne talks about Advanced Copy-Editing

What a publisher looks for before hiring you as an editorial freelancer

[Links broken.]

Many thanks to the SfEP and PTC, who provided these links originally (barring the EFA link, of course).

It's my freelance anniversary.

This month marks my sixth anniversary as a freelance copy editor.  Many highs and lows, certainly, but it's still just perfect for me.  I love my career choice.


My rates will update today to match the EFA's, which are currently at $30.00/hour for basic copyediting.

Note that I won't suddenly raise them in the middle of a project.

(Shhh!) Juggling colored pens here.

Tight deadline in.  I realize that I blog over at my fan blog far more than here, but in case you're wondering where I am, I'm inside a deadline.

I left a bunch of Tweets scheduled for the next few days, mostly but not all for my SH-fan mode... but I will be around in email for work and any crises.

I'll check DMs too, I imagine.  Be back Tweeting and such in four weeks.

ETA:  I may schedule blog drafts to finally post here.  Depends on how things are going with work by this weekend.  8)