Writing Roots

S45E9 – The Editor’s Toolkit

Every editor needs to be prepared with a variety of tools at their disposal in order to help authors. From editing/writing programs to technical knowledge to style guides, each piece in your toolkit will benefit your overall work.
Ley and Leigh discuss different options to consider for your own toolkit, and how to determine what belongs based on genre.
First aired August 31, 2023.

S45E8 – How to Charge for Editing

There are a variety of ways you can make money from editing, but you have to have an honest understanding of your ability, experience and skill. Three things come into play when determining how much editors charge for their work: quality, speed, and cost. Often, editors will be able to meet expectations for two, such as being good quality and cheap, but they won’t be fast.
In this episode, we talk about how to balance these, as well as industry standards for freelance editing.
First aired August 28, 2023.

S45 Bonus – Being an Author Editors Want to Work With

A good author/editor relationship is the basis for any good editing project. They need to communicate and coordinate with each other so the story can grow and become its best version. It starts right with the first interview, but continues through both parties actively engaging throughout the process.
Authors need to do and understand several things about editing in order to help that process along. From understanding it’s not about you to giving the editor all of the information they need, you want to be the kind of author editors want to work with. In this episode, we talk about how to do that.
First aired August 26, 2023.

S45E7 – Questions for the Author/Editor Interview

Editors and authors need to have a good relationship. They need to have open communication and a mutual understanding of the goals for the book or story. That’s why the first interview or meeting needs to be for a purpose.
There are several questions you can ask an author to gauge if their book would be a good fit and if you are able to work together. In this episode, we talk about what kinds of questions to ask – and questions authors should be prepared to answer.
First aired August 24, 2023.

S45E6 – Personal Editing Cheat Sheets

Even the best editors need reference guides. We all have those words we simply can’t spell (and spellcheck may not be able to fix it) or rules we just can’t remember. That’s why creating your own cheat sheet can save you from wasted time Googling everything.
In this episode, we talk about what our cheat sheets look like, how we developed them, and how this information can help you as you delve into the editing world.
First aired August 21, 2023.

S45E5 – Style Guides for Editing

You’ve probably heard of official style guides, such as Chicago or MLA. These are standardized guidelines for how to format words, punctuation, and more. Each type of writing – whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, or journalism – uses one of these standard guidelines. As an editor, you can also create or build upon a custom style guide for a book or series.
The rules found in guides like Chicago are flexible, especially when regarding fiction. To keep it consistent across a book and especially across a series, you can create a specific guide. This will hold things like character and place names so the spelling stays consistent, a timeline of events, the structure of worldbuilding, and any details of how you are using punctuation or text formatting. Listen for more on how to create your own style guide.
First aired August 17, 2023.

S45E4 – The Job of a Proofreader

The work of the proofreader is the final filter for a story before it goes out into the world. These are the people whose whole purpose is to catch misspelled words, incorrect punctuation, and any other formatting issue that may arise.
More than any others, the proofreader needs to know the manual of style as well as the author’s own style guide. They also need to have a good mindset: the knowledge that they cannot catch every mistake, but they need to catch as many as possible. In this episode, we’ll break down the job of a proofreader and where it needs to be in the whole editing process.
First aired August 14, 2023.

S45E3 – The Job of a Line Editor

When most people think of editing fiction novels, they often think of the line editor. This is the person looking at the sentence structure, word choices and character/narrator voices. They help keep the style consistent. They will also help as much as possible with grammar and punctuation, as well as applying style guidelines (a job sometimes also called copy editing).
This is one of the most important stages of editing, as they look at how the story is understood, that each line has purpose and intention, and that the storytelling stays consistent.
First aired August 10, 2023.

S45E2 – The Job of a Developmental Editor

There are many kinds of roles you can take if you want to become an editor. If you like being involved early in the process, helping guide an author through the plot and past their roadblocks, you may consider the role of a developmental editor.
Developmental editors are not about the correct grammar and punctuation. Rather, they are the ones who look at the structure of a story as a whole, checking for plot holes, character arcs and the overall structure. The big picture stuff.
First aired August 7, 2023.

S45E1 – Becoming an Editor

Editing is a vital part of the publishing process, whether you’re a self-published author or looking into traditional publishing. But what about those who want to become editors? No matter who you are in this process, there are a things you should know about editors and editing.
In this series, Ley and Leigh will be talking about the ins and outs of editing, mostly as it applies to freelance editing. They start by talking about becoming an editor, what their goals should be and what traits they should have that will best serve both the audience and the authors.
First aired August 3, 2023.