Lion's Tooth Editing

Two years ago, I set out to establish myself as a freelance editor. I had ambitions. I held back on forming any sort of expectations, considering both my health and the ADHD, but I had intentions.

I knew that getting my name out as an editor would be difficult, and I had several failed attempts at blogging in my past, warning me about how difficult my primary strategy for marketing would certainly be. But I had hopes.

I kept my plan simple, trying not to set myself up for failure, and built in a lot of grace.

The most difficult challenge I faced was deciding how honest to be: do I publish my struggles with meeting goals when I’m trying to convince someone to hire me for a project with a deadline? I decided that my desired clientele would be able to accept an explanation of the difference between a contracted deadline (negotiated with self-awareness of my limitations) and a personally determined goal with zero accountability. I decided that vulnerable honesty is not, in fact, unprofessional. After all, what I would like most is to find my place within a community.

Excluding the posts I made as I built the website and introduced myself and editing philosophy, I succeeded in writing and publishing exactly four entries into my blog. Eh, what can you do. We came up on the holidays, shockingly at the same time as every year previously since their establishment, and I kept forgetting to make a post. Then I was distracted by a graduating high school senior with a looming college career and the first relocation we’ve made in 10 years, (My husband and I moved 9 times in the first 11 years we were together,) after which I had to recover from the resultant exhaustion, and then I went and got a day job.

In the nearly two years that I’ve offered freelance editing, I’ve had four clients. I even remembered to solicit reviews from two of them!

I love the work. I want to continue doing it. However, I’ve been debating whether or not to renew efforts here, and I’ve determined to embark on the self-publishing adventure, something I’m honestly far more motivated to market.

As a result, I’m removing all claims that my prices are introductory and temporary. I have no intention of ever raising them, and I’m more willing than ever to negotiate them down for those who need to.

I’m not here to undercut fully professional editors. Please, if you can afford them, by all means, I would find them preferrable as well. Neither am I here to criticize their prices. They are absolutely worth every penny (and many are happy to work with clients who are wrestling limited budgets).

I’m here because I love editing, and because I understand that investing in someone who is only semi-pro, someone with a limited amount of evidence to demonstrate their ability, will never be someone’s first choice.

Rather than close-up shop, I’m going to offer discount services, discounted not due to quality but rather perceived risk.

Who knows, I may even make another attempt at blogging…