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2021 Summer Challenge

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This summer, NAIWE is challenging you and your fellow NAIWE members to be the best version of yourselves. You may personalize this challenge to fit your needs and summer goals. Choose a book to read that you classify as a self-help book even though its genre is far from that. Choose a project that has been nagging at you but will also produce great reward upon completion. And finish the challenge by spending some quality time with our experts learning how they mastered creating multiple steams of income. Throughout the challenge, be true to yourself and your goals!

There are three parts to this challenge:

  1. Read one book that will stretch your mind and inspire your creative spirit. The 2021 Summer Challenge is a great way for you to catch up on those business reads that have been piling up.
  2. Finish one project that’s been nagging at you for longer than you care to admit. This is not so much about the length of time to complete the project as it is about finishing what you started. (For some motivational tips, listen to NAIWE’s Productivity Expert Meggin McIntosh’s teleclass on How to Complete Your Projects, Especially the Ones that Have Been Bugging You.)
  3. Brainstorm a new project that will bring you an additional stream of income, then take the first step to make it happen. NAIWE is willing to be your partner and advocate to bounce ideas off of.

As you finish your one nagging project, leave a comment below about your accomplishment and how it made you feel.

Greg Smith, The Novel Writing Expert

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We wanted to get to know Greg Smith (NAIWE’s Novel Writing Expert) better, so last month we sat down with him. Here are some thoughts he shared with us.

Is this a guide to follow at will?

The Agile Writer Method is something you can do at your own pace and on your own schedule. However, it is structured for 10 pages per week for 25 weeks. I recommend you find two critique partners and have weekly meetings where you review your weekly 10-page output. This creates a sense of accountability that motivates you to write each week. However, you can follow the program and write your novel at whatever pace works best for you.

Do all the steps need to be in order to write a good novel?

Yes, and no. The big idea behind the Agile Writer Method is successive refinement. You’ll start with a single sentence describing your story. Then write an elevator pitch (one paragraph). Then a synopsis (one page). During the plotting phase, you create an eight-stage Storyboard (or outline) that structures your story. Then you write 10 pages a week for 25 weeks. So, yes, there is a progression that you need to follow. However, many Agile Writers will write their beginning, then their ending, and then fill in the middle! So, it’s a pretty flexible method.

Do you offer a template?

Yes, there are templates for the Hero Abstract, the Story Abstract, and the eight-stage storyboard (or outline). These templates will get you started. Most Agile Writers are pretty creative; they’ve embellished and augmented the templates to suit their needs. As I have said, The Agile Writer Method is very flexible!
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Storytelling is as old as the human race. Over the ages we’ve come to expect a pattern to storytelling. In this webinar, Greg Smith lays out this time-worn pattern. Based on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, mythology, psychology, and screenwriting techniques, the “The Eight Stages of the Novel” will help you plot your story before you put pen to paper.

You can join in this conversation on September 13, at 8:00 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on writing your novel. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Non-members can join for $30. Register today!

Member of the Month: Ruth Thaler-Carter

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Today’s podcast episode is a Member of the Month episode, where we get to know one of our fellow NAIWE members.

Our guest today is Ruth Thaler-Carter.

Ruth E. “I can write about anything!” Thaler-Carter, NAIWE’s Networking Expert, provides writing, editing, proofreading, website critiques and updates, and presentations to publications, associations, businesses, not-for-profit organizations and individuals in diversity, decorative arts, cats, landscaping/gardening, education, facilities management, healthcare and wellness, communications, freelancing, business, law, public relations/marketing, and much more.

Thaler-Carter is the author/publisher of “Get Paid to Write! Getting Started as a Freelance Writer” and the short story “Sometimes You Save the Cat …” and co-author of the 2020 editions of “Freelancing 101: Launching Your Editorial Business” and “Resumés for Freelancers” for the Editorial Freelancers Association. She owns Communication Central, which co-hosts with NAIWE an annual conference for freelancers; A Flair for Writing, which helps aspiring authors get published; and the An American Editor blog.

Thaler-Carter has received awards for her writing and editing skills; contributions to the Rochester, NY-area literary community; and support of fellow freelancers. She is a popular presenter at conferences and in webinars about freelancing, websites, editing and proofreading, grammar, websites, working with associations, specializing vs. generalizing, networking, and other topics related to the world of writing, editing, proofreading and publishing.

Known as the “Queen of Networking,” Thaler-Carter is active in the NAIWE, EFA, Cat Writers Association, Society of Professional Journalists, ACES: The Society for Editing, and several more.

 

Q: Please share a little of your professional history with our readers.

I did my first freelance writing back in high school, first by creating my own literary magazine after being turned down for the one published by the school and then by writing a column for a local community newspaper. In college at Indiana University-Bloomington and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, I wrote for the campus newspapers and typed and edited papers for other students, which expanded my skills in editing. I had several full-time jobs in communications before going freelance full-time and have never regretted that decision. Over the years, I’ve expanded my independent business from writing only to writing, editing, proofreading, website work, speaking, and conference host. I’ve also become known as the “Queen of Networking” through my active involvement in, and support for, professional associations.

 

Q: How and when did you make this business a reality?

I was freelancing on the side for several years while working in full-time, in-house communications jobs until I hit burnout with the day-to-day routine and went full-time freelance at the end of 1984. It was a reality from the jump, because I negotiated a contract with my job and set up two part-time gigs, so I started with a good flow of work and income.

 

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far in your career?

Two things, actually: Diversify, and never give up!

 

Q: Are you working on any personal writing projects at this time?

I’m trying to be better about posting regularly to the An American Editor blog and playing with some fiction possibilities.

 

Q: Are you working on any special projects you’d like to tell us about?

Starting to plan the 2021 “Be a Better Freelancer®” conference!

 

Q: What are some of the teachers, books, or authors who have influenced your professional life in a positive way?

My parents, who brought me up to love reading and learning; my sixth-grade English teacher, who instilled never-forgotten and constantly used grammar skills in me; my 11th-grade “Critical Reading and Writing” and 12th-grade AP English teacher, who gave me confidence in my skills. I’ve been a voracious reader my whole life and couldn’t begin to pinpoint any specific books or authors as influences.

 

Q: As a seasoned professional, what advice would you offer an independent writer or editor who is just beginning a career?

Learn something about the type of work you want to do as a freelancer, ideally by getting real experience; save money before you launch; identify what you need to earn so you can set your rates accordingly; network to learn from—and give back to—colleagues.

 

Q: What inspires you?

I’m inspired by the memory of my parents’ and husband’s pride in what I do; my parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle as Holocaust survivors; and how great it feels to do good work.

 

Q: How has your membership in NAIWE benefited you professionally?

Belonging to NAIWE has introduced me to new colleagues and brought a welcome partnership for my “Be a Better Freelancer”® conference.

 

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

The beauty of being an independent writer and editor (etc.) is that I’m never bored by my work, am always meeting new people and learning new things, and have a life I enjoy. I wish colleagues the best of luck in all of your freelancing endeavors and hope you’ll all participate in the “Be a Better Freelancer”® conference!

Days to Celebrate in September

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September: Self-Improvement Month. Take some time to improve yourself. What class will you take or conference will you attend to improve your business self? Think ahead and prepare to sign up for the Be a Better Freelancer conference!

September 6: National Read a Book Day. Grab a book (a fun read or even one for professional development), and spend the day reading.

September 6: Labor Day. This day recognizes the men and women who labor to build this country. As self-employed professionals, many tend to work on this day, but what will you do to celebrate?

September 10: National Swap Ideas Day. Share a creative or helpful idea with a client or colleague.

September 12: National Day of Encouragement. This day is dedicated to uplifting people around us and making a positive impact. Who can you encourage?

September 15: National Online Learning Day. This day recognizes the advantages and vast potential of online learning and the accomplishments of these students. What can you study today to improve your skills? NAIWE hosts monthly webinars to help you improve your skills!

September 21: National IT Professionals Day. This day is set aside to honor the venerable geeks of the world we all rely on to keep us connected.

September 22: American Business Women’s Day. A day set aside to honor and reflect on the contributions and accomplishments of the millions of women in the workforce and the millions of women business owners in the United States.

September 24: National Punctuation Day. A period, a comma, a semicolon, a question mark, and an exclamation point are examples of some of the punctuation used in writing to separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning. National Punctuation Day commemorates these and all punctuation marks.

Education with an Emphasis

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No matter the service you offer in the publishing industry, you are a business owner and, therefore, a professional. As a professional, your profession requires education and skill.

When offering editorial services, I find that I regularly educate authors in the difference of a friend reading their work and of myself (a professional with education and experience in the industry who has reviewed numerous manuscripts and seen their success or failure and the reasons behind that outcome).

Though you may have taken classes when you first began to increase your skill level, it is always a good idea to regularly attend classes or conferences to keep your skills up-to-date. You can never know it all, and even if you feel you know everything about your specific skill, your clients will benefit from your learning about other areas within the publishing industry.

Having obtained a master’s degree in publishing, I took courses in book design, copyright, and many other topics that I do not offer services in. Plus, having worked in-house, I was able to see the bigger picture of the publishing process, and where my services fit in the process. And these insights have benefitted my clients because I am more knowledgeable and able to offer additional assistance or advice outside of my provided service.

Having seen the importance of education, I have put a great emphasis on it within NAIWE. We record all webinars and make them available to you on demand. And though the topic of every recording may not be directly related to the services you offer, the knowledge you gained may prove beneficial for your clients when you apply it to their needs.

 

April Michelle Davis, NAIWE Executive Director

April Michelle Davis has been the executive director of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE) since 2018. Prior to that, she was NAIWE’s Social Media Marketing Expert. NAIWE is an association that focuses on career building for writers, editors, and other professionals in the publishing industry by developing multiple streams of income; it helps its members market their products and services through social media, newsletters, and more.

She is also the coordinator for the Virginia chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association, a lifetime member of the American Copy Editors Society, and a freelance editor, indexer, proofreader and author. April Michelle has taught courses through her own company, Editorial Inspirations, as well as for associations and colleges on topics such as editing, indexing, grammar, writing, and creating macros.

Her credentials include a master’s degree in publishing from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Messiah College, as well as certificates in editing (University of Virginia), book publishing (University of Virginia), and professional editing (EEI Communications).

April Michelle has shared her insights about her career development by contributing quotes and vignettes to several books. She has presented sessions on various editorial topics to many groups, including the Virginia Writers Club, the Communication Central conference, Randolph-Macon College, the Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network, the EFA, Copyediting newsletter, RavenCon, and the Hanover Book Festival. In addition, April Michelle has published three books.

MJ Courchesne, The Copyright & Permissions Expert

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We wanted to get to know MJ Courchesne (NAIWE’s Copyright & Permissions Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here are some thoughts she shared with us.

Should a freelancer expect to sign a work-for-hire agreement for each job?

It’s good practice to sign some sort of contract before starting a new job. Whether it’s a work-for-hire or another arrangement is really up to the freelancer. If you’re new to the field, you may wish to sign a work-for-hire to get your name out there and establish your reputation in a certain topic area. If you’re an established writer, you may wish to push for a royalty or another arrangement wherein you maintain your copyright. But either way, a contract between you and your client is good business so that both you and your client understand the full terms of your arrangement from who owns the work to how payments should be made.

Can you use your own contract in lieu of using the other party’s?

It may depend on the client. If it’s a small company, they may be amenable to signing a contract that you prepared. If it’s a well-established corporation, however, they may very well insist you sign their contract.

What language in a contract would cause you not to sign it?

This is tricky because it really depends upon the nature of the job. Obviously, if you are interested in maintaining your copyright, you will want to avoid any transfer of copyright language. Beyond that, it really depends upon your goals and business needs for the job.
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This interactive webinar will feature some sample agreements and sources for templates that the writer might find useful during their writing career. What does a work-for-hire generally look like? What should you expect in a standard trade publishing contract? How common are NDAs in the publishing world and why might you need one? How do you format a simple permission request? Who can you reach out to for help when reviewing a contract? Be ready to take notes and bring your questions for this informative session on contracts and agreements.

You can join in this conversation on August 31, at 7:00 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on writing agreements. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Non-members can join for $30. Register today!

Product Review: Make PerfectIt 5 Your New Best Friend

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If you’re like me, fellow editors, you have a document open to edit on your PC and then you also have open links to the Merriam-Webster (M-W) online unabridged dictionary and Google. I also open a link to my online Chicago Manual of Style (abbreviated as CMOS and pronounced “SEE-moss”).

I hope you also have PerfectIt sitting up there on your Word ribbon as your go-to editing checker. It’s also one of my essential tools, and the good news is that PerfectIt has married CMOS and—get this—shows you and links directly to actual citations in CMOS and defers to spellings in M-W. Is this editor heaven?

I was delighted to test the beta version that will be available to you now.

I bring in PerfectIt at two critical times in a book edit: I will often run PerfectIt before I tackle a book manuscript to see all the inconsistency in a manuscript. I look for words not spelled correctly or even consistently (advisor, adviser, for example), for words not hyphenated correctly or consistently (nonnegotiable, non-negotiable, for example), for awkward and inconsistent capitalization of headings, and for whether the author used the serial comma and how, among many other mechanical editing areas to prereview for fine-tuning.

PerfectIt allows me to get the big picture of the work. Then I can make editorial decisions about certain usages, allowed by CMOS (US, for example, and percent, not %) and breaking the rules consistently (such as capping the job title President in a book on leadership).

I run PerfectIt again when I have completed an edit to catch any further inconsistencies in hyphenation, in particular, and everything else this powerful program flags. I often find myself leaving parens open or missing closing quotation marks, and PerfectIt keeps me as perfect as we editors can ever get.

When testing PerfectIt 5 in beta, I threw some rough drafts at it, and I have been simply amazed at the power of the link with CMOS. In the yes-you-can-teach-old-dogs-new-tricks department, I discovered a few style points I have been getting wrong. I’ll give you one example. The word vs. gets a period, and, dang it, I’ve been using vs for years. But because my new best friend flagged vs and I could click on CMOS 10.42, I could get a quick tutorial on the rule.

You can still customize and build your house style. Downloading the new version was seamless, and I understand that if you already have subscriptions to CMOS online and PerfectIt, upgrading to version 5 is free.

Will PerfectIt ever become AI and replace us as editors? I sure hope not, but this marriage with our venerable Chicago Manual of Style is one step closer to making editors appear to be superhuman (and yes CMOS via PerfectIt says superhuman is one word).

Sandra Wendel is a nonfiction book editor, NAIWE member, and author of the award-winning book Cover to Cover: What First-Time Authors Need to Know about Editing.

2021 Summer Challenge

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This summer, NAIWE is challenging you and your fellow NAIWE members to be the best version of yourselves. You may personalize this challenge to fit your needs and summer goals. Choose a book to read that you classify as a self-help book even though its genre is far from that. Choose a project that has been nagging at you but will also produce great reward upon completion. And finish the challenge by spending some quality time with our experts learning how they mastered creating multiple steams of income. Throughout the challenge, be true to yourself and your goals!

There are three parts to this challenge:

  1. Read one book that will stretch your mind and inspire your creative spirit. The 2021 Summer Challenge is a great way for you to catch up on those business reads that have been piling up.
  2. Finish one project that’s been nagging at you for longer than you care to admit. This is not so much about the length of time to complete the project as it is about finishing what you started. (For some motivational tips, listen to NAIWE’s Productivity Expert Meggin McIntosh’s teleclass on How to Complete Your Projects, Especially the Ones that Have Been Bugging You.)
  3. Brainstorm a new project that will bring you an additional stream of income, then take the first step to make it happen. NAIWE is willing to be your partner and advocate to bounce ideas off of.

After you read your book selection, leave a comment below with the name and author of the book and your take away from this book so others will know if they should read this book.

Book Review: Cover to Cover

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Cover to Cover: What First-Time Authors Need to Know about Editing

Author: Sandra Wendel

 

First-time authors make mistakes. The publishing process can be a challenge, especially knowing all of the steps and when they are to be completed to develop a best-selling book.

It used to be that a writer would pick up an agent who would then shop the manuscript to various publishers. The writer would then be contacted at various points by the agent or the publisher throughout the publishing process, and the entire process would be completed by professionals who publish books for a living.

Now, the writer can act as the publisher. But what is the process that the book should be taken through?

The writer who is looking to become a published author may be lost after the manuscript has grown and developed as much as possible through the advice given by the writer’s group members. Cover to Cover gives that writer the next-step process beginning with answering questions such as

  • Why do I need an editor?
  • What does (and doesn’t) an editor do?
  • How do I find an editor?

In Cover to Cover, Sandra Wendel, a professional editor, helps first-time authors navigate the editing process. She defines the various types of editing (including book coaching, collaborative writing, and proofreading) from her perspective, as there is, unfortunately, no one set of definitions for these terms.

In addition to preparing authors for the editing budget, Wendel helps authors cut costs by informing them of how to prepare their manuscripts for an edit. In this section, she covers book sections, length, and formatting (including the bold and italics that authors love). She also includes a section on word usage.

To emphasize the importance of authors fine-tuning the manuscript before the editing process begins, Wendel also includes a checklist at the end of the book. While some of the items in the checklist are covered throughout the book, many writers enjoy working through checklists to feel a sense of accomplishment. The checklist is broken down into sections on words, format, parts of the book, punctuation, and graphics and illustrations, leading to a nicely detailed list of items for the author to complete before hiring the editor.

Wendel offers a brief introduction to Microsoft Word’s Track Changes and shows what the editing process will look like for when the author is ready to begin working with an editor.

Early in the book, Wendel delves into some reasons why an author should not depend on a self-edit. “Our brains are just wired to miss our own errors,” Wendel says, providing reasons why even she as an editor does not solely depend upon self-editing. She gives examples of corrections her editor made to Cover to Cover: inelegant phrasing, twisted logic, missing words, misplaced modifiers, and more.

Authors often have readers for the book before an editor is involved in the process, and many authors believe those readers can replace the editor. Wendel includes a section on how a professional editor is different from your English teacher. “We’re also not your high school English teacher, so we will actually make editorial changes for you and leave you kind notes in the margin.”

Even when authors know they need to work with an editor, finding one can seem like a big deal. While “there is no Angie’s List of editors,” Wendel provides some great resources for finding editors that may be a good fit for the manuscript.

Once an author has a list of potential editors, how does one go about selecting the one? Wendel has provided questions to ask during the interview process, and even questions the editor may ask of the author. Knowing what to expect on both sides of the conversation can help to prepare the author for what to expect from the type of editor they want to work with.

In a section on writer’s block, Wendel includes a description of the types of writers in an easy-to-relate-to format. While they are similar to the learning styles—visual, auditory, and kinesthetic—it was interesting to see how these learning styles can also relate to writing styles, leading to how best to overcome writer’s block.

In helping to prepare the author to work with the editor, Wendel offers etiquette suggestions. She calls out the Karen authors and provides reasons why no one should want to be that author—the one who isn’t the most enjoyable to work with. While this was a necessary section to include in the book, especially for those first-time authors, it was too short. So much more could have been said on this topic. While Wendel included some items for the author not to do, she could have included items for the author to do. As well, since most authors and editors communicate electronically or via phone, she could have provided some sample emails or telephone dialogues.

Early in the manuscript, Wendel discusses what the writer should do once the manuscript has been written. Forms of self-editing were discussed, but neither here nor anywhere else in the manuscript did the author discuss the benefits of working through a manuscript with a writer’s group or even a fellow author.

While Wendel discusses why she did not include an index for this book (because she has a descriptive table of contents), an index includes much more detail (and can affect whether a book is picked up by a library, for example).

Finally, while it is expected that the checklist at the end of the book would include some of the same items from within the book, it was a bit disconcerting that early in the book several items were repeated. Perhaps it was to emphasize the importance, but the closeness of the repeated sections made them noticeably stand out.

Overall, we recommend this book for first-time authors (or even for self-publishing authors) who want to create a professional-looking book that is well received by the community and by its readers. The book is well written by an expert editor, and Wendel offers a lot of great information in a relatable format.

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