Four Steps to Becoming a Professional Editor

Jun 24

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What does it really take to become an editor? In this short-and-sweet episode of The Modern Editor Podcast, I’m sharing how I got into the editing biz fourteen years ago. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t for the best reason 😅

This episode is for new and hopeful editors who want to learn from my experience and build a successful editing business. However, I think there are some good reminders for veterans, too. Listen in as I share the good, the bad, and the vulnerable!

Hey there. We have got a short-and-sweet episode today, particularly for people thinking about becoming an editor or for brand-new editors. Veteran editors, though, it's not a bad reminder for you either.
Welcome to The Modern Editor Podcast, where we talk about all things editing and what it's like to run an editorial business in today's world. I'm your host, Tara Whitaker. Let's get to it.
Hello, hello. Today we're going to talk about how finding typos does not make us editors. I have been seeing this a lot on the interwebs lately, and it needs to be addressed. And how I'm going to address it is by being vulnerable and sharing how this is how I entered the editing industry fourteen-ish years ago.
It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I figured what better way to share what I've learned and how this can be the not best way to approach a new career than by sharing how I did it and learned very quickly. So let's get into it.
Let's go back to when I was a kid or a young adult, really my whole life. I was always the person, and still am, who finds typos in everything, right? On the cereal box when I was reading it during breakfast, on signs driving down the road, in menus, in books, of course. You get the picture. And I very naively thought that that alone qualified me to become an editor when I started thinking about starting an editing business.
I mean, I find so many typos out in the world, I can do it way better. Like, if I were an editor, the number of typos out there would just be significantly lower. And I don't know why, but I had this very arrogant approach, and I'm usually not an arrogant person. I'm probably the exact opposite with having too much imposter syndrome and not thinking I can do it.
But for some reason with typos, I was like, "The world is missing out with Tara Whitaker not being an editor." Ooh, so, so wrong. I was thankfully humbled immediately when I started doing my research, and if there's nothing else you take away from this episode, it is do your research for lots of things.
I had zero clue what editors do. I had zero clue there were different types of editors. Zero clue there were editing services other than "finding typos." I thought that was all editing was. I didn't have a clue about developmental editing or line editing or indexing or any of these other things. I just, I had zero clue, period.
But I'm also the kind of person that likes to go down epic rabbit holes when I wanna learn about something. So fourteen-ish years ago, that's exactly what I did. And that's when I quickly realized how much I had to learn before I could call myself an editor. Had I just been like, "Oh, I'm good at finding typos, I'm gonna be an editor," I would've been a complete and utter fraud. I also would've been an absolute detriment to the profession, full stop. If I had ignored all those educational opportunities and legitimate advice out there, no doubt would I have caused harm to my clients because I didn't know what the fuck I was doing.
So that's my start. So if you're good at finding typos, great. That can definitely help as a copyeditor and a proofreader, but there is a whole journey after that realization that we have to take in order to serve our future clients and be an asset to the industry.
And I wanna be clear, this is not gatekeeping. This is being a responsible professional, not a scammer, which is happening more and more. The thing with editing is that it is not a regulated profession, right? There is no—in the US, there's no certification, there's no official degree or program that you have to go through in order to call yourself an editor.
Anybody can slap that title on themselves with zero education, zero knowledge, nothing. Which can be not great. And you're not gonna be one of those people, right? 'Cause we learn. I was one of those people, and then I learned, so please learn from my mistakes.
Well, hello there. This is Tara doing an ad in the middle of my own podcast, which feels a bit weird, but we're gonna go with it. I wanted to give you all a heads-up that I am making some big changes inside the Freelance Editors Club, and the biggest change coming up is the price. I am now in a position where I am able to lower the price of membership for everyone. And I mean members are going to save hundreds. So this is no small change.
So I want you to keep an ear out on the podcast here or on my newsletter for all the details and the exact date the price is going to change. If you're not on my newsletter, head to TaraWhitaker.com and sign up at the bottom of the page. And until then, let me know if you have any questions about the club. I am more than happy to help. And stay tuned for that big price change.
Now you might be thinking, "Okay, great, I can find typos, but if I need to do something else, what am I supposed to do?" Great question. There is a ton of information out there. That can be a good thing and a bad thing, 'cause there's so much you're not even sure where to go.
So what I decided for this episode is I'm gonna share four things that you should look into if you want to get started as an editor. I don't want you to feel overwhelmed or overloaded or be like, "I don't know where to start. There's too many things." And there is a ton of resources. So here are the four that I suggest if you're brand new, just starting, or haven't even started or are just trying to figure it out.
Number one is to read The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors by Erin Brenner. That is going to give you a very good clue as to whether or not you wanna move forward or not. It goes into the education, it goes into the business side of things. Because of course, yes, you have to have the editing skills, but you also have to have the knowledge to run a business, which a lot of us didn't know before getting into this, and it's equally as important. So read that book.
Second, find an editing organization in your area, country, state, province, and/or smaller editing communities. I'm gonna talk about this. So when I say an editing organization, I'm talking about groups like the Editorial Freelancers Association, ACES, Editors Canada, CIEP. Like, those are the larger groups. They have courses and webinars and resources and all sorts of things if you're like, "I have no clue about editing and I need to learn."
There are also smaller groups that are either by location or they're run by other editors. For example, there's the Northwest Editors Guild. There is SDPen. There is the Freelance Editors Club. There's The Networking Circle, and lots of others. Find a community that you feel comfortable in.
The editing organizations also have communities, but for me at least, and this is just me, they can feel too big, which is why I created FEC, which is a smaller community. But it's totally up to you, okay? But find an editing organization and/or community to get you into the space so you're talking to other editors who are at least, you know, in the same boat as you. In FEC at least, there are veteran editors, there are brand-new editors, and everyone in between. So do that.
Number three, figure out which style guide you'll most often use. So if you're looking into these editing organizations, you read The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors, you should have a clue about which direction you wanna take in terms of the type of editing you wanna do and the type of content you wanna work on.
So for example, if you wanna get into books, The Chicago Manual of Style is gonna be your style guide. If you're looking to work for, like, an organization and you're doing things like websites or journals or magazines, AP is probably more likely going to be the style guide. Get a copy of it. If you need to, get it at the library. But get a copy and read it.
It's not gonna be the most riveting book you've ever read, but it's good to know. And at least for CMOS, Chicago Manual of Style, and AP, they have quizzes online that are available so you can actually start applying what you're learning by reading the book. Reading it is great.
It's not gonna, you're not gonna absorb it as much as if you actually use it. And if you're not editing yet, those workouts or quizzes are gonna be super helpful, and I'll put a link in the show notes to those.
And then number four is find a book about the type of editing you think you wanna look into. So there's Developmental Editing by Scott Norton if you wanna do big-picture editing. Editing Fiction at Sentence Level, which is line editing, by Louise Harnby. There's The Copyeditor's Handbook and Workbook if you're looking into copyediting. And there's also The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction by Amy J. Schneider.
Pick one of those or pick all three if you wanna learn about all of them. That will also give you an excellent idea into what kind of editing you like to do. Some people, for example, I'm a copyeditor and a proofreader, developmental editing is, it just, I've done it, it's not my wheelhouse. It's not my forte. I don't like looking at the big picture. I like going more granular. You might be the opposite, which is totally fine, but you have to learn about it in order to figure out what you think you might want to do. And you can change it in the future, of course. Maybe you think you wanna do a certain kind, and then you actually start working with clients doing it, and you're like, "Oh, actually no, I don't like this." That's fine. Switch it up. Nothing wrong with that.
But those are four things you can do to just have the basics, the very basics, and then you can expand on that. Then you can start getting into courses and running the business side of things, like I've said, all of that. Client onboarding and setting your rates, like, don't worry about that yet.
If you're just now thinking like, "I like to find typos," start here before you go down any of those other rabbit holes and waste time, because you might actually figure out that you don't want to be an editor, and then you won't have wasted, you know, tons of hours and potentially money on something that you don't wanna pursue.
And just a heads-up, all of this is available inside the Freelance Editors Club. Just gonna throw that out there. Okay? And just to be clear, I'm fourteen years in and I'm still learning. I am humbled every single day, which I honestly love, because I want to be challenged, and I want to keep learning.
Other than saying to do your research, my other one big takeaway from this episode is to know that you will never know everything. You will never memorize every single grammar rule, unless you have a photographic memory, ever. So don't let that prevent you from starting. What's important is that you know where to look and who to ask, because you will do that all the time as an editor. You're not gonna know everything, ever, which is a good thing. But just don't let it prevent you from starting, okay?
So finding typos, great, and we're gonna do a little more research into that before we officially become editors, all right? Like I said, I was that arrogant, grammar-obsessed poophead that was like, "I'm gonna find all the typos in the world, blah, blah, blah." No, no, no. Typos are such a small portion of what we do as editors. Our job is so much more than that. Don't let that be an indicator of whether or not you wanna become an editor or not, all right?
So until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and remember, finding typos does not an editor make, but time and skills will help you get there.
Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. If you enjoy The Modern Editor Podcast, I would be so grateful if you left a review over on Apple Podcasts or wherever you consume podcasts. And don't forget, you can head to TaraWhitaker.com to connect with me and stay in touch. We'll chat again soon.

Finding Typos Doesn’t Make You an Editor

As a kid and young adult, I was always the person who could find a typo anywhere. Cereal boxes? Check. Road signs? Check. Books? Of course.

You get the picture.

I naively thought that because I was great at finding typos, I’d make the perfect editor and was qualified to start my own editing business. I’m not usually an arrogant person, but I took an extremely arrogant approach to my new venture. Whatever the opposite of imposter syndrome is, I had it.

Did You Know There Are Different Types of Editors? I Didn’t!

The editing industry quickly humbled me. After a bit of research, I realized I had no clue what editors actually do. I didn’t even know there were different types of editors.

Luckily, I love to go down a good rabbit hole, and that’s exactly what I did. I realized how much I had to learn before I could actually call myself an editor, so I took advantage of all the educational opportunities I could find.

Why am I telling you this? Because if I had called myself an editor and started taking on clients merely because I was good at finding typos, I would’ve been a detriment to the industry. I would’ve caused harm to my client.

That’s not what I wanted. I wanted to become a responsible professional, not a scammer. Unfortunately, not everyone takes that approach.

Editing is not a regulated profession. There’s no clear degree program or certification (at least in the US) that makes you legit. Anyone can slap the title of “editor” on themselves with zero education or knowledge. That’s not how I wanted to do things, and if you’re here, I’m guessing it’s not how you want to do things, either.

Four Steps to Getting Started as a Professional Editor

How do you actually become an editor? Today, there are tons of resources and educational opportunities you can use to get trained and start an editing business. If you feel overwhelmed and aren’t sure where to start, I’ve got you. Here are four things I recommend looking into if you’re brand new to editing.

Step #1: Read The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors by Erin Brenner: This book goes into both the education and business side of becoming an editor, so it’ll give you a good indication of whether or not this career is for you.

Step #2: Find an editing organization in your area: Larger organizations are great for education and resources, and smaller organizations are ideal for finding your community. Examples:

Step #3: Figure out which style guide you’ll most often use: Read the style guides and take online quizzes (CMOS) to help you learn. If you want to get into books, you need to read The Chicago Manual of Style. For websites, journals, and magazines, read the AP Stylebook.

Step #4: Read books about the type of editing you want to get into:

Developmental Editing by Scott Norton
Editing Fiction at Sentence Level by Louise Harnby (line editing)
The Copyeditors Handbook and Workbook by Amy Einsohn and Marilyn Schwartz
The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction by Amy J. Schneider

After you go through this list, you can dive into courses and the business side of things. However, this list will help you understand whether or not editing is for you and potentially save you tons of time and money in the long run.

Fourteen Years in and I’m Still Learning

I’ve been in the editing business for fourteen years, and even though I know way more than I did when I was a naive typo-finder, I still get humbled every day. You’ll never learn everything you need to know, but that shouldn’t stop you from getting started. As long as you do your research and continue to learn, you’re on the right track.