The Freelance Editor's Handbook - by Suzy Bills (Paperback)

About the Book

"This book provides information that's relevant not only to editors who are new to freelancing but also to editors who've been freelancing for a while (even for decades) and want to refine their processes to make their businesses more enjoyable, efficient, and financially rewarding, whether freelance editing is a part-time or full-time career. The book covers topics such choosing a business entity, establishing a business mindset, marketing to ideal clients, creating a website, determining how to price services, developing a contract, maximizing productivity, achieving work/life balance, paying taxes, managing cash flow, choosing which types of insurance to buy, and saving for retirement"--

Book Synopsis

A comprehensive guide to building and maintaining a sustainable, profitable, and enjoyable business as a freelance editor.

According to LinkedIn, more than twenty thousand people in the United States list themselves as freelance editors. But many who have the requisite skills to be excellent editors lack the entrepreneurial skills needed to run a thriving, fulfilling business. The few resources available to freelance editors, new and established, are typically limited in scope and lack the strategic thinking needed to make a business flourish.

The Freelance Editor's Handbook provides a complete guide to setting up and running a prosperous freelancing business, from finding clients to increasing productivity, from deciding how to price services to achieving work/life balance, and from paying taxes to saving for retirement. Unlike most other books on freelance editing, this book is founded on a business-success mindset: The goal isn't simply to eke out a living through freelancing. Rather, the goal is to establish a thriving, rewarding business that allows editors to achieve their career goals, earn a comfortable living, and still have time for family, friends, and personal pursuits. Author Suzy Bills identifies multiple strategies and methods that freelancers can apply, drawing on current research in entrepreneurship, psychology, and well-being. This book is the ultimate resource for editors at all levels: students just starting out, in-house staff looking to transition, and experienced freelancers who want to make their businesses more profitable and enjoyable.

Topics include:

• Deciding Whether You Really Want to Be a Freelance Editor
• Setting Up Your Business
• Finding Clients
• Marketing like a Pro
• Building Your Website
• Contracts and Invoices
• Becoming Financially Savvy

... and more!

From the Back Cover

"This handbook walks the reader through the entire process of establishing a freelance editing business. Suzy Bills provides lucid practical advice at every step, including such anxiety-producing tasks as setting fees, filing taxes, and marketing oneself to clients. She also tackles big-picture concerns too often neglected, like achieving work/life balance and planning for retirement. While editors in particular will benefit from her expertise, freelancers of all stripes would do well to read this book before launching their own enterprises."--Scott Norton, author of Developmental Editing: A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers

"This is a comprehensive, detailed, experience-based resource for anyone aiming to start a freelance editing business, with a wealth of practical information covering everything from making the decision to go freelance to training, business matters, marketing, resources, and more."--Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, coauthor with Richard Adin and Jack Lyon, The Business of Editing: Effective and Efficient Ways to Think, Work, and Prosper

Review Quotes

"This book offers the fullest treatment that I've seen of the business side of freelance editing."-- "Technical Communication"

"I would feel confident recommending it to someone considering starting their own freelance editing business in the United States."-- "Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading"

About the Author

Suzy Bills has owned an editing and writing business since 2006 and is also Assistant Teaching Professor of Editing and Publishing at Brigham Young University. In and out of the classroom, she enjoys teaching editors how to be successful freelancers.