Publishing CareerBuilder: Careers in Freelance Editing

Freelance editors provide a wide range of editorial services to authors and clients. In this Publishing CareerBuilder, we will discuss key stages in the editorial process, and explore services including developmental editing; book coaching; working with graduate students, international authors, and corporate clients; line editing, copyediting, indexing, and proofreading. Our panelists—authors and editors of The Art of Academic Editing and The Freelance Editor’s Handbook —will share their insights into how you can find clients, price your services, and build and maintain a profitable and enjoyable business as a freelance editor.

We will have an optional speed networking opportunity following the discussion.

Panelists:

Suzy Bills, Assistant Teaching Professor of Editing and Publishing, Brigham Young University; author of The Freelance Editor’s Handbook

Leslie Castro-Woodhouse, Ph.D., founder, Origami Editorial; co-editor, The Art of Academic Editing: A Guide for Authors and Editors

Cara Jordan, Ph.D., Co-founder, Flatpage; co-editor, The Art of Academic Editing: A Guide for Authors and Editors 

Maria Snyder, Ph.D., editor and translator, chapter author in The Art of Academic Editing

Bios:

Suzy Bills is an editor, author, and faculty member in the editing and publishing program at BYU. She’s owned a writing and editing business since 2006, working with clients to publish everything from books to dissertations to technical manuals. She loves sharing her skills with others, whether through teaching and coaching editors and authors, helping authors get their thoughts on paper, or fine-tuning their writing. Her book The Freelance Editor’s Handbook: A Complete Guide to Making Your Business Thrive was published by the University of California Press in 2021.

Leslie Castro-Woodhouse, Ph.D., runs Origami Editorial, which offers developmental editing services and book coaching for academic authors. She holds a PhD in History from the University of California, Berkeley and is the author of Woman between Two Kingdoms: Dara Rasami and the Making of Modern Thailand (Cornell U Press, 2021), based on her doctoral dissertation. She has extensive experience as a journal editor and peer reviewer, including a former post at the University of San Francisco as managing editor of the journal Asia Pacific Perspectives. Before becoming a developmental editor, Leslie taught courses in Asian studies at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of San Francisco.

Cara Jordan, Ph.D., worked as a freelance academic editor before cofounding Flatpage, an editorial agency and publishing house. She earned a PhD from the City University of New York Graduate Center. She works on journal articles and book manuscripts across the humanities and social sciences. As chief editor at Flatpage, she oversees a team of editors and manages all projects. She has a certificate in editing from the University of California San Diego Extended Studies—where she currently teaches advanced copyediting—and is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, and a full member of the Editorial Freelancers Association and ACES: The Society for Editing. Cara coedited The Art of Academic Editing: A Guide for Authors and Editors.

Maria Snyder, Ph.D., is a former tenured professor of French and German who now supports international academics and artists with editing and translation services at Acadia Writing. She has a Ph.D from Washington University in St Louis and has published on topics ranging from early modern cartography to the contemporary book market. She has taught courses on language acquisition, translation, and media studies at Loyola University Chicago, the University of Missouri St Louis, and Central College. Her research experience includes projects in museums and institutions such as the LMU Munich, the Herzog-August Library, and the Newberry Library, and she continues to work on collaborative projects involving international research teams. She wrote the chapter “Working with International Authors” in The Art of Academic Editing.

Co-Moderated by Nicole Mintz, Career Services Director, College of Professional Studies, and John W. Warren, Director and Associate Professor, Graduate Program in Publishing, George Washington University.

Nicole Mintz is the Director of the College of Professional Studies Career Services. She provides one-on-one career advising sessions free of charge to CPS students and alumni. Nicole’s professional experience includes career coaching, training, and facilitation. In addition to a Graduate Certificate in Career and Workforce Development from The George Washington University, she has a B.A. in Sociology from Ithaca College and an M.S. in Applied Behavioral Science in Organization Development from The John Hopkins University. She is also a Certified Career Management Coach, Strong Interest Inventory Certified Practitioner, and a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) Certified Practitioner.

John Warren has more than 25 years of senior management experience in publishing, having led groundbreaking initiatives in digital content development and distribution, including eBooks, short-form digital content, enhanced eBooks and websites, open-access journals, and open educational resources.

Previously, he served as the Director of the George Mason University Press and Mason Publishing Group. Prior to his work at George Mason, Warren served as the Marketing and Sales Director for the Georgetown University Press, Marketing Director for Publications at the RAND Corporation, and Marketing Manager for Fondo de Cultura Economica.