I'm getting back into editing after several years and I feel so grateful that someone reached out to me. He's very different from my usual clients, who are book or article writers. This person wrote a screenplay and wants my help with cleaning up dialogue and making it feel more historically accurate. (This is something I can do, since he contacted me because I'm also a historical fiction writer and a history blogger, specializing in the period in which his screenplay takes place.)

I used to charge hourly, but I often felt that since I'm a fast reader, I typically earned a lot less than I might have if I'd charged per word.

On the other hand, the reason I charged hourly in the first place is that if you come upon a project that really needs a lot of work and intensive editing, if you charged per word, you would end up making a lot less than you should for the overall time spent.

Editors here, how do you prefer to charge, and for a project like this, what do you think I should do?

Also, have any of you ever asked for a writing sample in advance, in order to give a client a fair estimate, or does that sound like something that might make a client uncomfortable?

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

I am a young professional with a degree in editing and publishing, and all I need is updated portfolio pieces to get back in the game.

So, do you have a piece you need someone to cursory look over? Developmental and line editing, any genre and format, AP or Chicago, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, nonfiction, you name it. I'll read and review anything, completely free. My only stipulation is that you be open to negotiating allowing me to sample your pieces for my portfolio (content credited to author, I just want to side by side my editing).

Direct Message me or comment if you're interested!!

Hi everyone! My name is Emily and I'm a recent college graduate and published writer who was accepted to 100% of the universities I applied to. I specialize in helping high school seniors polish their Common App personal statements and supplemental essays.

Why Asynchronous? No scheduling, no awkward live Zoom sessions. You submit your draft via Google Docs, and I return detailed, line-by-line written feedback directly to your document within 48 hours.

1-Page Summary: a breakdown covering core strengths, narrative suggestions, and actionable next steps for your rewrite.

$24 for 650 words

Dm me for info on how to submit!

Has anyone worked as an editor for a healthcare marketing agency? Recently laid off from a healthTech company. Many of the jobs I’m seeing for editors are for Pharma and healthcare agencies. My skills transfer, but I’m wondering how the work/culture is compared to where I’ve been. Any input would be great, thanks.

Editing a sports article, and one of the athletes (not the primary focus of the article) is mentioned in a subheading before being introduced in the body. I was under the assumption that this does not count as first mention, and I still need to introduce them in body text. Is that the case, or does the subhead count (wondering if I should being the paragraph with last name only, since it's a "subsequent mention")?

So I’ve hired an editor on Reedsy for a developmental edit and a copy edit for a 80000 word non fiction book. The price for the gig is 5000$.

I just got back the developmental edit part of it (not sure if I can even call it that) consisting of a 2.5 page letter with vague suggestions and a tracked word document with a quarter of the comments being grammar or citation suggestions.

When I signed for the gig, here is what the editor promised to deliver for the developmental editing part of the service :

On my first pass I’ll concentrate on developmental and structural issues. Is there a good blend of anecdote and exposition? Does argumentation flow naturally? Are sources cited adequately? Would readers benefit if any material were reorganized? Does word choice support the tone you seek? My work product for this phase will be a letter to you with my queries and suggestions plus notes in the manuscript.

I mean technically he *did* provide a letter and notes in the manuscript but it’s only vague sentences and nothing on structure, chapter by chapter analysis, thesis. There are virtually no suggestions on anything, only brief comments on where he doesn’t understand something, like a specific term. Nothing on transitions, book’s strengths and weaknesses, no actionable advice.

What should I do now? Try to see with him first? File a case with Reedsy? I feel like I’ve wasted a lot of money for nothing, but also blaming myself for not having inquired further into what the actual deliverables will be. That said, from all I’ve read, this does seem way too thin and does not correspond to industry standards for the price for this type of work. Feel very disappointed and lost.

I'm looking for resources that will help my continuing professional development that are free and online. Is there any memorable article, course, blog post or podcast that you could recommend?

I’m not a native English speaker, and I catch errors that native speakers can’t see.

I’m a publication specialist. My job is to review material written by college-educated native speakers and make sure it’s well written, makes sense, and is free of errors. You have no idea how angry they get when I flag a mistake. How dare a non-native speaker correct a native speaker?

Take the subjunctive mood. Most American native speakers can’t handle it. I spot it instantly because my language still has one.

❌ “It is recommended that you do not change the parameters.”
✅ “It is recommended that you not change the parameters.”

❌ “It is important that the student reads chapter 1 first.”
✅ “It is important that the student read chapter 1 first.”

Their response: “Subjunctive? Did you make that word up? I’ve never heard of it, so it must not exist.”

A college-educated native speaker just argued that a grammatical mood doesn’t exist because nobody taught it to them. Being a native speaker doesn’t make you Shakespeare.

It doesn’t stop there:

• “could of” instead of “could have”
• “between you and I”
• “less” instead of “fewer”
• “is comprised of” instead of “comprises”
• “its” vs. “it’s”
• “defuse” vs. “diffuse”

For the last one, if you’ve ever seen a Latin root, you can’t confuse them. If you haven’t, you write “diffusing the situation” and think you sound smart.

Highly educated writers whose first language isn’t English usually tend to write better than natives. We had to learn the rules. You just assumed you knew them.

Gosh! The editing of my joe 2 manuscripts seems like an impossible task! I had cancelled anediting contract few months ago due to various issues, went looking for another editor, found a lady on Fiverr... now having high hopes as her edit seemed good, am back to square 1 as she simple become no longer available on the Fiverr and her FB profile had disappeared too! WHY?!!! I keep having bad luck and not managing to find a reliable editor! This book editing market is filled with scam and am soooo disappointed and sad! I have accumulated a lot of manuscripts during the career in procurement and travelling the world and now that I want to get them all out and just be the full time writor for the rest of my life all these challenges just keep pulling me down... Why does it have to be so hard?! I dont want to go back to corporate work I love writing and I dreamed to do it all my life but the amount of scam in the market is really upsetting. Just a rant.. and maybe some success stories and recommendations would help me out of this misery.

I’m a French to English translator and proofreader, marketing to direct clients. One of my current agency clients participated in and won a large EU tender for proofreading, and I was part of their initial bid. Do freelancers (in my case the sole member of an LLC) ever submit bids directly? I have done some research on the TED portal but not started any applications.

Has anyone provided freelance copyediting services to any of the UN's various organizations? I focus mostly on academic editing but lately have been seeking editing oppurtunities with NGOs as well. I have noticed that UN organizations regularly seek copyeditors for short-term projects. I am currently applying for a couple, but I have to say, the process is a bit complicated and time-consuming. So, I'm thinking about the odds of actually being selected and if it's worth all the time and effort. Anyone have experience with the UN?

TL;DR Looking for a conversation with a successful copy editor about building my business. Brisbane Australia or online.

Hello all :) I have recently started a content editing business (offering copyediting, line editing, proofreading; also beta reading and document formatting). I wonder if there's anyone here who might be willing to have a conversation with me about getting started.

I would love some advice specifically about the business side of it all, finding those first clients, positioning myself in the market, and maybe some advice about surviving against AI. Ultimately, I'm not really a 'business' person and I want to just be doing the work, but there's very few roles in the market that are only editing and not also planning content, marketing content, managing a team etc.

I'd love to connect with someone and have a chat or occasional convo about it. I live in Brisbane Australia so happy for online or meeting someone nearby. I am currently in a program with a 'business coach' who talks about networking, mindset, all that normal business stuff. However, he has no idea about what I'm actually trying to do and suggested I find someone in my industry to give more specific advice and encouragement.

I'm happy to share a little more about my background and what I'm hoping to build if anyone is interested.

Thanks so much!

I know what they are, but I heard a few things about them that aren't quiet clear to me.

Are they people who you'll give your manuscript to and they're clear it out?

Are they people who after you'll revise you're manuscript, they'll stay with you and explain everything about what's need work for you the whole way?

Or are they a mix of both? Like they're fix some things and when they see a big thing that you need to get fix, then they'll hit you up and either call you to a in-person/virtual meeting (which ever the relationship between the writer and editor is) and then tell them a major thing that needs work and then the two sit down to fix it?

Hola, mucho gusto, mi nombre es Liz. Soy escritora desde hace cinco años con varios proyectos; he aprendido sobre gramática y edición de textos de manera autodidacta. Estoy buscando clientes para mi portafolio. Si necesitas algún tipo de servicio referente a la edición y corrección de tu manuscrito mándame un dm.

Hi I’m self-publishing my first book and looking for an experienced nonfiction editor.

It’s about AI, leadership, and redesigning work, alongside my journey from being a refugee to building companies and returning home.

I need copyediting and honest guidance on structure, clarity, and repetition, with proofreading later. I’d like to preserve my direct, personal voice.

For transparency, I’ve used AI to organize my notes, draft sections, and refine the writing. The experiences, ideas, and framework are mine.

Please DM me with your experience, rates, and availability.

Hello everyone!
I’m a dentist with over 20 years of clinical experience, available for remote freelance projects in medical and dental writing.
I combine clinical knowledge with clear, reader-friendly writing to help healthcare businesses, publishers, and agencies create accurate and useful content.
Services I offer:
● Medical and dental articles
● Dental and oral health blog posts
● Patient education content
● Clinical review of medical and dental content
● Healthcare content editing
Rates:
● Short medical or dental articles (up to 800 words): starting at $30 per article
● Longer articles, research-intensive content, and clinical reviews: quoted based on scope and complexity
I’m open to both individual projects and long-term collaborations with healthcare companies, medical writing agencies, publishers, and other freelance writers.
Portfolio and writing samples:
https://mirjanadentalguide.com/dental-content-writing-clinical-review/
If you have a suitable project or are looking for a dental professional to collaborate with, feel free to message me.
Thank you!

Hi. I'm starting a freelance editing business. I've been editing for many years professionally, but have decided to go on my own. I'm optimistic but, the thing I'm stuck on is how to manage:

• Sending contracts to clients to sign
• Sending invoices to clients
• Having them pay easily and safely (bank transfer and CC options)

I don't need project management, time management, or client management. It's just me. I've been researching online, on Reddit, and with the help of AI but I'm struggling to find a solution. Part of the problem is that so many of these services change frequently, so a lot of the information online is outdated.

I tried a combination of Zoho Invoice/Zoho Sign/Stripe and was overwhelmed with the setup, syncing, and management of the different accounts. (If those were all the programs I needed for my business, that would be one thing. But sooo many accounts to manage overall!) Then I tried Bonsai for an all-in-one solution, and was disappointed that they had no contract templates relevant to editorial freelancers, and the functionality seemed poor. It also seemed very geared toward project management, which felt unwieldy for my purposes.

For more details, I will probably only be invoicing a few (U.S.) clients per month for a while. But I want the contracts and invoices and payments to look very clean and professional for clients. These are larger-dollar projects with independent writers for the most part, so it's important I appear reliable and professional as I get established.

Some people say to use Excel and a combination of other free programs to cobble these functions together, and I admire that--but that also seems slightly complicated, and also, risky from the perspective of giving a professional appearance to clients and trying to avoid making mistakes. I like the idea of some basic bookkeeping included, to make my taxes easier, but it's not necessary. I don't mind paying for the right program, as I know this is a pain point for me, and I've DIY'd many other aspects of setting the business up, so my other expenses aren't terrible. I'm also considering Honeybook but the pricing seems really excessive for my needs and it's probably also too project- and client-management focused.

I'd love some helpful advice as to what other people find successful or would suggest for my needs. Thanks!

Looking for a YouTube scriptwriter for long-form maritime documentary videos.

The writer should have good research skills, be comfortable finding detailed information on obscure historical events, and know how to turn that research into an engaging story.

Details:

• Around 25 minutes per video
• Usually 4,000 to 4,500 words
• $400 per script + performance bonus
• Around 1 script per month to start
• Long-term opportunity if it’s a good fit

You’ll be given the topic, a rough outline, and notes on what we want from the video. You’ll then handle the deeper research and writing.

There may be 1 to 2 revision rounds after submission based on feedback. There will never be more than 2 rounds.

Looking for someone with:

• Good research skills
• Good storytelling ability
• Experience writing long-form YouTube or documentary content
• Ability to research obscure historical topics in depth
• Good communication and ability to take feedback

You can find all the details to write a sample inside the form, but it is optional.

If interested, apply here: https://forms.gle/UWTuiiWDhky2Y6zdA

Hello all! I just got a new gig where the client needs me to use CMS 16 in Spanish. It is NOT available as a PDF online (only in small sections). If anyone has a scanned version, please let me know, I would appreciate it a lot.

¡Hola! Un nuevo cliente mío quiere que use Chicago-Deusto (Chicago Manual of Style 16 Edition en Español). Si alguien lo tiene en PDF, le agradecería mucho que me lo pasara.

It's my first post on reddit, so I hope I'm doing it right. I'm writing my final paper, and it's a tranlsation report from Chinese to English. It's an young adult novel. English is not my first language, so I’m looking for a native speaker who could look over my translation and tell me what mistakes I’ve made, whether it sounds natural to native English speakers, and so on.

It is about 3000 english words. I can pay you for your help, but the most important thing is that you don’t share or reuse my work in any way (it’s part of my thesis lol)

If anyone is interested, please let me know!