Getting Your First Editing Client

I’m often asked, “How do I get my first editing client?”

This is one of those questions that can take three hundred pages to answer. Nonetheless, I hope this brief overview helps.

First, I want to distinguish between a beginning editor who has no idea what they’re doing and needs to learn and a beginning editor who knows what they’re doing but doesn’t have a lot in the way of credentials.

Build Your Editing Skills First
If you’re interested in being a developmental editor but you’ve never taken a class or done a beta read or a critique, then you don’t know what you’re doing and shouldn’t be taking on clients until you do know what you’re doing.

Developmental editing is not an entry-level position.

If you’ve taken some classes and done some beta reading and critiquing and have gotten feedback that suggests you can offer thoughtful guidance to authors, then you’re in a position to find your first paying client.

Sometimes you can barter, like trading editing for website development. The idea is to train yourself to see your skills as valuable and not something to just give away. For my first “real” freelance project, I traded some writing and editing for a year’s membership at a gym. Then I had a testimonial and a credential that I used to get other work.

I’m typically not a fan of Fiver or Upwork or other job-bidding sites, but they can be a place to get started and to get some solid testimonials to start building a better-paying clientele. The problem is people stay too long with sites like this. Do a couple of projects, get some testimonials, and move on.

Specific Steps to Take:
1. Identify the types of authors you’d like to work with and the genres you’d like to edit in. Then figure out where such authors are likely to hang out. An academic author who wants to revise their dissertation for publication hangs out somewhere different from a romance author who is indie publishing. Put yourself in their shoes: “I’m a romance writer interested in indie publishing. Where do I start?” Google is your friend! Once you know where they are, join them there.

2. Spread the word among friends and colleagues. Don’t be shy about letting people in your network know what you’re doing now and asking for referrals.

3. Join a professional association or two. Club Ed has one; the Editorial Freelancers Association is a good one; there are others.

4. Attend writers’ and editors’ workshops, conferences, webinars. Networking is always the best way to find people who need your help and colleagues who can refer projects to you.

5. Put yourself out there. Make sure you have a website or other landing page where people can find out more about you. Share your expertise in blog posts, on LinkedIn, etc. People won’t find you if they don’t know you exist.

Advanced Developmental Editing: Booking for September; One Immediate Opening for Summer

Advanced Developmental Editing, the class where you edit an entire ms and submit your edit for review, is the capstone class for the certificate program. Most people take it towards the end of their training journey, even if they might stop by to take other classes from time to time. Sometimes people take it just because they want to experience editing a full ms (with feedback on their work).

This class is scheduled on an on-demand basis, which is to say that you schedule it with me ahead of time. You can edit a ms that I provide or you can use a client’s or friend’s ms.

For the fiction version of this class, you can choose the eight-week course with lessons and several assignments intended to help you complete your edit. Or, you can go off on your own and do your edit and just present it by the agreed-upon deadline.

I have ONE opening for the rest of this summer for someone who can start the eight-week version this week or who can turn in their edited ms by the middle of July. Otherwise, the next openings are in September.

If you’re planning to take Advanced DE this year, now’s the time to schedule it!

For more information and to register, click here.

To discuss deadlines with me, reach out to info@ClubEdFreelancers.com

Congratulations, Shannon Scott!

Shannon is the newest recipient of the Club Ed Certificate in the Developmental Editing of Fiction, which she earned on May 9. Please join me in congratulating her on this epic achievement!

New Class! Freelancing Through Tough Times

Starts June 30. Four weeks, any level. $330/$75 for members (use the coupon code you can find in the membership program classroom)

Freelancing even in good times has its ups-and-downs. But it’s even more difficult when you’re facing personal challenges such as an illness, or logistical hurdles such as caring for a young child or elderly parent, or bigger-picture problems such as the introduction of career-changing technology like AI, or the election of . . . well, I think you can guess where I’m going with that.

Probably the greatest challenge in our current moment is the uncertainty: will the economy crater (more than it already has), will the political situation worsen, how much existential dread should I be feeling right now?

That uncertainty can make it hard to focus and to plan. It’s difficult to know what to do when the future is so hard to read.

That’s what this course is about: figuring out how to focus and plan despite the fogginess of the future. We’ll talk about when and how to pivot, how to keep your spirits from flagging, and what to do when your clients dry up.

Instead of weekly assignments, we’ll have weekly discussions so that the class doesn’t become one more burden during a difficult time. We’ll use the forums to talk about our personal situations, to share what we’re doing to get through it, and to support each other.

Take it from someone who has been there, done that: freelancing through tough times isn’t impossible if you have a little help navigating your way.

For more information about the class and to register, click here.

For Members

Find the coupon code for the new Mid-Year Review in the Membership Program classroom. (This class costs just $15 for members!)

New discount for PerfectIt and Draftsmith software! Save 30% off your purchase of PerfectIt and 20% off your purchase of Draftsmith. PerfectIt is a well-regarded program that many copy editors use to help ensure their edits are applied correctly across an entire manuscript. Use the coupon code you’ll find in the Membership Program classroom.

The new instructor-led class, Freelancing Through Tough Times, is available to members for just $75, but you have to use the coupon code that you’ll find on the membership program classroom page.

Upcoming Classes

Instructor-led classes starting soon:

• Intermediate Line Editing for Fiction, starts Jun 2, 2025

• Getting Editorial Work from Book Publishers and Packagers, starts Jun 4, 2025

• Freelancing Through Tough Times, starts Jun 30, 2025

• Mid-Year Review, starts Jul 7, 2025

• Editorial Toolkit: Beta Reading, starts Sep 3, 2025

About Jennifer Lawler

I help editors figure out what the hell they’re doing.

If you’re an aspiring, new, or established book editor or story coach, I can probably help you learn how to do the work better and more profitably.

Through Club Ed, I offer developmental editing classes, a freelance editor membership program/support group, and a slightly bony shoulder to cry on.

I’ve worked as an editor for more than twenty years. I learned how to edit in the trenches of traditional publishing with its insane deadlines, pitiless competition, and crushing bureaucracy. To that I added a Ph.D in English literature with a specialization in medieval literature because of a long story.

Editorial clients have included Simon & Schuster, Girl Friday Productions, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, Barnes and Noble Custom Publishing, and others, along with many independent authors. 

For fiction self-paced classes, click here.

For fiction instructor-led classes, click here

For nonfiction self-paced classes, click here

For nonfiction instructor-led classes, click here

For on-demand instructor-led classes, fiction and nonfiction, click here