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The Advantage of Editorial Collaboration for Indie Writers

If you’ve tried self-publishing a book, or if you are currently in the process of indie publishing, you are probably aware that the process involves management and collaboration skills in addition to writing abilities. 

 

Last month I was discussing some of the challenges of working with indie publishers and some of the approaches I take to address specific challenges regarding whether or not to bundle services. 

That discussion segues easily to another conversation that my indie clients and I frequently discuss these days: if, when, and how to consider working with other editors and proofreaders.

Because (as described in last month’s post) the levels of edit are often either a) distinct and separate services or b) some sort of combined service package, editing is typically fairly solitary work, other than communications between author and editor. This is especially the case for freelance editors who don’t attend editorial meetings and such. 

For the author, this system translates to many similar conversations with two or three editors and maybe another proofreader, who are all working in their own separate sphere on one aspect of a book document. And that might work fine for some authors, especially those who prefer to be involved with the minute details of the entire project who are comfortable with, or at least interested in, oversight of the project. But that’s not for all authors—some would prefer to keep their focus on writing instead of communications and coordination.

 

Solitary work is actually one of the aspects of editing and freelancing that appeals to me. I haven’t attended a daily scrum at a corporate office or an employee staff meeting for—well, years. The closest I come to that  is occasional video meetings and emails with clients, but most of the time I organize and plan independently and without frequent check-ins with anyone else. Working on my own phase of someone else’s project often suits me fine, too. After completing my rounds of developmental editing, copyediting, or  proofreading, I hand the document back to the client, and my part of it is finished. 

Until this year. In 2024, I began officially working with clients as an editorial production manager and  book production manager, a role somewhat comparable to a managing editor at a publishing house.  As a project manager, I may or may not also be completing a round of editing for the manuscript that means working with them on, but what I definitely assist with is project coordination. Instead of communicating with the author only, I arrange details and logistics with other editors and proofreaders (and sometimes formatters, designers, and other book professionals).

It’s also insightful for me to see the questions that arise from one phase of a project to another—and not all authors know how to initiate conversations about questions or confusions that arise from one phase of a project to the next. Sometimes editors unintentionally give conflicting advice or don’t agree on something. Questions such as these could involve crucial plot or character complications or they could be a misunderstanding or confusion about some element of punctuation—either way, if an author isn’t comfortable initiating these conversations confusion often continues unchecked as they become stuck in their progress. Or, perhaps they’d just prefer communicating with one editor/project manager throughout the process and leave the other communications to that person.

Authors receive the advantage when editors collaborate to resolve and discuss such complications. 

Interested in discussing editorial or book production management with me? Decide whether this is the option for you with a complimentary discovery call.

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