I worked with a few new clients in 2022, plus returning clients. It was great to see all the manuscripts – historical fiction, contemporary, thriller, romance, science fiction, and more. One client I’ve been working with is almost finished their first (six book) series of novels. It’s been a great series to work on. Another client is on to her fourth novel – I worked on her previous trilogy. Both have an amazing commitment to their work in terms of drive and stamina. A third returning client is on to their second cosy mystery novel in a series.
I also worked with others on their second or third drafts, plus new writers knocked on my editorial door. It was a pleasure to work with all of them.
I registered with Copy School for a few months and did as many courses as time allowed. I’d already completed Alex Cattoni’s Copy Posse Launch Pad program which is very intensive and quite brilliant.
Blogging hit a wall last year thanks to a number of factors. I was busy with editing earlier in the year, and then my cat started to get very lethargic by about February or March. The prognosis turned out to be bad and after a few weeks, she passed away. It was a shock, but I decided to adopt another cat within a few months.
In June I was called up for jury duty and couldn’t get excused even though I was a sole trader with no one else to take on my workload if I got called in. This meant I was reluctant to book in new clients during that period in case I couldn’t deliver their manuscripts in time. As it happened, after phoning the jury line a few days in a row to find out we weren’t getting called in, that was the end of it. But it hit my work momentum.
After that Microsoft’s updates – possibly their notorious August 2022 update – left my PC very unstable and prone to crashing. Though I managed to meet deadlines, the number of crashes a day meant that I was on the PC longer to get work finished. It was immensely frustrating. I was in the middle of writing up new blog posts which were never finished. Client work obviously took precedence.
I also took some time to support writers who’ve been subject to the increasingly authoritarian bullies in parts of the publishing industry. The ideological capture is beyond shocking. Children’s publishing is particularly hard hit. I’m lucky in that I work in adult fiction.
During all this I continued to try and fit in a daily walk since working from home obviously has its downsides in terms of exercise.
I now have a new laptop and have finished the first developmental edit of the year. I also have the opening chapters of another client’s work to read over. Otherwise, I’m open to new clients. Whether you want a manuscript critique, a beta critique (mini MS critique), an opening chapters developmental edit, or a full developmental edit, you can check my editing services page and browse the options. If you don’t find what you’re looking for or have a custom request, feel free to email me at karen@indiecateditorial.com.
Prices on the services pages are based mostly on four reads of the manuscript (in a single round of editing). I can adapt to three reads if you’re on more of a budget, or I can focus on the most important issues in your manuscript and ignore the smaller ones.
Otherwise, I hope anyone who reads this has a great 2023. I know the last few years have been hard for a lot of people.
