Editorial Freelancers Association
When you’re overwhelmed with an erratic freelance schedule full of tight deadlines and client meetings, the EFA has your back. Our online classes are asynchronous and can be taken at the time that works best for you. If you’re looking to branch out into fiction editing, try Amber Helt’s Line Editing of Commercial Fiction: Beginning (four weeks, starting March 5). This newly updated course dives even deeper into line editing fundamentals. If nonfiction editing is more your speed, Sharon McInnis’s Proofreading for Businesses and Ad Agencies (five weeks, starting March 5) will set you up for success in the highly lucrative field of corporate proofreading.
Regardless of your field, our Paths to Freelance Editing Careers: Launching Your Editing Business bundle will help you surf the waves of your business’s early years. Pick three or more of the included courses and webinars to create a unique, flexible curriculum that serves your particular needs—and save 10% on all three!
Whether you want to study at your own pace or learn with an instructor’s direct feedback, the EFA’s education program has everything you need to broaden your skill set and client base. As always, our library of recorded webinars is available for immediate viewing, so be sure to check it out for dozens of helpful sessions.
EFA members get 20% off all our courses, and get many webinars for free. Not a member? Join today.
Just Added
FREE FOR MEMBERS: Helpful Platforms and Software for Freelancers, Part 1: Business Basics
Webinar takes place live on March 27.
In this 90-minute webinar, we’ll explore an array of helpful business management platforms and tools for freelancers, including Contra, Notion, and Basecamp. Regardless of what type of editorial services you provide, you’ll be able to make use of these tools to streamline your processes so you can spend more time doing the work you enjoy.
Price: $60 for Guests, FREE for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
NEW: Line Editing of Commercial Fiction: Advanced
Course begins June 4.
This six-week advanced fiction editing course shows you how to apply your skills to meeting readers’ expectations of genre fiction on a line and word level.
Students in Line Editing of Commercial Fiction: Beginning say:
- “The feedback on assignments was exceptionally helpful in the learning process.”
- “I loved the ability to read the lesson text or watch videos. I am usually a better visual learner than auditory learner, so reading through the text helped solidify the content in my mind. I also loved how thorough the course was and all the different aspects of line editing that it covered.”
Price: $400 for Guests, $320 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
Word Macros A to Z
Course begins July 9.
Macros are free editing tools for Word (PC and Mac) that increase your productivity. Editors use them to find consistency errors, fact-check, and perform repetitive editing tasks. Macros also reduce repetitive strain. Whether you edit journal articles, book manuscripts, marketing materials, or other Word-based text, macros will make you more efficient.
Students say:
- “I really enjoyed how clear the content was—especially given that I knew nothing about Paul Beverley’s macros to begin with.”
- “Great format to learn macros at a reasonable pace. I love that it had a structure, but also could be a bit self-paced for when things get busy and you fall behind.”
- “This class made learning macros easy, and they started helping me with my editing right away.”
Price: $350 for Guests, $280 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
Are you into STEM or SF/F—or both? No matter where your interests lie, the EFA can help you sharpen your skills. Kathryn Jepsen’s Developing Effective Science Communication: Lessons from Journalism, Fiction, and Academia (six weeks, starting February 26) will show you how to keep the reader’s attention even while delivering complex technical information. Then check out Shannon Winton’s Editing Science Fiction and Fantasy (six weeks, starting April 9) to learn everything you need to start editing these popular genres.
If you’re just getting started with science editing, then the EFA’s bundle Paths to Freelance Editing Careers: Breaking into Academic, Scientific, or Medical Editing is exactly what you need. Pick three or more courses and webinars and save 10% on all of them!
Whether you want to study at your own pace or learn with an instructor’s direct feedback, the EFA’s education program has everything you need to broaden your skill set and client base. As always, our library of recorded webinars is available for immediate viewing, so be sure to check it out for dozens of helpful sessions.
EFA members get 20% off all our courses, and get many webinars for free. Not a member? Join today.
Just Added
FREE: Get Started Teaching for the EFA
Webinar takes place live on February 20.
In this free 90-minute session, you’ll learn how the EFA’s education program works for instructors, from your initial inquiry through teaching the class—and, of course, getting paid! You’ll leave inspired and ready to work up and send us your pitch.
Price: FREE for all!
For more information and to register, click here.
FREE FOR MEMBERS: Radical Copyediting: Prioritizing Care Over Correctness
Webinar takes place live on March 13.
If you want to respect all identities but worry about keeping up with an ever-changing list of “good” and “bad” words, or if you feel obligated to make text bland or vague in order to avoid causing offense, this webinar will show you a new approach rooted in context and care.
Price: $60 for Guests, FREE for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
NEW: Editorial Tools to Counter Sexism and Transphobia
Webinar takes place live on May 8.
This 90-minute webinar will go over best practices for using editing as a tool for promoting gender equity. You’ll learn concrete ways to identify and counter language that harms and erases women and trans people, and to make space in text for the whole world of gender expression, gender identity, and gendered bodies.
Price: $60 for Guests, $48 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
Word macros automate repetitive editing tasks so you can work more efficiently, and they’re easier to use than you might think. Jennifer Yankopolus’s Word Macros A to Z (February 12) will show you how these free editing tools can help you find consistency errors, fact-check, and more. Give your copyediting skills an additional boost with Yateendra Joshi’s webinar Numbers in Formation: Reader-Friendly Organization of Numerical Data into Tables (February 6). In just 90 minutes, you’ll learn how to make numerical data shine.
Start or build your copyediting practice with Paths to Freelance Editing Careers: Becoming a Copyeditor, where you can build a flexible and personalized curriculum of webinars and courses. When you purchase three or more, you’ll save 10%!
Whether you want to study at your own pace or learn with an instructor’s direct feedback, the EFA’s education program has everything you need to broaden your skill set and client base. As always, our library of recorded webinars is available for immediate viewing, so be sure to check it out for dozens of helpful sessions.
EFA members get 20% off all our courses, and get many webinars for free. Not a member? Join today.
Just Added
UPDATED: Line Editing of Commercial Fiction: Intermediate
Course begins April 16.
This four-week intermediate course builds on a line editor’s foundational understanding of voice and syntactic style, focusing on refining a manuscript to better fit its intended market.
Students in Line Editing of Commercial Fiction: Beginning say:
- “The feedback on assignments was exceptionally helpful in the learning process.”
- “I loved the ability to read the lesson text or watch videos. I am usually a better visual learner than auditory learner, so reading through the text helped solidify the content in my mind. I also loved how thorough the course was and all the different aspects of line editing that it covered.”
Price: $350 for Guests, $280 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
Editing Romance
Course begins April 30.
This deep dive into romance will help developmental editors build genre toolkits. Though being familiar with the romance genre is a plus, it’s not required. All the basics of romance—story beats, tropes, and even the history of the genre—will be covered.
Students say:
- “I loved the lesson pacing and the handouts, which will be used long after this course is done.”
- “Megan has a great way of teaching with passion and I had so much fun learning from her.”
Price: $350 for Guests, $280 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
When holidays, illnesses, and rush jobs make your schedule erratic and unpredictable, you need learning opportunities that make space for you to come and go. The EFA’s self-paced courses accommodate you with a full year of access to all materials. Turn your Spanish-language proficiency into new business opportunities with Misha MacLaird’s Editing in Spanish: Beginning, which will prepare you to tackle both fiction and nonfiction with confidence. The course launches on May 7th, but you can pre-register today. If you don’t want to wait, we have plenty of self-paced courses available right now, such as Crystal Shelley’s Editing for Conscious and Inclusive Language, an essential, thorough guide to editing with care and compassion for both writers and readers.
We’ve bundled all our self-paced courses together in EFA U: Design Your Own Self-Study Course. Pick three or more to create a unique, flexible curriculum that serves your particular needs—and save 10% on all three!
Whether you want to study at your own pace or learn with an instructor’s direct feedback, the EFA’s education program has everything you need to broaden your skill set and client base. As always, our library of recorded webinars is available for immediate viewing, so be sure to check it out for dozens of helpful sessions.
EFA members get 20% off all our courses, and get many webinars for free. Not a member? Join today.
Just Added
NEW: Tools for Editing Poetry
Webinar takes place live on April 10.
Whether you’re helping a client or working on your own pieces, this 90-minute webinar will equip you with tools specifically tailored to editing poetry. Approaching the process from the perspectives of craft, intent, and emotionality, we will discuss techniques and complete exercises designed to fine-tune and strengthen poems.
Price: $60 for Guests, $48 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
Trainers may teach the teachers, but editors can train the trainers. Get a leg up on the spring term with Darina Mayfield’s Editing Training Materials (January 9) and Letitia Henville’s Content Marketing for Academic Editors (January 23). These brand-new 90-minute webinars from experienced EFA instructors will help you promote your academic editing expertise through targeted venues and apply it to talent development materials of all kinds.
If those whet your appetite, don’t miss the webinars and courses bundled in Paths to Freelance Editing Careers: Breaking into Academic, Scientific, or Medical Editing. Pick any three to boost your career in academic or STEM editing, and save 10% on all three!
Whether you want to study at your own pace or learn with an instructor’s direct feedback, the EFA’s education program has everything you need to broaden your skill set and client base. As always, our library of recorded webinars is available for immediate viewing, so be sure to check it out for dozens of helpful sessions.
EFA members get 20% off all our courses, and get many webinars for free. Not a member? Join today.
Just Added
NEW: Editing Science Fiction and Fantasy
Course begins April 9.
In this six-week course, you’ll become well-versed in helping authors fix issues with worldbuilding and exposition, flat character archetypes, and tropey plots, and you’ll learn how to strike a balance in hybrid genres like literary science fiction and paranormal romance.
Price: $350 for Guests, $280 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
Discerning young readers demand the best, and you can help authors reach them with Lou Piccolo’s popular courses on editing books for toddlers and teens. Starting February 5, Editing Children’s Picture Books will cover the essentials of story and rhyme, packing tons of informative content into just six weeks. If you prefer books for older readers or need a class with a more flexible schedule, Editing Young Adult Fiction is for you: a completely self-paced course, with access starting immediately and lasting a full year, that digs deep into the unique ways that YA handles genres, characters, plot, and setting.
If you’re new to fiction editing, complement these classes with our Becoming a Fiction Editor bundle. It has everything you need to hit the ground running. Add just one more webinar or class to Editing Children’s Picture Books and Editing Young Adult Fiction to save 10% on all three!
Whether you want to study at your own pace or learn with an instructor’s direct feedback, the EFA’s education program has everything you need to broaden your skill set and client base. As always, our library of recorded webinars is available for immediate viewing, so be sure to check it out for dozens of helpful sessions.
EFA members get 20% off all our courses, and get many webinars for free. Not a member? Join today.
Just Added
NEW: Editing in Spanish: Beginning
Students gain access on May 7. Access lasts for 365 days.
In this self-paced introduction to editorial rules in Spanish, designed for beginning editors who have Spanish-language proficiency or fluency, you’ll be given resources and activities to help you learn or brush up on punctuation, syntax, vocabulary, and verb forms, with a focus on editing for consistency and accuracy.
Price: $190 for Guests, $152 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
There’s a particular joy to working directly with an author on their creative project, but there can be some headaches too. If clients keep arguing with your suggested changes, don’t miss Jessica Klimesh’s Understanding and Explaining Your Editing Decisions (December 5). This one-hour webinar, free for EFA members, will show you how to examine and communicate your editorial choices so you can turn conflict into collaboration. It’s the perfect precursor to Amber Helt’s popular Line Editing of Commercial Fiction: Beginning course (March 5), now streamlined into four weeks and covering all the essentials of bringing out an author’s voice. Our beginning courses regularly sell out, so register right away!
To go the distance with fiction editing, check out Paths to Freelance Editing Careers: Becoming a Fiction Editor. This bundle of webinars and courses spans the field from developmental editing to proofreading, and from short fiction to doorstopper novels. Enroll in three or more classes in the bundle and save 10% on all of them.
Whether you want to study at your own pace or learn with an instructor’s direct feedback, the EFA’s education program has everything you need to broaden your skill set and client base. As always, our library of recorded webinars is available for immediate viewing, so be sure to check it out for dozens of helpful sessions.
EFA members get 20% off all our courses, and get many webinars for free. Not a member? Join today.
Just Added
NEW: Content Marketing for Academic Editors
Webinar takes place live on January 23.
When you produce and share a piece of content marketing—such as a blog post, essay, or op-ed, or an interview on a website, podcast, or YouTube channel—you establish your credibility as an expert who understands the needs and perspective of your clients. In this 90-minute session, you’ll learn how to determine your audience, decide where to publish your content, and pitch your idea to an appropriate venue.
Price: $60 for Guests, $48 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
Science editors and academic editors, rejoice! We have exciting new classes that give you the tools you need to succeed. On February 6, data table expert Yateendra Joshi will present Numbers in Formation: Reader-Friendly Organization of Numerical Data into Tables, a 90-minute webinar that tackles every aspect of copyediting these crucial figures. And on February 26, Kathryn Jepsen launches Developing Effective Science Communication: Lessons from Journalism, Fiction, and Academia. Many people who attended Kathryn’s wonderful science editing webinar asked for it to be turned into a full-length course; here it is, with six weeks of wisdom to help you make science writing gripping, informative, and clear.
Both of these classes have been added to our bundle Paths to Freelance Editing Careers: Breaking into Academic, Scientific, or Medical Editing. If you need a science editing starter pack, look no further. Enroll in three or more classes in the bundle and save 10% on all of them—and yes, that’s on top of the EFA member discount.
Whether you want to study at your own pace or learn with an instructor’s direct feedback, the EFA’s education program has everything you need to broaden your skill set and client base. As always, our library of recorded webinars is available for immediate viewing, so be sure to check it out for dozens of helpful sessions.
EFA members get 20% off all our courses, and get many webinars for free. Not a member? Join today.
Just Added
Word Macros A to Z
Course begins February 12.
Macros are free editing tools for Word (PC and Mac) that increase your productivity. Editors use them to find consistency errors, fact-check, and perform repetitive editing tasks. Macros also reduce repetitive strain. Whether you edit journal articles, book manuscripts, marketing materials, or other Word-based text, macros will make you more efficient.
Students say:
- “I really enjoyed how clear the content was—especially given that I knew nothing about Paul Beverley’s macros to begin with.”
- “Great format to learn macros at a reasonable pace. I love that it had a structure, but also could be a bit self-paced for when things get busy and you fall behind.”
- “This class made learning macros easy, and they started helping me with my editing right away.”
Price: $350 for Guests, $280 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
Proofreading for Businesses and Ad Agencies
Course begins March 5.
This five-week course will give you everything you need to launch your corporate proofreading career or add to your existing editing business. We’ll cover what skills a corporate proofreader needs, how to get (or sharpen) those skills, what equipment and tools are needed, and much more.
Students say:
- “The Acrobat markup lesson was very good, and I liked how Sharon used the same document to compare marking up the same changes with annotation tools vs. drawing tools.”
- “Sharon is gifted at teaching!! Her vast experience is evident. It was awesome to get a glimpse of it through this course. At the end of Week 1, I already felt like I’d received my money’s worth. “
Price: $350 for Guests, $280 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
Developmental Editing of Fiction: Intermediate
Course begins March 12.
If you have experience in fiction developmental editing (or if you’ve taken “Developmental Editing of Fiction: Beginning”), this four-week class will take your skills to the next level.
Students say:
- “Val’s superb and inclusive teaching style is what drew me in and kept me enthusiastically engaged, even with the more challenging assignments. Val treats every person as an equal learner, no matter the background. Most of all, she magnifies possibility in her students. I feel more empowered as a future editor, as well as a writer, a reader, and a person!”
Price: $350 for Guests, $280 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
In uncertain times, the one person you can rely on is yourself. Invest in your professional skills and make sure your business has a solid foundation to weather whatever comes your way. On November 21, learn how to make grant proposals competitive with Darina Mayfield’s Introduction to Grant Editing: From Draft to Fundable, a 90-minute webinar that will give any grant editor a leg up. And if you took Amber Helt’s beginning line editing course or you have some line editing experience, you won’t want to miss Line Editing of Commercial Fiction: Intermediate, which starts January 22nd but is likely to sell out well before that. Sign up now to guarantee your spot, and settle in for six weeks of intensive instruction from one of the EFA’s most highly regarded teachers.
Whether you want to study at your own pace or learn with an instructor’s direct feedback, the EFA’s education program has everything you need to broaden your skill set and client base. As always, our library of recorded webinars is available for immediate viewing, so be sure to check it out for dozens of helpful sessions.
EFA members get 20% off all our courses, and get many webinars for free. Not a member? Join today.
If you took a roundabout path to becoming an editor—as many of us did—then you might not have gotten a thorough grounding in the basics. Fortunately, the EFA is here to help you catch up. Val Mathews sets the stage for her popular developmental editing courses with Reshaping Fiction: An Introduction to Fiction Developmental Editing (November 7), a 90-minute webinar that will explain exactly what developmental editors do and how to get started becoming one. And any editor can benefit from Jessica Klimesh’s Understanding and Explaining Your Editing Decisions (December 5), a 60-minute webinar that’s free for EFA members and will help you earn your clients’ trust. Whether you’re just starting out or filling in some gaps in your knowledge, these sessions will give you a strong foundation that builds your confidence and supports your growing career.
Whether you want to study at your own pace or learn with an instructor’s direct feedback, the EFA’s education program has everything you need to broaden your skill set and client base. As always, our library of recorded webinars is available for immediate viewing, so be sure to check it out for dozens of helpful sessions.
EFA members get 20% off all our courses, and get many webinars for free. Not a member? Join today.
Just Added
NEW: Editing Training Materials
Webinar takes place live on January 9.
This 90-minute session is for editors working in talent development in government, academic, and corporate settings. You’ll learn how editing can transform learning content into effective training tools that boost performance. You’ll also get practical tips for refining learning goals, improving presentations, and revising assessments.
Price: $60 for Guests, $48 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
NEW: Line Editing of Commercial Fiction: Intermediate
Course begins January 22.
This six-week intermediate course builds on a line editor’s foundational understanding of voice and syntactic style, focusing on refining a manuscript to better fit its intended market.
Students in Line Editing of Commercial Fiction: Beginning say:
- “The feedback on assignments was exceptionally helpful in the learning process.”
- “I loved the ability to read the lesson text or watch videos. I am usually a better visual learner than auditory learner, so reading through the text helped solidify the content in my mind. I also loved how thorough the course was and all the different aspects of line editing that it covered.”
Price: $350 for Guests, $280 for Members
For more information and to register, click here.
