Description

Many writers want to retain full control over their work and may resist implementing editorial suggestions that they don’t understand or find challenging. However, if you’re proactive in developing and maintaining your clients’ trust, they will have a much easier time accepting your recommended changes. With open communication and respect for the author’s process and vision, you can build collaboration, helping the writer view you as an ally in the revision process rather than as an antagonist.

This webinar is aimed at beginning editors, specifically those who focus on proofreading, copyediting, or line editing fiction or nonfiction, and will discuss specific steps you can take to reassure a writer that you truly have their best interests in mind. We’ll discuss the importance of clear communication and go over how and why to clearly understand, explain, and support your editing decisions, even those that may seem obvious to you. Don’t worry, you don’t have to give your clients in-depth grammar lessons! This webinar will provide examples of quick ways to explain suggested changes in order to anticipate authors’ questions and set their minds at ease. You’ll come away with a stronger understanding of how to explain your objective editing decisions and support more subjective ones, all while helping the author feel that their autonomy and voice have been respected.

Jessica Klimesh (she/her) is the owner of JEK Proofreading and Editing, LLC, where she edits a broad range of work, from technical reports and dissertations to fiction and memoir. She previously taught English as a Second Language (ESL) and Rhetoric at the University of Iowa. Jessica holds an MA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing and has twenty years of writing-workshop experience, both as a participant and facilitator. Jessica’s own creative work has been published in dozens of journals, both in print and online, and her stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best Microfiction, Best Small Fictions, and Best of the Net.