Editing: Getting From There to Here

Proofreader, Copyeditor, Editor

(Crossposted from Blogetary 2.0.)

When Putt Putt Productions was first begun, I used to have "Writer, Proofreader, Copyeditor, Editor" on my business cards. I had experience with very detailed bookkeeping type work and had proofread for the periodical librarians back in college. In addition, at the time I filed the DBA for PPP, I'd been working for a company where I was speed proofing and formatting several documents a day (think double digits), sometimes having to change which style rules I was supposed to adhere to (APA, MLA, Harvard, Turabian..., or some variance in between) from one document to another, and also making sure everything was up to snuff with our own style/formatting code. And then sending the documents on to the clients after they were approved by the editors and my bosses.

Somewhere along the line, between proofreading the documents and passing along client order requests to our editors, and troubleshooting or passing along information from client to writer and back again, and generally running the office when my bosses and other editors were off doing other things, I began taking those orders myself, assigning writers, making decisions about content, sending along documents, and then advising my bosses and editors after the fact of what had been done. One editor I worked with pointed out I was, in effect, an assistant editor at that point.

Because of the extent to which I did all that work, and the freelance writing I did for this company after hours, I had no problem putting "Writer, Proofreader, Copyeditor, Editor" on my business cards.
But then something happened in cyberspace. I interacted with people, writers and editors, in the small speculative fiction community. I wasn't diplomatic about something and didn't behave well, and someone wrote that if I were a "real" editor, I would have known better. Paid better attention, understood the responsibility, etc.

After considering what I did and what they said, I realized they had a point. I took that bit, "editor," off my business cards and have assiduously avoided being called an editor ever since. I wanted to be honest about what I could do for people. Some people use the term "edit" loosely and things can get messy when that happens, especially when we're talking about paying for the service. I had experience with academic research documents, but relatively little in fiction or newspaper or magazine copy. I knew I would gain more experience in those areas, but until then, I didn't want to promise more than I could deliver.

Well, that was back between 2000 and 2005. New Year's Day this year, 2016, a friend of mine approached me about being a developmental editor for her piece of fiction, a novel-length work.
I had done some proofreading and copyediting work for her. I had helped her spruce up copy for letters she was sending, but editing — developmental editing — a full piece of fiction for her, I wasn't sure I could do it. Even after over a decade of beta reading, proofreading, copyediting on stories, marketing documents, dissertations, theses, articles, and even at the paper, I still felt like a fraud in saying yes to her. However, she talked me into it.

This afternoon, I looked up from going through her book for the third time and realized that I was doing it. I felt like a kid learning to ride a bike who suddenly realizes her mom let go of the back end halfway down the block.

WHOOOSH!

I'd been editing!

Time to put it back on the business cards...