Mentoring

Are you new to freelance copyediting and looking for a mentor? E-mail me to inquire about my availability as a mentor. The cost of being mentored? You must agree to mentor others as you gain more experience.

My mentoring method is straightforward. Mentees e-mail as often as they wish, for as long a time period as they wish. Some work with me for only a few weeks; others, for several months. Mentees ask questions on all sorts of topics: education and training, grammar and syntax, starting their own business, office equipment, setting up a work schedule, finding work, setting rates, nurturing editor–client relationships, balancing personal life and work life. . . . I answer to the best of my ability and as quickly as possible, given my full workload and life outside of work. I sympathize, motivate, cheerlead, listen, and advise. I don’t provide study exercises or have a syllabus or give out certificates; I don’t provide work or project leads. I don’t share clients' contact information.

Before you request mentoring, please read this post on the blog FreelanceSwitch. To get an idea of how much work it takes to get into—and stay in—freelance editorial work, please read this post by Cassie Armstrong, one of my mentees, on the blog Deliberate Ink. If you're considering transitioning to editing from another career field, read this post on the blog EditorMom.