Friends, this is the last episode of The Modern Editor Podcast…for now, or maybe forever? I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m hitting an indefinite pause on the podcast. I wanted to take some time to explain what led to this decision, why I need this break, and what’s coming up next.

Important Sections:

• (1:00) A Look Back at the Podcast
• (3:45) The Decision to Pause
• (10:10) What Am I Actually Capable of Doing?
• (12:53) What’s Next?
• (17:26) Protecting My Time and Energy Is Always a Good Decision

Work With Me:

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

What is it actually like to be part of the Freelance Editors Club? Instead of me telling you, I’m stepping aside to let you hear from actual members in this episode of The Modern Editor Podcast.

Listen in as members share their experiences through real testimonials.

• (0:22) Announcing The Modern Editor Podcast Break
• (1:44) Hear From Members of the Freelance Editors Club
• (2:30) Brandi: Women Supporting Women and Self-Care Resources
• (4:48) Ceylan: A Great Place to Ask Questions
• (5:24) Deborah: Genuine Support to Combat Isolation
• (6:29) Leila: Coworking Sessions and Weekly Check-Ins
• (7:28) Angela: Values-Based Trainings
• (9:13) Experience the Freelance Editors Club For Yourself with a 14-Day Free Trial

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club
  

If you want to become a better editor without using generative AI, I’ve got your back. In this episode of The Modern Editor, I’m sharing another tool I’ve used for years to help me be productive and efficient: wildcards.

Listen in as I share what wildcards are, my opinions on them, and how they can help us in our editing.

• (0:58) Explaining the Pushback Against Using Wildcards
• (4:19) What Is a Wildcard?
• (5:49) How to Use Wildcards
• (6:45) Helpful Wildcard Examples
• (10:54) What Are Caret Codes?
• (12:34) Use the Tools That Work for You
• (14:54) Learn More Inside the Freelance Editors Club

• Brave New World by Chris Ryder
• Wildcard Cookbook for Microsoft Word by Jack Lyon
  

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

Ever ignored a gut feeling about a potential client and ended up regretting it later? Trust me, I’ve been there. After fourteen years in the freelance editing business, I’ve seen my fair share of red-flag and beige-flag clients.

In this episode of The Modern Editor, I’m sharing what I’ve learned from not-so-great client experiences so you can avoid some of the mistakes I made early on. At the end of the day, you should always pay attention when your spidey senses start tingling.

• (1:14) You Can’t Avoid All Red Flags
• (1:45) Don’t Pay for Anything Up Front
• (2:46) Don’t Accept Payment in Royalties
• (5:23) Avoid Clients Who Want to Argue Over Your Rate
• (9:14) Always Maintain Your Boundaries
• (11:00) Contracts Are Nonnegotiable
• (11:46) Avoid Clients Who Lie to You
• (13:12) Don’t Work with Clients Who Ghost You
• (15:26) Pay Attention to How They Behave Online
• (17:13) Avoid Clients Who Hate Feedback
• (18:40) The Freelance Editors Club is Reopened!
• (19:20) New Client Beige Flags That Could Turn Into Red Flags
• (22:26) How to Protect Yourself from Client Red Flags

• Editorial Freelancers Association
• ACES directory

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

Do you pass the mantle or mantel?

In this episode of The Modern Editor, I’m back with more commonly confused words I’ve come across in my years of editing. Some of these might be easy for you to spot, while others are trickier. Either way, it’s important to keep an eye out so these words don’t fall through the cracks.

In case you missed it, listen to part one here!

(1:15) Mantel and Mantle

(2:00) Medal, Metal, Meddle, and Mettle

(3:30) Affect and Effect

(5:07) Compliment and Complement

(5:53) Course and Coarse

Grab the Editing Contract Template

Join the Freelance Editors Club

As an editor, I see commonly confused words all the time. There are the super common ones we all know (to/too/two, etc.), but lately I've been spotting a handful of less commonly confused words over and over again while copyediting manuscripts.

Whether it's the result of speech-to-text software, typing too quickly, or our brains simply filling in what we expect to see, these mistakes seem to be popping up for me lately. I figured I should highlight them in an episode of The Modern Editor so that you can watch out for them too!

• (1:32) Stock and Stalk
• (2:17) Break and Brake
• (2:45) Phase and Faze
• (3:21) Peak, Peek, and Pique
• (4:06) Casualty and Causality
• (4:42) Keep a List of the Commonly Confused Words You Encounter While Copyediting

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

If you know me at all, you know I’m all about efficiency and becoming a more effective editor. There are so many repetitive tasks in editing that can steal your time and attention, which is why I’m sharing my favorite time-saving tool with you in today’s episode of The Modern Editor.

Allow me to introduce you to TextExpander, one of my favorite editing tools that doesn’t use generative AI.

• (1:07) What is TextExpander?
• (3:51) How TextExpander Works

• TextExpander
• Espanso
• aText
• Writing With Color blog

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

Curious about what my copyediting process looks like? I’m giving you a sneak peek in this episode of The Modern Editor Podcast. Listen in as I share the 10 quick searches I run every single time I start a new copyediting project.

Something I love about editing is that everyone has a different process, and I appreciate learning from others. This is a glimpse into the process that works for me, so take what you like and see if it works with your own process. There’s no one right way to edit.

• (1:35) Why I Like to Run Prechecks
• (3:35) Extra Spaces
• (4:25) -ly Adverbs with Hyphens
• (5:00) Further and Farther
• (5:33) Halves
• (6:19) Compounds
• (6:51) Words That End in “Like”
• (7:46) Commonly Confused Words
• (8:45) Comma With Internal or Terminal To, Either, or Though
• (9:47) Double Punctuation
• (10:28) Straight Apostrophes and Straight Quotes

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club