Right Touch Editing

Most writers don’t enjoy seeing their work covered in edits, but how you respond to feedback can make a big difference in the final result. Here’s how to approach edits more objectively to get the most out of the process: https://zurl.co/jWy2j #WritingTips #BizWriting

In this month's *Improve Your Business Writing* newsletter, I follow the data on how professional writers actually handle age expressions—and find that the rules and real-world usage don't quite line up. What the research revealed: ✏️ Style guides are clear: keep the hyphens when the phrase becomes a noun ✏️ But a search of contemporary American writing shows the open form dominates—even in newspapers that follow AP style ✏️ There's one form you should never use, though: the one-hyphen compromise The key takeaway? Knowing where real usage lands can help you make more confident, informed editing decisions—not just follow rules reflexively. Click to read the full piece: https://zurl.co/QmEc9 #WritingTips #PunctuationTips #AmEditing

I'm excited to be speaking at Editors Canada's upcoming conference! I'll be on a panel discussing working with international clients, sharing my insights, along with edibuddies @JanetMacmillan and @AalapTrivedi. If you're looking to expand your freelance business globally (or just curious about the opportunities and challenges), I'd love to see you there. Register here: https://zurl.co/RDd0J #FreelanceEditing #AmEditing

How do clients actually find you? It's rarely one thing. A prospect might spot you in a directory, check your LinkedIn profile, then visit your website before finally reaching out. Each touchpoint matters—even the ones you can't track. That's the sales funnel in action. And understanding it can help you show up in more of the right places. https://zurl.co/42zNe #FreelanceEditing #AmEditing

Have you ever caught yourself writing "10 year olds" instead of "10-year-olds"—or vice versa—without quite knowing why? Me too. I used the hyphens when the phrase became a noun, almost on autopilot. Then I started looking into results from the Corpus of Contemporary American English. The unhyphenated form showed up four times more often than the hyphenated form. Even in academic writing, which is supposed to be our most rule-conscious prose. In next week's *Improve Your Business Writing* newsletter, I'll share what the data reveals about this surprisingly slippery punctuation question—and what it means for your editing decisions. Because sometimes what we *actually* do is more instructive than what the rules say we should. Subscribe here: https://zurl.co/BRSja #WritingTips #PunctuationTips #AmEditing

In this month's Improve Your Business Writing newsletter, I'm tackling dangling participles. These grammar mistakes can blur meaning and create unintentional humor in professional writing. Read it now: https://zurl.co/LtBUR #AmEditing #WritingTips

Are missed deadlines and file confusion stressing out your team? It’s happened at Right Touch Editing, too. Learn from our mistakes and consider these effective strategies before investing in expensive project management software. New on the blog: https://zurl.co/7ovLM. #BizTips #ProjectManagement

As your organization grows, editing demands can become overwhelming, causing missed deadlines and overworked staff. Right Touch Editing provides full editorial teams to support your content pipeline, letting you focus on your core mission while we handle the editing. https://zurl.co/8mUJB #EditingTeams #ProjectManagement #BizTips

Fast and cheap work often means sacrificing good work, and when it comes to writing and editing, that trade-off shows. If quality matters to you, this edition of The Writing Resource explores why trying to have it all is a trap for both clients and professionals. https://lnkd.in/gjAcbwB #writing #Editing #Copyediting #Business #Freelancing #Professional #TheWritingResource #RightTouchEditing

Hey there, #FreelanceEditors. Have you ever worked a ton of hours but not have your bank account reflect it? Yeah, me too. I talked about this last month during my session at the ACES Virtual Conference. It happens when we don’t calculate our editing speed for completed projects—especially when we charge a project rate and don’t track our time.  Here's what I mean. You might feel great about landing a $2,000 project—until you track the actual hours and realize that you earned $35/hour after revisions. Meanwhile, that "small" $800 project you almost turned down? It took you 8 focused hours at $100/hour with zero back-and-forth. The Data Reveals Patterns Your Gut Feelings Miss When you track a project’s total fee against the actual hours you worked, you start to see which project types consistently hit your desired hourly rate and which ones drain you financially.  You start to identify which projects are worth your time and which you should pass on. You might find that academic clients with clear style guides are more profitable than corporate clients who want endless revisions. Or that developmental editing at your current rate actually loses you money compared to copyediting projects. Ditch Working More in Favor of Working Smarter. The editors who attended my ACES session left with a clear framework: track your time, calculate your true hourly rate by client and project type, and use that data to make strategic decisions about who you say yes to. Stop Guessing and Start Growing!  Let's dig into your business data together. In a one-hour coaching session, we can review your current projects, identify your most profitable work, and create a data tracking system that actually works for your business. Book your coaching session today and discover which clients deserve your "yes": https://lnkd.in/eJk7bfbV #FreelanceEditing #BusinessData #ProfitableFreelancing