It’s the end of the year and I’m going to be self-indulgent and reflect on the fact that this was the year that changed everything.
Early in 2022, I had a financial story session with Mahmood Reza.
We worked out that if I scaled up the editing work I’d been doing part-time, I would be able to afford to quit teaching and work on my editing business full-time.
This was so exciting that I ended up giving school six months’ notice. I wanted to make sure I stuck to my guns and powered forward. I didn’t want to stick with the salaried job just because that’s what I’d done my entire adult life.
But I’ll admit that part of me had a hard time believing that the scaling up would actually work.
It’s one thing to say it. It’s another thing to believe it.
Just because I was getting two to three days a week of editing back in quarter 1 didn’t mean I’d magic five days’ worth in quarter 4. (That’s when I went full-time.)
But, by golly, by gosh, by gum, it seems to be working.
Quarter 4 of 2022 I was fully booked except for two weeks. Not bad for my first three months of self-employment.
For 2023:
Q1 is ¾ booked, with a lead for the one remaining slot.
Q2 ½ booked, with a potential client getting back to me soon about one of the two available slots. He’s checking the contract.
Q3 I’m just about to send the deposit invoice to a repeat client whose epic fantasy will fill up ⅔ of my available time in that quarter.
Q4 No enquiries yet.
By booked, I mean they’ve paid the 50% deposit and signed the contract.
By leads/potential clients, I mean I’m in the back-and-forth stage with authors. They are testing the waters and we are working out whether we are the right fit.
We shall see what becomes of the leads. They may go for it, they may not. But I am sufficiently reassured that this is going to work out as there is plenty of interest.
And if I end up with gaps, that’s OK too. I’m working on grand plans, like launching a course for new authors with a fellow editor. I need some time to polish up my resources for that. And I’m going to do some studying too. I’m hoping to upgrade my Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading membership level. That will take some time with my head in the books.
So it’s an end of the year smug-fest. I said I wanted to change my life at 40 and I only went and did it! Thanks for reading. Thanks for supporting me. Let’s see what 2023 brings.
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(Any authors reading this and wanting to work with me: don’t hang about. You can secure your slot with me even if your book is not yet finished. If anything, booking it in will be like when I gave six months’ notice at school. It’s done. It’s on the calendar. You’ll keep your eye on the finish line and will get that manuscript written. Also worth considering: I’m putting my prices up in March. Any deposits that are paid before March 1st will be charged at my current 2022 rates.)
CherryEdits 