Well, maybe not the kitchen table. I’m sitting at the desk in our living room right now, a rickety $20 piece I picked up at an antique shop in North Carolina during my sophomore year of college. It has scratches from the many moves it has endured, and now boasts pencil scribbles from my toddler’s forays into abstract expressionism.
The baby is finally asleep—for how long is anyone’s guess, so I am working on some chapters I have been lucky enough to procure for a sample edit. I’m hopeful this effort will pay off and that I’ll book a new client, one of my first.
A Balancing Act
Building a business while holding the title of stay-at-home mom is a tricky endeavor. I achieve my work in stolen moments between fetching snacks and soothing boo-boos. Planning is done during middle-of-the-night feedings and writing grocery lists.
There is a steep learning curve. Learn the industry lingo, the technical aspects of the art of storytelling. I’m not a professionally trained editor. I have a degree in communications, media studies, and journalism, which I have used in a variety of ways in my career—none in the realm of literature.
So Why Book Editing?
And yet, editing and proofreading have always been my underlying passion (just ask the 8-year-old know-it-all version of me). When I started to think about the next step for when my stay-at-home days are through, my own mother (a lifelong writer, published author, and the person I credit with my talent) suggested book editing. And I felt a rush of excitement I had not felt in years. I knew this was the direction to take.
So, here I am. Webster, Chicago Manual of Style, and laptop at the ready. And I’m bringing you along on my journey of building a business editing fiction as a stay-at-home mom.