[margdean56]

I currently have four, count them, four copyediting/proofreading jobs on deck at this very moment. Too much of a good thing? No way! Since I'm supposed to stay home anyway....

Stay safe, everyone!

 

[margdean56]

I've been thinking about whether to make myself a mask to wear to the grocery store, etc. My personal circumstances being what they are, I think there's very little chance I'm infected ... but a Facebook post by a friend of mine made me realize that seeing me wear one might make other people feel better. And the whole point of social isolation is that it's not just about oneself, isn't it?

 

[margdean56]

The mask problem has been solved with a handkerchief and the gold elastic from my box of Christmas chocolates (in lieu of hair ties which I don't wear). And yesterday I managed to score a multi-pack of toilet paper, which should last me for a while. We can do this...

 

[margdean56]

I've heard a spring snowfall like we had yesterday in Santa Fe called an "onion snow", because it's supposed to be beneficial for growing onions. I'm not sure how … I should Google that.

 

[margdean56]

As it turns out, an "onion snow" is simply one that occurs around onion-planting time; there's nothing implied about its effect on the onions.

 

[anotherpage]

You might gain more clients if you proofread the first book or x number of pages for free to prove you can proofread.

I have hired many a proofreader who called themselves an expert only to discover they were an expert at not proofreading.

 

[margdean56]

Proofreading jobs have tapered off, though I'm expecting another one from Relay in the next couple of weeks. Are people using their time at home productively, while staying safe and well? I hope so!

 

[margdean56]

You might gain more clients if you proofread the first book or x number of pages for free to prove you can proofread.

I have hired many a proofreader who called themselves an expert only to discover they were an expert at not proofreading.

I am sorry that happened to you.

However, in my own case I have a solid resume to back up my claim to be a professional proofreader (a good deal of the information from it is reproduced in my LinkedIn profile nowadays: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-r-dean/?msgConversationId=6647251758194180096&msgOverlay=true

While I'm glad to provide a sample proofread of a chapter or so if a client requests it, doing a whole book for free is not going to happen. This is how I make my living; I can't afford to invest that much of my time and not get paid for it.

 

[margdean56]

My employment coach has given me a lot of good advice, but one thing I'm not sure about is that she wants me to conceal my age. For most lines of work this may be a good idea, but copyediting and proofreading? I think it's a plus that I grew up at a time when things like spelling and grammar were still regularly taught in school.

 

[margdean56]

While I'm glad to provide a sample proofread of a chapter or so if a client requests it, doing a whole book for free is not going to happen. This is how I make my living; I can't afford to invest that much of my time and not get paid for it.

Well, actually I did a whole book for free once, but that was a special case. In 2017 our church celebrated its 150th anniversary (First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe is the oldest Protestant church in New Mexico and Arizona combined), and one of the ways we commemorated that was to reissue a book about the church's history, Not Ordered by Men, that had been written for the 100th anniversary in 1967. For the reissue in digital form they used a scan of the original printing, and as you may know it's easy for errors to be made in the scanning process. So I volunteered to proofread the scanned book, gratis, as my contribution to my church and to the 150th anniversary celebrations.

It was interesting to read the book … and I still have my FPC-SF 150th Anniversary mug, too!

 

[margdean56]

I've already voted in the New Mexico primary election, by mail (absentee ballot). Participating in our democracy and staying safe … it's all good!

 

[margdean56]

Today is the official day of the New Mexico primary election, but I've already done that (see previous post).

Instead I had one last Skype call with my employment coach, after a two-month hiatus due to the pandemic. We agreed that conditions have not changed sufficiently in the intervening time for me to start pounding the pavement for a part-time office job, and that apart from that she's done her duty by me and we can part with thanks.

 

[margdean56]

Even though my schedule is fairly open, I feel it is a good idea to have at least a ballpark set of dates for proposed jobs.

 

[margdean56]

Last week I met a local author while walking down my street, though it appears we are not close neighbors. I was able to use what she told me to contact her online, though!

 

[margdean56]

Is a fictitious modern Middle Eastern kingdom, with no hint of Islamic cultural influence other than Arabic names, any more believable to a contemporary reader than King Handsome V of Magicland, used by Miss Manners for an illustration?

 

[margdean56]

Is a fictitious modern Middle Eastern kingdom, with no hint of Islamic cultural influence other than Arabic names, any more believable to a contemporary reader than King Handsome V of Magicland, used by Miss Manners for an illustration?

Well, evidently this isn't a matter of concern for the publishers. I guess readers of category romance don't demand the same kind of believability as, say, readers of fantasy and science fiction tend to.

 

[margdean56]

But then, I don't read category romance recreationally, though over the course of my professional career I've proofread reams of it. I do read fantasy and science fiction recreationally, as well as historical mysteries from time to time, and good worldbuilding is something I value.

 

[margdean56]

For that reason, authors who seem to largely dispense with any sort of description get under my skin a bit. Do their readers really not care that the setting, or the minor characters, practically don't exist? When you're writing a story, remember, the words are all you have to create the world with, to connect with and spark the reader's imagination.

 

[margdean56]

Description doesn't have to be elaborate. A few telling details are enough to snap a setting or a character into focus.

 

[margdean56]

Something I've wondered about the romance genre for a while now, and even more recently in the face of the Black Lives Matter movement: do people of color have their own romance lines? Because I've rarely-to-never been sent a romance to proofread where the male and female leads are something other than white. Is that because such stories don't get written at all? Or just because they're not published by the same publishers as the ones written for (or about) white people?

I do know that there is, for instance, a separate market for male/male romance (though, again, I myself have never been sent one), because I have an e-friend who writes these. So I could perfectly well believe that there is a separate market for "romance between people of color". I've just never run across any.