ACES 2016 Introduction Post!

Greetings! If we’ve just met at the 2016 American Copy Editors Society conference in Portland, or you’ve arrived here from the URL on my business card, welcome! I wanted to post a more extensive introduction for anyone I’m meeting for the first time, in case we chatted only briefly between sessions, or as a refresher for anyone I haven’t seen […]

Declining an Offer I Can’t Refuse: Saying “No” ahead of a Future “Yes”

I said “no” to a project that would have paid three months of my rent, but I feel like I’ve gained rather than lost. Here’s why.

Tracking My Freelance Business Time, or No Second Left Behind

Freelancers quickly learn how to track their hours spent on projects to ensure they’re getting paid what they’re worth. But how many of us track time doing taxes, installing software, or hunting for work? How I started recording that “lost” time so I could charge enough to cover the cost of running my solo freelance publishing practice.

How One Freelance Copy Editor (Mostly) Quit Caffeine

Caffeine drives much of the freelance world past earthly limits to help solo workers of all stripes crush deadlines. So why would I part ways with this magic molecule?

When Did Hunter Thompson Die?

Hunter S. Thompson, according to the obits and the ineradicable jottings of the Great Scorer, shot himself on February 20, 2005. Just short of a year ago, after rereading a ton of his works, I felt an essay building up in my head. With the deadline for a piece of pay copy looming and clamoring […]