Editorial Freelancers Association - The Writer's Ally™

Ally Helps Editors to Help More Authors at EFA Conference – Aug. 21-23, 2019

The 2019 EFA Conference gathers freelance editors, writers, indexers, translators, and other editorial professionals to network with colleagues and develop professionally—a rare opportunity for those who work as solo entrepreneurs. The organizers expect to attract more than 200 editorial freelancers from across North America and abroad. This conference is happening on August 21-23, 2019 at the Swissôtel Chicago. Ally will be there to talk about From Shy to Sold: Querying, Proposing and Getting Published and Guiding Your Clients to Successfully Self-Publish.

The 60-minute session, “From Shy to Sold: Querying, Proposing, and Getting Published,” will take place on Thursday, August 22 from 10:00–11:00 a.m. in Room Zermatt/Gstaad

From Shy to Sold: Querying, Proposing: You’ve worked with your author clients to help them refine their craft and produce a quality piece of writing—but now what? If they want anyone to read their work outside of their immediate circle of family and friends, they’ll need to get published. Though self-publishing is always an option, this talk focuses on how writers generally approach the submission process. Find out who really decides what gets published, how your clients should approach them without getting the proverbial door slammed in their faces, and what these gatekeepers expect from writers besides their very best work. You’ll also get tips that will make your clients’ queries and proposals more effective for best results.

The 60-minute session, “Guiding Your Clients to Successfully Self-Publish,” will take place on Thursday, August 22 from 2:00–3:00 p.m. in Room Alpine 1

Getting Published and Guiding Your Clients to Successfully Self-Publish: With so many options available, it can be difficult for new authors to navigate their way to self-publishing success. If you want to help your clients enjoy great results, you must guide them to make better choices: They can’t just copy what the bestsellers are doing or upload their files to Amazon.com and hope for the best. You establish and enhance your value when you’re able to share with them the unique opportunities and limitations of the industry that many authors don’t discover until it’s too late. This presentation will provide you with crucial insight on how to succeed at self-publishing while teaching you to better attract and serve indie author clients.

To register, click here or you may contact the coordinators: Christina M. Frey, Tanya Gold, Bill Keenan at 2019EFAConference@the-efa.org

Visit the conference website for other helpful information, including discounted hotel room rates.

What Kind of Editor Are You? Celebrate 2018 with Ally and EFA’s Maryland Chapter!

What kind of editor are you, and do you know where to draw the lines when delivering different services to your author clients? Are you currently undercharging for what you’re actually delivering?

Please join the recently rebooted Maryland chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) on Wednesday, December 19, for their last meeting of 2018. As a special treat, Ally will be leading a discussion about the various levels of editing we can provide to clients (developmental, line, copy, proofing, etc.), where and how we can each draw our own boundaries, and how to communicate that to clients.

We would love to spark a lively discussion about members’ and guests’ own experiences in providing these services. And since it’s the holiday season, we’ll do it over cookies, naturally!

The meeting will take place Wednesday, December 19, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Warfield Meeting Room, HCLS Central Branch, 10375 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia MD 21044.

Please contact Barbie Halaby at chap_maryland@the-efa.org with questions.

Put the Freedom in Freelance — May 30, 2018

Frustrated that you aren’t enjoying as much freedom as you dreamed of when you first went freelance? Isn’t increased freedom in freelance work the whole point?

We are happy to announce that Ally will be teaching her webinar, “Create More Freedom in your Freelance Biz,” just in time for summer! So if you’ve been dreading your upcoming summer vacation or worse, avoiding taking one because you think you can’t, don’t miss this program hosted by the Editorial Freelancers Association.

In this talk, 14-year freelancer and systems geek Ally will introduce you to tools and tactics that will help keep your business humming along, even when you’re out having fun. She will discuss several ways to make your business life easier, smoother, and more efficient, with a special focus on how certain tools and processes can help you spend less time on admin and marketing, have location independence, or just travel more and still be able to do a little work here and there (if you want), or not work at all.

The webinar will be on May 30, 2018 at 3:00 – 4:30PM. Registrants will receive access to the recording so if you can’t make it live, don’t worry! (Except if you can’t make it because you’re too busy working, you NEED to attend this presentation!)

For more info about the event, you may visit the EFA website or email Education Coordinator Jennifer Maybin at education@the-efa.org.

Founder of The Writer’s Ally, Ally E. Machate is a bestselling book collaborator, award-winning editor, and expert publishing consultant who loves using her insider knowledge and experience with the publishing industry to lead serious authors toward success. She and her team live to help make great books happen, whether that means showing a writer how to improve a manuscript, get an agent, or self-publish; or coaching an author on growing her platform to sell more books. Since 1999, she has supported hundreds of authors on their publishing journey and takes pride in serving as their books’ best ally.

How Authors Go from Shy to Sold, A Webinar — April 11, 2018

One of the most common questions new writers ask is, “How do I get published?” But wow, there’s a lot to unpack from that one question! There are many routes to publication and a lot for the new author to navigate. If you’re seeking publication yourself or are an editorial professional who wants to better serve her clients, we hope you’ll join our very own Ally Machate and the Editorial Freelancers Association for a special webinar about “How Authors Go From Shy to Sold.”

You’ve experienced the satisfaction of working hard to learn a craft and producing a quality piece of writing but now what? If you ever want anyone to read your work outside of your immediate circle of family and friends, you’ll need to get published. And if you’re asking yourself, “How do I get published?” (or hearing that question from your author clients), this is the webinar for you.

Though self-publishing is always an option, this talk focuses on how writers generally approach the submission process in what many call the “traditional” or “legacy” route to publication. Find out who really decides what gets published, how to approach them without getting the proverbial door slammed in your face, and what these gatekeepers expect from you besides your very best work. You’ll also get tips that will make your queries and proposals more effective for best results.

The webinar will be on April 11, 2018 at 7-8PM EST. If you can’t attend live, don’t worry! The recording will be made available to all registrants, and Ally is always happy to answer questions if you just email her.

“Your presentation was, by far, one of the most helpful, well-organized, insightful, and honest presentations I have heard on the topic of preparing and submitting my work. The examples of queries you spoke of from your experience, and the references you provided during the meeting and just the overall thoroughness of your whole presentation combined to make a motivating and positive experience. Thank you so much for all of your help!” —Mike Crowl

For future events and webinars, you may contact Education Chair Jennifer Maybin by emailing her at education@the-efa.org.

Introduction to Developmental Editing, A Webinar — April 3, 2018

Calling all freelance editors! We are excited to announce that our very own Ally Machate was invited by the Editorial Freelancers Association to deliver her presentation, “An Introduction to Developmental Editing.” If you’re a copyeditor who’s been thinking about adding this level of service to your offerings, or if you’re new to freelance editing and are still figuring out what types of work you want to do, this entry level talk is for you.

Copyeditors, almost certainly in your career, you have edited work that was not ready for prime time. Whether the draft was still very rough or the arguments weak and shaky, you knew the author skipped a step somewhere, because the text was just not ready for copyediting. It may have benefited from a more comprehensive service called “developmental editing” that is meant to help an author improve his or her manuscript in a holistic way, and which should precede the copyediting phase. This presentation will introduce you to developmental editing so that you can identify manuscripts in need of it (and be your clients’ hero), and to expose you to a new type of editing you might consider adding to your repertoire.

In this introduction to developmental editing, you will learn:

• how developmental editing differs from copyediting

• what developmental editors look to improve in different manuscript types

• what it takes to be a great developmental editor

• how to start honing your developmental skills or find other pros to partner with

The webinar will be on April 3, 2018 at 3:00 – 4:30 PM EST.

For future events and webinars, you may contact Education Chair Jennifer Maybin by emailing her at education@the-efa.org.

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