If you're ready to launch an academic editing or coaching business go to: https://acadiaediting.com/editingfreedom_postlaunch

I'm rooting for you.

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My guest, Meg Toth, was a tenured professor who walked away from her academic career, joined my program, Becoming an Academic Editor, and built a successful editing business in just a few months.

In this episode, she shares:

✨ The moment she knew she had to leave academia;

✨ How she found paying clients—without social media marketing;

✨ The biggest mistakes new editors make (and how to avoid them!); and

✨ How to make yourself indispensable so the clients keep coming back.

If you’re thinking about becoming an academic editor (or want to grow your existing business), you won’t want to miss this one!

0:00 - Starting Your Editing Journey

1:19 - Navigating Academic Changes

3:16 - Making the Decision to Leave Academia

8:39 - Discovering Your Passion for Editing

10:50 - Finding the Right Course for Skill Development

12:47 - Learning to Market Yourself Effectively

15:06 - Building Your Editing Business

19:24 - Establishing Trust and Credibility Online

21:01 - Balancing Academic and Creative Projects

25:02 - Offering Flexible Coaching Services

27:32 - Gaining Practical Experience with Copy Editing

30:11 - Connecting with Clients Through Your Website

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We're living in strange and dangerous times. Life is enough to deal with in a normal week, and now the US government and higher ed are crumbling around us. 🔥 If you're extra burned-out these days, you are not alone.

I'm active in the Facebook group Academics Say Goodbye, and I was asked by the admin to write a featured post sharing my story of leaving academia and advice for anyone who's considering doing the same. The post got great feedback, so I decided to share it as a podcast episode.

If you want to hear my full story of leaving academia, head back to episode 1 of the podcast. But in this episode, I give you the brief version along with 5 honest, unfiltered tips on how you can change the way you think about leaving your academic post--and make the move if you decide that's right for you.

Keep fighting to put out this growing dumpster fire, but also be sure to take care of yourselves and be with your loved ones. 💝

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Let’s get one thing straight: there is NO shame in wanting to earn more money. Especially given your skills and the value you provide to your clients, academic editors should feel confident charging rates that equate to $100 per hour… or more!

One of the best ways to reach this goal is to bill your projects using a per-word rate. This is because, as you improve your editing skills and increase your editing speed, this raises your effective hourly rate. 📈

In this week’s podcast episode, I’m sharing 5 tools (all but 1 are free!) that can help you increase your editing speed, reduce your time at your computer, and increase your earnings.

This is definitely an episode you’ll want to check out on YouTube at some point because I share my screen and walk you through how to use each tool.

Don’t be intimidated; you can do this! 💪

Links from the episode:

Clockify: https://clockify.me/

BeefText: https://beeftext.org/

Mac alternatives to BeefText: https://alternativeto.net/software/beeftext/?license=free&platform=mac

PerfectIt: https://intelligentediting.com/buy-now/

0:00 - Why Track Your Editing Speed

1:57 - How Charging Per Word Benefits You

2:59 - Understanding Effective Hourly Rate

3:42 - Tracking Your Time with Clockify

4:54 - Setting Up Projects in Clockify

6:08 - Analyzing Your Time Data

9:42 - Using Auto Text in Microsoft Word

10:33 - Setting Up Auto Text Shortcuts

13:47 - Introducing Beef Text for Windows

14:52 - Creating Snippets in Beef Text

17:13 - Utilizing Perfect It for Editing Checks

20:47 - Getting Started with Macros

23:07 - Recording Your First Macro

26:36 - Recap of Editing Speed Tools

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In this episode, I give you four easy steps you can take to dip your toes in the waters of editing and coaching to see if they feel right for you. 🏊‍♀️

You’ll find out:

🧐 one simple step to get your name in front of grad students who need help editing their dissertation

🧐 how to land your first freelance editing jobs and try them out with just a few hours a week

🧐 how to discreetly spruce up your LinkedIn profile and connect with scholars who need an editor

🧐 why you should start finding clients through your existing academic network

I also share insights on translating your existing academic experience into an editing context and the importance of taking small, manageable steps toward building this new career or side hustle.

Don’t wait until you're completely burnt out, or when you’re already committed to teach another semester, to decide that you don’t want to go back. 😭

And DEFINITELY don’t put yourself through another year of misery because you feel obligated or you’re scared to take the leap.

Links mentioned in the episode:

The companies below are just examples. My mention of them is not an endorsement.

Scribendi: https://www.scribendi.com/jobs

Edanz: https://freelancers.edanz.com/course/index.php?categoryid=3

Editage (now owned by Cactus): https://jobs.cactusglobal.com/jobs

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🎯 the number of clients I've worked with,

🎯 the projects I've completed, and

🎯 the top strategies I used to attract a steady stream of clients and start earning $10k per month.

I also discuss my website traffic, email list growth, total 2024 earnings, and what's on deck for 2025.

Above all, I am so incredibly grateful that you have joined my little corner of the internet. I've received so many kind messages from people who are struggling in academia and who have found solace in hearing my story. 🙏

Always remember that you're not alone. I'm just a DM or an email away, and I'm always happy to talk.

Links in this episode:

Catie Phares, the Savvy Editrix: https://www.csphares.com/the-savvy-editrix

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We discuss the challenges she faced as an instructor, the strategies that helped her overcome her anxiety about starting a new business, and how editing has allowed her to rediscover her passion for writing.

Key takeaways from this episode:

- The importance of networking and building relationships: Ana emphasizes the value of connecting with other academic editors and finding a supportive community.

- Leveraging your existing skills: Your academic expertise can be a valuable asset in your editing career. Focus on your strengths and tailor your services accordingly.

- Overcoming fear and self-doubt: Ana shares her personal experience with overcoming anxiety and building confidence as a freelance editor.

Whether you're an adjunct faculty member looking for a change or you're just starting to explore the world of freelance editing and coaching, this episode offers insights and support to help you find your way.

Learn how Ana is turning her academic writing and editing skills into a successful and rewarding business.

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Questions I answer:

What should academic editors write about in their blog posts?

How can editors increase the visibility of their articles?

How and where should you share your blogs about academic editing on social media?

How you can "get comfortable with being uncomfortable" and market your valuable services to academic clients who need your help.

What questions do you have about becoming an editor or coach? I'd love to answer them. Email me at paulina@acadiaediting.com.

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Niki has such a fabulous sense of humor, so this episode will make you LOL (and there's a guest appearance by her rescue dog, Lily!).

But she also gets to the heart of the problems with academia--and how this affects so many of us emotionally, and even physically.

From day 1 of our cohort, Niki hit the ground running and fully embraced her new life as an academic editor. She immediately was hired by an editing agency and has now edited dozens of documents for them!

Other important points from this interview:

- How your experience as a faculty member or scholar helps you intuitively provide feedback to other scholars as an editor

- What it's like to complete those first freelance editing jobs

- How the framework of the Becoming an Academic Editor course and the personalized feedback eliminate the guesswork and help you stay on track in successfully building this new business

- When you leave academia, you no longer have to squeeze yourself into the restrictive box of other people's expectations--you can be free to float on a cloud of your own design (it makes sense when we talk about it! 😁)

If you've been struggling in academia and you feel like you're alone in these challenges, this is the episode for you.

You are NOT alone, and our community is here to support you--whether you want to start editing/coaching as a side hustle or you're ready to kiss toxic academia goodbye and edit full time. 😘

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Some of the most common questions I get from faculty who are considering editing deal, understandably, with how much money they can earn, whether or not it would be enough to replace their faculty salary, and if there’s enough work out there to make a sustainable living as an editor.

Without being able to make specific predictions about you or your situation, I can confidently say that, YES, I and many other academic editors out there do earn a great living as freelancers, and I consistently have more inquiries for work than I can take on.

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In this episode, we dive into Julia's journey from academia to entrepreneurship. She shares her insights on the burnout she experienced as faculty, the liberating process of leaving academia, and the skills she's leveraged to build a freelance editing business.

We also explore the importance of finding a balance between coaching clients and dedicating time to solo work (good for introverts or HSPs, highly sensitive people, like Julia and me), and Julia's passion for helping students overcome the obstacles they face in their academic pursuits.

So, if you're struggling with burnout in academia, or you’re an aspiring academic editor, I hope this conversation will help show you that you don’t have to stay where you’re unhappy, and you can indeed find joy by applying your academic training as a freelance editor.

------

HELPFUL LINKS:

Julia's website: juliagalindocoaching.com

Elaine Aron's website and books on HSPs: https://hsperson.com/

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LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:

Microsoft Word course "Essential Skills for Academic Editors": https://acadiaediting.thinkific.com/courses/editingskills

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When I was still in academia, I had no idea what a copy editor was or that they worked with scholars to improve their writing and chances of publication. In fact, it wasn’t until I published a book with Routledge and I worked with a freelance copy editor employed by the press that I learned this could even be a career option. If you’re a strong writer–and the type of person who’s considering becoming an editor yourself–then it makes sense for you to be unfamiliar with academic editing–because you’ve never needed to hire an editor!

In a future episode, we’ll discuss working with private clients–the faculty and grad students who hire editors to help them re-work their journal articles, book manuscripts, and even job market materials to help them get published or land a job. But today I’ll give you a broad overview of what I call the “academic editing landscape”: the different types of editing you can do and the companies and organizations that hire academic editors. Many of the terms I’ll use today are commonplace in the professional editing world, but you probably haven’t heard of or used them before, especially if you’re new to editing. Not to worry; I’ve got you covered. Stay tuned for my brief introduction to academic editing.

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