Last month I sat down with my editor, Kristen Hamilton of Kristen Corrects Inc., to discuss her background and her process when it comes to manuscript editing. By “sat down” I, of course, mean e-mails were sent and emoticons dispatched in lieu of drinks at the local pub. Still, laughs ensued and I appreciate her helping me understand more about her role in the process.
I cannot stress how important editing is to the writing process. Especially Kristen’s work on Signs of Portents and the rest of the Greystone series.
(For brevity’s sake I’ve toned down my sarcastic follow up questions to focus on the good stuff. You’re welcome.)
What is your background?
I always knew I wanted to do something in the writing/editing industry. I attribute this to the long hours my mom spent reading with me—usually 3-4 hours each day. We started with picture books when I was an infant and worked our way up to chapter books, and I eventually went on to start reading full-length novels (Dean Koontz novels were and still are my favorites) when I was in fourth or fifth grade.
By age 11, I was reading college-level materials. Reading was something I was always good at, and it made me feel accomplished to see how much stronger my reading skills were than my classmates’, so I kept at it. I’ve always been an introvert—quiet and shy—so books became my world. Instead of playing on the playground at recess, I’d sit and read a book. After school, I’d read. I devoured everything I could get my hands on.
My confidence was further bolstered when my entire fourth grade class took a writing test, and I was the only one who passed. When I was in the ninth grade, the teacher made photocopies of an essay I had written to show the other students “how to write a proper essay.” Teachers constantly encouraged me, and being singled out like this gave me the enthusiasm to keep going.
How does one prepare to become an editor?
Originally my goal was to be a journalist, and to write for the newspaper. When I was in middle school and high school, I was on the school newspaper staff, but it was less than what I had anticipated it to be. I didn’t enjoy coming up with story ideas—I found it difficult and tedious. But when I had a rough draft—boy, that was fun, editing it and seeing what I could do to improve it. Once the words were already on paper, I excelled.
By the time college rolled around, I was still trying to pursue the path of being a writer, even though a small part of me knew it didn’t quite fit. I took creative writing workshops, but I enjoyed reading and critiquing others’ work much more than I did writing my own stories. It was here, as I watched the teacher critique others’ stories with the class, that I began to learn what to look for when editing—character development, plot arc, believability of dialogue…
How did you start out as an editor?
I was working in fast food all through college. In the spring of 2012, I snagged a job at a car dealership writing descriptions about the vehicles. I was so excited—this was the start of my writing career, I just knew it! But working in a cubicle wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. I didn’t enjoy the set 8-to-5 hours and there was never enough for me to do. In fact, I ended up writing the car descriptions so fast that I ran out of work. They transferred me to a department that needed some extra hands—accounting. (Did I mention I failed my college math classes?) I ended up being at the accounting department for 2 weeks before they laid me off. I had only been there for 6 months and felt like a huge failure.
So there I was, sitting on the couch, unemployed. My boyfriend (now husband) threw a book in my lap: Freelancing for Dummies. I had nothing better to do, so I read it.
Two days later, I started Kristen Corrects. I started out at Odesk, now Upwork. The wages there are pitiful and most of your competition is outsourced work—think places like India, the Philippines, etc. I only worked a few jobs to get a few pieces of work for my portfolio and some testimonials. Then I created www.kristencorrects.com. I built up my SEO rankings, so if you type in “manuscript editor” on Google, I come up on the first page. My career is developing now that I have a ton of return and word-of-mouth clients, which has given me a landslide of clientele. It’s been a lot of hard work, but I’m incredibly passionate about what I do.
Parts 2 and 3 of our chat is coming next week.
Thanks for reading.
