Is Freelancing for You?
Plus, early bird special on a new romance class ends Sunday!
Characteristics of Successful Freelancers
My daughter likes the idea of dogs more than she actually likes the reality of them, sort of like me and home ownership. So we both enjoy these things safely at a distance. “What a cute house!” I say as I walk on by. “What a cute dog!” she says as she walks on by.
A lot of people think they would like freelancing (No boss! Work from the beach! Set your own hours!) but wouldn’t do well with the reality.
How Do You Know if Freelancing Is for You?
The key is to know yourself before you take a leap. Here are some characteristics most successful freelancers share:
They’re not afraid of risk (some caution is helpful; too much makes freelancing a misery)
They’re self-starters - they don’t procrastinate (at least, not too much)
They can organize their own work - they don’t need someone to set their priorities for them
They’re okay with ambiguity - there’s always more work they could do, responses they’re waiting on, clients they haven’t landed yet
They have an in-demand skillset
They don’t take “no” personally
If that sounds a bit like you, then you might enjoy freelancing. If it doesn’t sound like you at all, it might be time for a reality check.
Love Is in the Air!
Advanced Editing Skills: Romance
Early Bird Registration Ends Soon!
New class! A number of people have requested this class and I finally had time to put it together.
June 15 - July 26, 2026| $450 (Members: $405) | How to edit romance – advanced instruction | 6 weeks | Instructor-led | Advanced
Save $100 on early registration - until midnight Pacific time on Sunday, February 15th, 2026. Use coupon code: LoveLove
Members: you can combine this coupon with your 10% off and save even more!
Purchase the class here.
The details:
Ready to dig more deeply into editing romance? This new six-week instructor-led course is designed for editors who work with romance authors or intend to work with romance authors.
The class goes beyond the basics of genre description/definition and discussion of tropes. It delves into story problems associated with romance, including:
not establishing a conflict between the main characters
burying the story problem or introducing it too late
privileging the overt plot over the central romance
failure of the romance arc to drive character change or affect character arc
lack of distinct characterization for main characters
unclear or missing GMC for one or both of the main characters
Because romances are often part of a series, the class covers common series problems such as frontloading all the backstory, introducing all the characters in the story world all at once (even before they matter to the story), trying to force in plot events that matter to subsequent books in the series but not this one, and more.
It includes deeper dives into popular romance subgenres such as romantasy, slow-burn, vacation romance, holiday romance, and sports romance.
We’ll also touch on editing short romance fiction, such as might be included in an anthology or given away by the author to readers.
But the real standout element of this class is that it shows how to perform two rounds of development on the same manuscript, something that is helpful for any developmental editor to learn how to do. Instead of telling an author “this manuscript isn’t ready for development” you can help them make it ready.
The class shows you how to perform a manuscript evaluation (sometimes called an assessment) as the first round of development and then shows you how to perform a full developmental edit as the second round. It includes examples of how one editor has approached the edits.
A full romance manuscript is used in this class to help support a more in-depth study of the craft of editing romance. However, if time constraints make it too difficult for you to read a full manuscript, you can choose to perform your edits over a smaller chunk of the manuscript.
Each week includes a new lesson and a new assignment to be submitted for the instructor’s feedback along with online forum discussions about developmental issues.
Prerequisites: to take this class, you must have taken either the self-paced DE 1- 6 or the instructor-led Beginning and Intermediate Developmental Editing for Fiction AND Editing the Romance. The basics of editorial methodology will not be covered but students will be expected to know them.
The class is entirely online and asynchronous (you don’t have to be in any particular place at any particular time to participate) but weekly assignments are due by specific deadlines.
For more information and to register, click here.
Self-Paced Spotlight:
Point-of-View and Perspective for Editors
$100 (Members: $90) | How to edit for point-of-view and perspective | 5 lessons | Self-paced | Intermediate
Members can save $50 on this class! See below for more information.
This class goes beyond the basics of head-hopping to dive deep into problems in perspective and POV. It goes past simple distinctions such as first versus third to dive into close third versus omniscient third versus limited third versus multiple third.
It covers:
the possibilities and limits of various narrative points-of-view
how other developmental problems are related to POV, such as character development
odd birds, like second person, objective narrators, and unreliable narrators
dissecting how POV and perspective work
how to fix them when they don’t work.
All of this is discussed with an eye towards spotting POV and perspective problems in client manuscripts and delivering workable solutions for writers with a wide range of abilities.
Lesson assignments are paired with answer keys to help you review your own work.
This class is intended for those with some developmental editing experience or who have taken the Beginning + Intermediate DE for Fiction classes or the self-paced DE 1 through 6 classes.
The class is entirely online and asynchronous (you don’t have to be in any particular place at any particular time to participate).
For more information and to register, click here.
For Members
Exclusive for members! Take $50 any one self-paced class! That’s half off of most self-paced classes. (This offer does not include classes with an instructor component, like Advanced Developmental Editing.) See the membership classroom for the coupon code and more information. Good through Sunday February 15, 2026 (midnight Pacific time).
We’re almost through the first marketing challenge of the year! These are held every quarter and are a fun way to meet other editors and be accountable for doing those often-dreaded marketing tasks. The next one starts March 23, so mark your calendars!
Membership information (such as coupon codes for the discount on PerfectIt software and dates of the marketing challenge) can be found on the course information page in the Membership Program “class.”
Please check there first to see if the information answers your question. Thank you!
Upcoming Classes
Instructor-led classes starting soon:
Editing for Character Development, starts Mar 9, 2026
Coaching and Editing Discovery Drafts, starts Mar 11, 2026 - this is the only time this class will be offered in 2026
Editing for World-Building and Setting, starts Apr 6, 2026.
Editorial Toolkit: Book Doctoring and Ghostwriting, May 6, 2026 - this is the only time this class will be offered in 2026
Advanced Developmental Editing for Fiction, starts May 11, 2026 - this is the only time the class will be offered as a group class in 2026, but you can arrange a one-on-one Advanced DE class here.
About Jennifer Lawler
I help editors figure out what the hell they're doing.
If you're an aspiring, new, or established book editor or story coach, I can probably help you learn how to do the work better and more profitably.
Through Club Ed, I offer developmental editing classes, a freelance editor membership program/support group, and a slightly bony shoulder to cry on.
I've worked as an editor for more than twenty years. I learned how to edit in the trenches of traditional publishing with its insane deadlines, pitiless competition, and crushing bureaucracy. To that I added a Ph.D in English literature with a specialization in medieval literature because of a long story.
Editorial clients have included Simon & Schuster, Girl Friday Productions, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, Barnes and Noble Custom Publishing, and others, along with many independent authors.
For fiction self-paced classes, click here.
For fiction instructor-led classes, click here
For nonfiction self-paced classes, click here
For nonfiction instructor-led classes, click here