Three-dimensional CPD

18 Sep 201918 Sep 2019

I've recently returned from my sixth SfEP conference. I wasn't going to write a post about the conference, because nearly everyone does and they do it so well. But I'd…

Building up, not shouting down

10 May 2017

I don't know about you, but when I publish anything – blog post, email, tweet – it is often with trepidation, and after some soul-searching, and much reading and re-reading. Sometimes…

Self-mentoring for editors

28 Feb 2017

Editors tend to be a friendly, helpful bunch, ready to share their successes and challenges, and give each other help and support. The global editorial community is what keeps a…

Editing in times of darkness

18 Jan 201725 Jan 2017

I try not to do politics on the blog, and for that matter I don’t usually swear here either. So if these things might bother you, please look away now…

Converting put-downs into pitches

15 Sep 2016

I'm an editor, and I'm good with words. I work with words more or less every day, in one way or another, and people pay me a respectable amount to…

Thoughts on the SfEP professional development day for fiction editors

11 Jun 201614 Jun 2016

On Thursday 9 June I attended a professional development day for fiction editors, run by the SfEP, along with more than 60 other delegates. I’m not a specialist fiction editor.…

Riding the confidence wave

24 Sep 2015

Loss of confidence, even if short-lived, can be upsetting, isolating, difficult for loved ones to live with and professionally paralysing. And I guess that this debilitating condition is also common. If…