Interview with a Freelancer: Ev Bishop, Writer and Editor
Ev Bishop is a freelancer writer and editor, and the sole proprietor of Ev's Writing Services.
DEE-ANN: Why did you choose to use your own name or start your own business to work under?
EV BISHOP: Well, a business license is cheaper when the business name contains the owner’s name. Seriously. However, I had another reason to use “Ev’s” besides my innate cheapness. My business developed almost unintentionally. I was writing a lot and starting to sell pieces, and eventually people started calling and asking me to take on writing/editing jobs.
When I realized that I could probably make a successful business out of these unsolicited phone calls, I didn’t want to lose the benefit of word-of-mouth/personal connection. I also didn’t want it to look like there was some other business in town competing with me. ☺
DEE-ANN: What types of projects/clients led to the unsolicited phone calls?
EV BISHOP: Two things particularly helped put me in people's minds as a writer to call:
- In 1999, I landed a columnist position in the Community section of The Terrace Standard. Going on eleven years later, I'm still writing a monthly, and I still have people who call me because they read the latest one.
- Right around the same time I was hired on as a freelance columnist, I joined The Terrace Writers' Guild (TWG). Meeting regularly with other writers from a variety of backgrounds with hugely divergent writing experiences and goals was (and continues to be) incredibly inspiring and motivating. It was also (and again, continues to be) a great way to meet people who want editing work done or know people who do.
DEE-ANN: What kind of clientele were they bringing in?
EV BISHOP: Terrace is a small town and word-of-mouth is a powerful force up here (in the whole region actually), but I expect that that's true most places you go. My column led to businesses calling me to do write ups to celebrate historic milestones (thirty years in business, for example) and things like retirement articles for company newsletters. The more of that type of work I did, the more people heard that I did that kind of work, and well, it was the snowball effect, I guess.
My "big break" into editing was meeting Angela Dorsey, a fantastic storyteller and YA writer, at TWG. She was trying to sell her first novel and at the point we met, it had been out to about 80 publishers and been turned down every time--usually with positive notes about what was working in the story. Her last rejection was almost a page long and elaborated on what (the publishers felt) didn't work. She was frustrated and I volunteered to read the book and see if I could figure out what they meant and how it could be remedied. She was happy to let me. I read and noted places I felt the rejection spoke to correctly (and how to perhaps "fix" the problem) and where I thought it was just personal taste. She rewrote with my suggestions in mind and landed an agent and book deal on the first new submission of the fresh story.
It was just luck for me that the novel sold after I edited it--Angela's work would've sold eventually anyway, because like I said, she's a great storyteller and a conscientious writer who would've, once the initial ouch factor faded, used the rejection to make her story stronger. But luck on my part or not, we do work well together. I love her writing and feel fortunate to still be the one who goes over each of her books before she submits them to her agent.
DEE-ANN: What type of freelance work do you do?
EV BISHOP: A lot of the magazine articles I sell relate to my personal interests, but as a writer/editor for hire, I’ll assist with reports, web copy, promotional materials, academic papers (editing only), newsletters, proofreading, structural and stylistic editing, storyline editing—you name it. Almost every project I take on is different, and I enjoy that.
DEE-ANN: How often do you get asked to write papers entirely for people?
EV BISHOP: Not as often as you might be afraid of! And when I have been, it was couched as a joke and very easy to dismiss (with a short lecture/rant about the value and importance of intellectual integrity and work ethic! :)
DEE-ANN: How long have you been freelancing?
EV BISHOP: Almost ten years.
DEE-ANN: Full time or part time?
EV BISHOP: Full time as of January 2008.
DEE-ANN: Can you describe a typical, or at least recent, project for us?
EV BISHOP: I don’t really have a typical project, a fact that keeps things interesting (although the learning curve can be a tad brutal at times!). Editing-wise, I tend to attract YA novelists (including Angela Dorsey) and post-graduate students. Recent big projects involved rewriting a business textbook and developing Sex-Ed curriculum.
DEE-ANN: What are the particular challenges in editing YA?
EV BISHOP: I think that the only real challenge is the same challenge that exists in editing any work: making sure that the suggestions you make, fit with and stay true to the writer who's telling the story. Thankfully, once upon a time, I had someone critique my work, beginning with the words, "If this was my story, I'd . . . " and all I could think was, It's NOT your story.
So yes, there's my editing mantra: It's not my story. It's the author's. I strive to make all my comments or suggestions in that light--always stressing that they should disregard ideas that don't fit with their vision.
DEE-ANN: How did you get into editing for post-grad students?
EV BISHOP: Again, word-of-mouth. One of my old profs recommended me to someone doing their PhD, whose thesis adviser had told to find an editor.
DEE-ANN: What are the particular challenges there?
EV BISHOP: The biggest challenge is the material. In order to edit something well, you have to understand the concepts and theories being addressed. You also have to be careful not to overstep the editor/writer boundary and do the rewriting for the student. When I work with fiction writers or creative non-fiction writers, I often rewrite brief passages to show what I mean by a specific comment. With academic works, I generally stick to proofreading notes and explanations of what I perceive to be problematic--the writer has to interpret and apply those suggestions.
The Editors' Association of Canada (EAC) website provides a very helpful list of guidelines for editing theses.
DEE-ANN: How did you get into developing Sex-Ed curriculum?
EV BISHOP: You're probably tired of me saying, "word-of-mouth," but there you have it. I've taught at Centennial Christian School in the past and when I started my business, they were a great client: I've designed posters for them, written up their strategic plan, and done other smaller jobs. British Columbia (as do most provinces, I assume) has guidelines about what should be covered in all subject areas. Sex Ed (usually called by other names, like Family Planning, Personal Health, etc.) is no exception. I wasn't re-inventing the wheel, just designing and organizing lesson plans to help meet described learning outcomes.
DEE-ANN: About how much of your time do you spend on the business side, and how much on creating?
EV BISHOP: You mean the business side isn’t the creative side? ;-)
DEE-ANN: What is the most important piece of advice you could give to someone starting out or transitioning into your specialty?
EV BISHOP: Ask a good wage and don’t underestimate the time a job will take. The latter is always tricky, because projects have a way of changing scope as you work with a client.Make sure your contract allows for a certain amount of deadline grace, and if you’ve agreed on a set price based on estimated hours of work, have something in place in case the client’s vision for the project changes significantly and demands more time than the quote was based on.
DEE-ANN: Do you have any tips for determining what and how to charge for a project?
EV BISHOP: It's tricky. I have a set per word rate for writing and a hourly rate for editing. I determined my rates in part by checking out different websites (PWAC offers great outlines), in part by talking to others in the business, and in part by figuring out how much I need/want to make per job, in order to have time to do a quality work every time. I've read freelance success articles by writers who feel the secret to making a living is writing twenty or more shorts a day (often for Internet clients) for pennies that add up to dollars. I'm skeptical of that approach.
DEE-ANN: Do you have any time estimation tips?
EV BISHOP: I was always dead-wrong on my estimations, so now (it's so simple, I'm embarrassed it didn't occur to me years ago!) I ask to see the material and I work on it for a bit to get an idea of how long it will take, then I give a quote based on that.
DEE-ANN: How involved are the contracts you use? What's a typical length and number of clauses?
EV BISHOP: They vary too much to really give a helpful comment. For short pieces, I sometimes still just use an e-mail agreement. For bigger jobs, I always have a contract in place and I generally ask for 50% of my fee up front.
DEE-ANN: How did you develop your contracts?
EV BISHOP: Usually my clients are corporations or associations that have their own stock contracts, and I suggest any required modifications, then sign when the changes have been made. In cases where I need to generate my own contract, I use the ones provided by EAC and PWAC. They're written in clear, concise language and easily modified.
DEE-ANN: What’s your favorite part of your work?
EV BISHOP: I find something to like about all of it. Editing is an intellectual challenge, and re-writing is like figuring out a puzzle—how do I best fit this other person’s words and thoughts into a cohesive (concise!) piece of writing? That said, I probably enjoy working with fiction writers best. It’s fun, and I derive a lot of satisfaction from helping other people pursue their creative goals. Despite the obvious importance of non-fiction writing, I feel like fiction is where the real truths are told and explored. Stories show us how to live, survive and thrive.
DEE-ANN: Do you write your own fiction?
EV BISHOP: Yes, and I'm slowly starting to put it "out there." I've short-listed in some bigger contests and have a short story, "My Mom is a Freak," published in Cleavage
DEE-ANN: What have you learned about yourself and your writing from editing other people's work?
EV BISHOP: It's exciting (if a bit overwhelming, at times) to know that you never fully arrive. If you're up to the challenge and don't wimp out, you never have to stop learning, growing, and discovering new things.
DEE-ANN: Anything else you’d like to share with Freelance Survivors?
EV BISHOP: Just a small word to readers hoping to subsidize their fiction writing with freelance work: Make sure you slot in time for your novel or short stories, just the way you would schedule any job. It’s easy to have your time sucked into the vortex of the other people’s creations—wouldn’t it be horrible to write for a living and not have time to work on your own stuff?
[Editorial note: Excellent advice!]
