When I first began marketing my freelance editing business, I focused on editing biochemistry-related student theses and dissertations, mainly because I studied biochemistry and wrote a thesis on said subject many years ago.
Now, two years later, I have edited exactly one biochemistry master’s thesis (with the approval of the student’s department and advisor, of course).
I’ve also edited more than one science-related grant proposal, a scientific manuscript, two social science manuscripts, a number of government documents, and trade and retail catalogs for a consumer products company. And I have done well at all of them.
Have I become a “Jane of all trades”?
Not really, because I have not edited any fiction, memoirs, or educational materials. Therein does not lie my expertise. Would I be willing to try editing these? Yes, but for now, I do not consider myself qualified to do it.
Going back to the part about marketing my thesis/dissertation editing…I found in doing so that not many department heads or graduate program directors are fond of the idea of their students getting help on their writing. Meanwhile, people were asking me to edit their research manuscripts and grant proposals, which I gladly did. Hence, my experience took off, but in an altogether different direction.
And I could not be happier about it.
What about you? Did you ever stumble upon an editing genre “by accident?” What was that like for you?
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