Image by Rodeo Project Management Software on Unsplash

When I started this course, I was working as a self-employed contractor for a company that provides copyediting and formatting services for researchers hoping to publish their work in academic journals. I fell into that work by chance – when I applied, I had neither the requisite academic qualifications nor much experience in editing, but somehow, I landed the job. I soon found that I really enjoyed the work, but by the time I quit, I was feeling pretty disenfranchised with the idea of self-employment. I loved the flexibility, and the pay wasn’t terrible, but what about income stability? Work–life balance? Holiday pay?

In this context, working as a contractor for a company rather than a freelancer for myself, I also struggled with the lack of support provided by the company’s management, and with their policy of not allowing editors to communicate with one another. Beyond returning an edited manuscript, it was also impossible to communicate directly with authors. Overall, although I benefitted from setting my own working hours, I felt isolated in this environment, a faceless entity sitting alone in a cold flat and churning out manuscripts. This was part of the reason I started this masters – to move away from this environment.

However, I wasn’t naïve – I knew that the publishing industry has long been outsourcing work to freelancers, with more companies turning to this gig economy-style work in recent years.1 And with more and more professionals in the industry turning to self-employment, I knew that it was likely to rear its head in my working life again, as dejected as I was about the prospect of that.

It was lucky, then, that I struck up a conversation with a freelance copyeditor at London Book Fair, who was able to provide an insight into a different experience of self-employment. Although she had been established for some time, it was exciting to hear about her experiences – and she actively encouraged me to reconsider working in this way. She was the first person to directly recommend that I join the Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders (CIEP), and since this meeting, I’ve learned that self-employment doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go it alone – there’s community and support out there to help you along.

Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders

I’d long known about the CIEP, as this was one of the first resources I came across when I started thinking about how I could progress as a copyeditor and expand my clientele beyond the company I was working for. However, it isn’t cheap! Even when having the one-off processing fee waived as a student, a year-long entry-level membership is £136. With this in mind, I was unsure if I was ready to join – was it really worth it at this point in my career? However, soon after my serendipitous meeting at LBF, we were treated to a guest lecture by Dr Cathy Tingle, owner of DocEditor and a member of the CIEP’s governing council. She acknowledged the financial barrier to joining, but also strongly encouraged me to do so if I could afford it.

The CIEP offers its members a wide range of benefits, including relevant training courses and business resources. However, it’s also useful for connecting with other editorial freelancers through forums, local groups, and conferences. I’ve yet to fully delve into everything that my new CIEP membership offers, but it seems like there’s plenty of useful information for me to sink my teeth into.

Bright Red Triangle

Having mentioned that I was interested in exploring freelancing with our course leader, she recommended that I check out Bright Red Triangle (BRT), Napier’s enterprise support hub. As a Napier student (and later, as alumni), I can access a business advisor and use BRT’s coworking space – for free, forever. They’re dedicated to providing those interested in self-employment with the much-needed support in establishing themselves, and are proud to facilitate the networking required to do so.

As part of this, I recently attended one of their Freelance Academy sessions, where we discussed the various barriers to freelancing, as well as how to effectively market yourself to clients and establish yourself as a sole trader. While not all of this was new to me, I learned a lot during this session, and was pleased to know that there’s a local community of fellow freelancers that I can engage with and learn from.

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Whether or not I return to full-time self-employment is yet to be seen. However, it’s reassuring to know that there are communities and support out there if I choose to incorporate it into my career again.

  1. Although there is no agreed-upon definition of ‘gig economy work’, the UK government defines it as ‘the exchange of labour for money between individuals or companies via digital platforms that actively facilitate matching between providers and customers, on a short-term and payment-by-task basis’. ↩︎