Are You Worth the Wait?

Freelancing life is known for being "feast or famine," because all the jobs seem to come in at once necessitating that some be turned away. When the work is scarce, don't you wish you could have some of those opportunities back?

The most successful freelancers always have work because they establish themselves as being worth the wait. Susan Hughes is an editorial freelancer who credits her business success to a series of self, skill, and business development strategies. Primary among them is reputation building.

Hughes schedules her clients up to a year in advance and is rarely able to work people in at the last minute. If they don't want to wait for her quality services, she's okay with that. She says, "Clients can always find an 'editor' who is available immediately and often at half the cost. And those potential clients who hurried off to book one of those one-dollar-a-page editors with a two-day turnaround time? They often come back, determined to pay for professional editing and willing to wait several months to get it done right."

How does someone breaking in to the world of editorial freelancing become worth the wait? Topics in this Editorial Freelancers Association Publication include Hughes's advice to: Know Your Stuff, Get Organized, Build Your Brand, Grow Your Social Media Presence, Ditch Your Ego, Communicate, Be Assertive, yet Mindful, Learn to Walk the Tightrope between Serious Professional and "Real" Person, Teach Them What You Know, Surrender Your Role as Team Captain, and Charge What You're Worth.

Revised for 2023, Hughes presents her best business practices that helped move her from fledgling freelance editor to sought-after professional. "It's not the number of manuscripts you hurry through that makes you worth waiting for; it's the quality of your work and the time you spend polishing your reputation that make the difference."