I am thrilled – no, ecstatic – no, amazed, that after six years of study with the Open University I have been awarded a 2:1 Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in English Literature.

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It has been a long journey (mostly enjoyable) although there were a few times when I nearly gave up, plus I chopped and changed degree ‘pathways’ at least four times. Being taken on as an intern for an independent publishing company (Hawkins Publishing Group) in 2013/14 gave me a focus, however. It rekindled my love for getting into the nitty gritty of story development (and gave me a taste for editing). It inspired me to become reacquainted with beta-reading and look into the requirements for becoming a professional editor.

I believe trust needs to be earned, so I’ve been working hard over the last year (for free) to gain experience, not only in the actual editing but in the standards and delivery of the feedback I provide. Behind the scenes, I’ve been looking into training and chose to join the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (entry level). I am under no illusion that this suddenly makes me a ‘professional,’ far from it, in fact. Within the society, I am a little fish amongst hundreds of truly experienced professionals.

The association has set criteria for upgrading, but my goal for 2015 is to work towards becoming an intermediate member. I shall begin tomorrow when I sign up for their introduction to copy-editing course, and then put in a copious amount of editing hours to practice my newly learned skills, hopefully to your advantage, but in the meantime, I have an ever-growing list of books to get edited…