Where do I find clients?
A new colleague emailed me after I presented at the Women in Publishing Summit last week, asking where I meet romance clients. In the midst of composing my response, I realized I could turn my thoughts into a blog post to benefit more people. If you’re an author, you might be asking why this post is of interest to you. Well, if you need an editor, you can probably find one at the following places! (Or you can just reach out to me, and I can direct you to an editor who will meet your needs.)
Next to the Contemporary Romance Writers virtual summer conference (I’m this year’s co-chair, so I’m kinda obligated to say it’s the best 😘), the best conference is the RSJ Virtual Romance Book Con. It’s three days of education and FUN! And the swag box blows me away every time. I’m a white person, so for me, a bonus is spending time with and financially contributing to a group of Black organizers and authors.
Other specifically romance conference hosts include the Romance Writers of America, Emerald City Romance Writers, ProWritingAid, and GayRomLit. This site has a list of additional conferences that might interest you. I’ve attended only the online conferences, thanks to the pandemic, finances, and disability making traveling difficult.
As far as where to meet clients, well, I wish I knew! Nearly all of my work thus far has come from other editors. I subcontract, but I’m hoping to build up enough of a positive reputation in the community that writers know to come to me directly for editing and more. However, I’m terrible at marketing myself. I hang out the most on Clubhouse, the audio social network, but that’s a fairly small group of authors, narrators, and editors (although I’m trying to increase the editorial presence by hosting a weekly room for the Editorial Freelancers Association).
Facebook and Reddit seem to have the biggest communities of writers who are looking for help. The Writing Gals and The Writing Gals Critique Group, as well as the Romance Editor Q&A and Romance Writers Resource, are where I’d start on Facebook. Subreddits to look at first include r/RomanceWriters, r/RomanceAuthors, r/EditorsForHire, r/SelfPublish, and r/RomanceBooks.
Twitter had been a source of clients for some of my edibuddies, but their business has dropped with Twitter’s implosion.
Instagram is a great place to build relationships with other editors.
Several editors who are active on TikTok have been able to grow their business.
If you have a course, masterclass, or ebook available, I can connect you with the people behind Infostack, which is offering its Romance Writers Super Stack for sale from April 4 to 11, 2023.
In the comments, please tell me how you’ve made connections within the publishing community!
