Given its intense subject matter, it takes a special type of editor (or writer, journalist, etc.) to work on true crime. Throughout the developmental process, editors ask questions that often go much deeper than expected. We question the nature of content and how explicit it should be. And depending on your role in the project, you may be called to make ethical decisions when you least expect it.

This episode is the first of two parts. In part one, I introduce Andréa Topper—a writing coach and editor—who has had a varied career in journalism, content marketing, and corporate communications in Silicon Valley. She describes her role in 2018 as a writer for CrossFit’s Journal to cover a new program, Redemption Road CrossFit, which supports health, wellness, and personal redemption within the prison system. She was assigned to visit the Limon Correctional Facility, a men’s maximum-security prison located roughly 100 miles southeast of Denver, Colorado. While attending one of the sessions, she met Damian Arguello who fatally stabbed his wife and toddler while high on crack cocaine. He is now serving a life sentence.

Andréa is currently working on a book that covers Arguello’s story and her first-hand observations about our country’s prison system. We discuss a wide variety of topics that come into play when handling true crime: the writing process, emotional unrest when stepping away from work, journalistic skills required for interviewing, and making ethical decisions related to developing content.

For more information about Andréa’s prison visits, click on the following links to her blog and other articles:

• Building Community Behind Bars—https://journal.crossfit.com/article/limon-seminar-cecil-2
• Reporter’s Notebook: CrossFit in Prison—https://journal.crossfit.com/article/limon-2-cecil
• Redemption Chronicle (blog)—https://medium.com/redemption-chronicle
• For a full list of posts, please use this link—https://medium.com/redemption-chronicle/stories/published

In addition to her experience in writing and editing, Andréa played a vital role in editing and contributing to the book, Speal: A David and Goliath Story, which sold tens of thousands of copies: https://www.amazon.com/Speal-David-Goliath-Chris-Spealler/dp/1544500564.

Not all beta readers are editors, but editors seem to be the best type of people to take on this task. This episode explains what it takes to perform this high-value task of providing writers with useful feedback. Beth Wojiski (https://www.bethwojiski.com) is an editor, writer, threshold singer, and artistic soul passionate about offering editorial support to other creatives. In addition to proofreading and copyediting, she provides beta reading as a professional service and explains how she discovered it, how to set rates, and most importantly, how it’s a fun and interesting way to supplement your editorial income.

Beth Wojiski's career spans more than twenty years in positions varying from legal assistant, development associate, or analyst with a major tech firm, but a common theme with every job has been perfecting written communication and analyzing language for its best use. In one past role, she trained machine learning algorithms to understand language to surface better search results. Several years ago, a friend and mentor asked, "If today were your last day alive, what would you regret?" Beth realized she was living for other people's goals, not her own, so she took training in proofreading, copyediting, and line editing and hasn't looked back. She is also writing her first book, a memoir about thriving after a traumatic event. Beth lives in southeastern North Carolina and enjoys reading (especially cozy mysteries), singing, and making pretty things with yarn.

Listen to this episode to learn how you can add beta reading as a new service line to your successful editorial business. For more information on the specifics of beta reading, visit Beth’s website at www.bethwojiski.com/services/beta-reading. Learn how she breaks it down for her clients and the specific mindset required to support writers in their publishing journey.

Editors around the globe have been waiting for the highly anticipated book The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction. With more than 500 novels and anthologies under her belt, Amy J. Schneider is a true expert when it comes to copyediting fiction. Amy’s book is a road map and go-to resource to help copyeditors navigate the world of fiction. In this podcast, we discuss the copyediting process for fiction, building your style sheet, and examining the copyeditor’s mindset when approaching the work.

Amy J. Schneider founded Featherschneider Editorial Services in 1995. She copyedits and proofreads scholarly and trade nonfiction and bestselling fiction in a variety of genres for traditional publishers and university presses. Since 2012, she has written articles and presented in-person and online sessions on various editorial topics for regional and national editors' associations.

When Amy is not working in the soft glow of her four-monitor desktop, she enjoys running, singing, and teaching her springer spaniels to do silly tricks (not all at the same time). To learn more about Amy and her company, visit http://www.featherschneider.com.

To purchase your copy of the latest book, visit https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo183690033.html.

In this episode, we also discuss some upcoming editorial-related events that are virtual and in-person where we can find Amy.

• March 7, join a live Zoom session with Amy on “That Word Chat” hosted by Mark Allen: https://www.markalleneditorial.com/thatwordchat.

• March 22–25, she will be presenting at the ACES Evolve conference in Columbus, Ohio: https://aceseditors.org/conference/aces-2023-columbus/evolve-scheduleofevents

• May 6, Amy will be the keynote speaker at the Red Pencil conference of the Northwest Editor’s Guild in Seattle, Washington: https://www.edsguild.org/red-pencil-2023

• May 8, Amy will be at the Bay Area Editors’ Forum at the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the EFA: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/baef-and-sf-bay-area-efa-present-amy-j-schneider-tickets-560015109267

• June 17–18, she will be at the Editors Canada conference in Toronto: https://www.editors.ca/news/get-inside-scoop-editors-canada-conference-2023

• August 17–19, you can find her at the EFA conference (EFACON 2023) in Alexandria, Virginia: https://www.the-efa.org/event/efa-conference-efacon/

• September 9–11, she will be attending the CIEP annual conference in Glasgow, Scotland: https://www.ciep.uk/networking/conferences/

Erin Willard, copyeditor, walks us through what it takes to edit a fictional book in a series, how to manage the characters in the stories, and the logistics of how the process should be managed. Erin's past projects have included editing manuscripts of award-winning novels, short stories, and memoirs. Working with independent authors and small publishers is her specialty, giving a light polish to the voices of new writers, seasoned professionals, and those in between. Erin received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from San Diego State University and her certificate in copyediting from UC San Diego Extended Studies. She is a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA); ACES, the Society for Editing; the Association of Independent Publishing Professionals (AIPP); and the San Diego Professional Editors Network (SD/PEN), where she served as secretary in 2017–2018 and co-president in 2019–2020. More information about her business, Erin Willard, Copy Editor, can be found on her website, www.ErinCopyEditor.com.

Ellen Polk, copyeditor and proofreader, will explain her perspective on AI technology in the world of editing. What does this mean for editors, what are the pros and cons, and what are some of the things to pay attention to as AI gets more and more sophisticated?

Learn more about your host, Nadia Geagea Pupa, and the purpose behind the podcast.