How to turn a job in fiction into reality
GRAPHIC designer Averill Buchanan decided she wanted to retrain as an editor and proofreader.
Ms Buchanan, who is in her 50s, had run a design consultancy but sold the business to return to further education.
She gained a first in English at Queen’s University Belfast and went on to complete an MA and a PhD, but also decided to embark on a career change.
‘I loved the research and writing side of academic life but hated teaching, so I decided to try freelancing in publishing,’ she said.
She began the Publishing Training Centre’ s Proofreading by Distance Learning course in 2009 and finished in August 2011. Ms Buchanan, from Belfast, had already launched her own business and concentrated on it full-time after she had completed her course.
‘It took me two years to finish the course because I was building up the business at the same time, but others fly through it in six months,’ she says.
‘ We submitted our completed exercises at the end of each module and a few weeks later, our assigned tutor got back to us with and feedback.’
She adds: ‘The distance learning suited me well. I find classrooms noisy. You need to be self-disciplined to be able to set aside time to do the course and pursue it to the end.
‘In Northern Ireland, we don’t have much choice. There are no professionalstandard classroom-based courses so distance learning is a godsend.’
Ms Buchanan works as a freelance editor and proofreader, specialising in fiction editing.
She says: ‘I do quite a bit of work with self-publishers. I can also make print-on-demand books for my clients and eBook conversions.
‘ The business is flourishing. I get most of my work from referrals and word of mouth, and I’m usually booked up six months ahead.
‘I love being able to help writers achieve their very best, no matter what their publishing goals are.’