Excel tips for self-employed language professionals

Maya Berger

When a client approaches you about a new editing job, wouldn’t it be great if you had a tool to help you:

● quote a fair rate and accurate timeframe for the project;
● track whether you get paid on time;
● compare your estimated hourly rate and editing speed with your actual rate and speed; and
● analyse how valuable this client is for your business?

Wouldn’t it be greater if this tool was already on your computer, included in your Microsoft Office suite? And wouldn’t it be even greater if this tool didn’t intimidate and baffle you?

Whether you’re already spreadsheet savvy or you’ve never used Excel before, this workshop will show you how you can harness Excel’s functionality to manage your freelance editorial business confidently and professionally.

In this workshop, I will show you how to manage your income, expenses, and project data in Excel and take the guesswork out of running your business. It will cover:
● An introduction to Excel basics and terminology.
● Using Excel to track project income, editing speed, average rates and more.
● Your business data at a glance, with summaries and charts.
● Excel troubleshooting tips.

About the presenter

Maya Berger launched The Editor’s Affairs (TEA) in May 2020 with the aim of helping fellow freelance editors keep their business affairs in order. She is a CIEP Advanced Professional Member, and she gave seminars at the 2020 CIEP annual conference and the 2018 and 2019 SfEP annual conferences. She has also appeared as a guest on The Editing Podcast. Maya specialises in copy-editing and proofreading speculative fiction, erotica and academic texts in the humanities and social sciences.

After spending 13 years in the UK, Maya returned to her native Canada in October 2017 with her cat and editorial assistant, Idris. She currently lives and works in Toronto.

maya.berger@gmail.com | www.whatimeantosay.com | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayaberger/ | Twitter: @MayaBerger