WANTED: Editor to join long writing journey and make it less winding

3 min readMar 20, 2022

I’ve been writing on and off for large parts of my life. Until late 2020 it was always on the fringes of other jobs and activities. Since December 2020, I’ve been writing full-time as a content marketing manager at Animalz.

I’ve published many articles at Animalz and with my productivity startup Saent. So my main topic has always been (personal) productivity, with some strays into startups and marketing.

Before turning you off already, let me say that my view on productivity is not the typical hustle-and-hack-yourself-into-perpetual-busyness-type.

I’ve started more book drafts than I’d like to admit, with only one reaching the status of completed eBook (Find Your Focus).

All those unfinished drafts are around productivity. I have four decent ones in various stages of completion, plus two pretty solid book ideas.

Perhaps needless to say, as I’m looking for an editor, but just to make sure: I’ve worked with editors before — at Animalz, Saent, and on some freelance writing assignments — and value your work tremendously.

What I’m looking for in an editor

My work at Animalz has convinced me writing will be part of my life until I’m not fit to do it anymore, hopefully, many years from now.

I also expect that, in the years ahead, I’ll be able to dedicate more time to my own writing projects (as opposed to writing for clients). Initially, those projects will relate to productivity and Saent. But I’m hoarding information in my note-taking system on a wide range of topics I’d like to write about one day.

Hard skills I’m looking for

In order of importance:

Editing of (e)books.
Experience bringing books to publication with writers.
Editing of articles (~2 per month at first).
Experience with collaborative workflows across research, note-taking, and writing apps.
Nice-to-have: Copywriting (e.g., headlines, marketing texts).

Soft skills I’m looking for

Interest in building a long-term relationship.
Passion for productivity, future of work, work-life balance.
Skillful at helping thinking through, selecting, and improving ideas and story formats.
Ability to act as a writing coach, especially on book projects.

This list is a lot to ask for and maybe unrealistic, but this would be my dream partnership. Even if this editor of my dreams exists, my current budget and time might be too limited to engage on all these points immediately.

For me, it’s most important to find someone who seems an ideal match for the long term. If, for example, that means we can only start working together on one book and need to spread that project out over a few months, that’s fine. I’d prefer that over a mediocre match whose lower fees can immediately cover books, articles, and copyediting.