After almost 11 years and 166 (!) blogs, it is sadly time for me to sign off as a regular TEC blog contributor. I have so enjoyed sharing my knowledge with you—both the wisdom I’ve gained through my freelance career,  and the new skills I’ve learned from Senior Editor Beth and the other talented TEC editors that I have been lucky enough to work with.

When I started at TEC, I was just a year out of my editing program and feeling very nervous about how to get started in the world of editing. I applied to a position posted on a job board, and while I didn’t get that position, the woman I emailed reached out to me to say she thought I might be a good fit for another role she’d heard about—at The Editing Company. She put me in touch with Beth, I came in for an interview, and the rest is history.

Working for TEC has been a wonderful experience. I’ve met and worked with many amazing editors who have come through the TEC offices over the years, and shared many memorable lunches (and some very fun and indulgent holiday shifts!) with them and Beth. I’ve been able to have the freedom to try out things I thought I might be able to do, and with Beth’s support, I gained all sorts of new skills—many levels of InDesign proficiency, permissions editing, how to bend Microsoft Word to my will… Before I came to TEC, I had never done a developmental edit. Now, I think it’s probably my favourite service to offer, and I learned the ropes while in the TEC office.

However, while I’m stepping away from the blog, I’m not going far! I’ll still be continuing my work as a freelance editor. My work is split between what some might say are two completely opposite genres: journal articles for two of Canada’s academic journals, and romance manuscripts! An odd pairing indeed, but it allows me to indulge in some of the aspects of editing I love the most—the rigid structure and rules of academic editing, and the freedom and creativity of editing fiction. I also take on memoirs and self-help/motivational manuscripts, dependent on subject matter.

Under the umbrella of those genres, I’m happy to offer authors developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading services. I also take on the occasional query letter review or publisher submission package (if the project seems especially interesting).

I love to work on a variety of projects within those genres, so if you’re looking for a supportive and encouraging editor for your fiction or non-fiction book, I’d love to talk to you about how we can work together to bring the vision you have for your book to life!

You can reach me at lesleylongo@gmail.com or through my website, lesleyannelongo.com.

So, thank you for reading over the years! I hope the many blogs I’ve written have served you well, and that they’ll continue to offer you advice and guidance. Remember, you can always find my blogs on the TEC website at https://theeditingco.com/blogs.