By Lehua Parker
You are ready.
You passed your final university exam with twenty minutes to spare. Commas, parallelism, metaphor, story structure—all down cold. Chicago calls you with esoteric grammar questions.
Your first freelance client! It’s for a quirky contemporary romance, the second novel of an indie author who’s looking for something between a developmental and a copyedit. You top off your Diet Coke and dive in, keeping your secret disappointments to yourself. Using track changes isn’t the same as your special red pen. You miss that printer paper smell.
Days later, you resurface, slurping the last watery dregs of your tepid Diet Coke. You know you’ve nailed it. Every misplaced modifier, stereotypical character, and historical inaccuracy is meticulously identified and annotated. Your backup research detailing which wildflowers are actually in season for an August New Hampshire wedding is particularly stellar. You send off the edited manuscript and wait with bated breath for the accolades that will surely come.
Crickets.
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