We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mary McDonough a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Mary , thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
How did I come up with the idea:
In March 2020, I was in the last two months of sprinting to my bachelor’s degree in Writing from Northern Michigan University (NMU). Post-it notes with small pieces of a plan were lined up on my apartment wall, step one: graduate, step two: get a job at a Midwestern newspaper and continue in an industry that I love. But as the reality of the COVID-19 lockdown quickly unfolded, portions of that plan weren’t feasible anymore. The world landscape was being permanently altered right as I was preparing to jump into the workforce. Soon, college was wrapping up and with that, I’d also have to move on from my job as a copy editor and journalist for The North Wind, NMU’s student newspaper. Yet, with so many variables up in the air, I knew that I wanted to continue my work as a journalist, and more importantly, I wanted to have a career as a copy editor. However, in a time when everyone was so focused on just trying to stay safe, and also the unknown factors of remote work, there weren’t many full-time opportunities to grab for a brand new college graduate.
I moved back to my childhood home in Greenville, Michigan, eight hours away from that little studio apartment where I tried to hold together the pieces of old dreams. When May rolled around, it was all I could mentally manage to think of a small next step and hint at fresh new plans. It was there that friends and family started asking me for help, proofreading emails with odd sentences, helping a friend on their short story, and another one sent me their resume for one last proofread. To my surprise, the requests kept coming. While the tasks were voluntary, at least it kept my skills sharp. Nevertheless, one question started to stick in the back of my head. I know I have the skills, I have proof of those skills but how can I make this into an actual concrete job? Soon I started spending late nights researching freelance copy editors, and understanding the Chicago Manual of Style. If this was my way to break in, then I was going to make sure I had learned about it from every angle I could, and dive in head first.
Writing, while terrifying to some, has been a foundation of my life since childhood. Figuring out the right pieces for your sentence, what flows best, and what emotion is held in the right arrangement of words, is a thrilling and admittedly complicated puzzle. I’d be lying to you if I said that lining all of the pieces for my own freelance copyediting business didn’t bring up feelings of paralyzing anxiety. I was relying on my knowledge, both of my highlighted style guides, and an undeniable gut instinct to jump out into the workforce this way. I wasn’t exactly sure if this was the right decision, but I knew it was one I’d regret if I never tried. After months of putting a website together, designing business cards, a few different setbacks, and trying to nail down the right name, McDonough Editorial launched in April 2022.
How did I feel I could succeed?:
Trying to be a copy editor in an age of digital spell check, was a hard logistical pill to swallow in the beginning. Were people even going to look in my direction when they have resources right at their fingertips? But then I was hit with a realization, sure the world might be pushing all these easy programs to be installed, but those programs can’t always get every single mistake and the last time I checked, they can’t read the AP style guide either. Outside of the initial competitor concerns, success came much more in the form of confidence and how much I was willing to put myself out there. When it comes to freelancing, you’re putting yourself in the spotlight and saying, let me show you what I can do for you. There is a bit of intimidation to get over. In the moments where my experience seemed like nothing, the days I wanted to panic, shut it all down and start over, I had a close-knit circle of people I could lean on. Within that were past co-workers who had seen my skills in action, and didn’t allow me to minimize them.
Above all, success always came with the understanding that I didn’t know everything about copy editing right off the bat, just because I had a business card with my name on it. While I know how to help people be clear and concise, they would come to me with their own unique needs and we’d both have to learn from that experience. To stay relevant in any industry, the sooner you can embrace the idea of continuous professional learning, some of that beginner’s anxiety will ease.
How did I know it was worthwhile?:
There was a client who reached out to thank me after deep edits to their resume. That document was going to open a number of doors in this person’s life and help their career. In that moment of joint celebration, I knew all the Chicago manual notes and Imposter Syndrome moments were part of a bigger picture. People want to treat edits like a simple action to avoid public humiliation, but it’s about clear communication. In a world that is trying to say so many things at once, I found my mission with McDonough Editorial, trying to help each person realize the potential of their own voice. It’s a common assumption that my job is to insert my voice into someone else’s writing. In all reality, copyediting is about trying to clean up someone else’s thoughts so their voice is that much stronger, be it in a resume, monthly report, short story, or email. Even as I approach the first anniversary of starting McDonough Editorial, the impact I’ve seen from different collaborations is worth all the work, because it means there will be more in the future.
Mary , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
How I got in: In my case, I was lucky that my editing skills had been something foundationally developed while I was in school. Since I had newspaper experience, many interactions and the occasional cold email wasn’t startling. By the time I wanted to start a freelance career, I knew what service I wanted to provide. Yet, before making that jump, I got my hands on every resource I could from successful editors of all kinds. Learning how my skills and vision for McDonough Editorial were going to meet the freelance landscape took a second to come together.
What I provide:
When I’m working with a client, I want to provide a safe space where we can have conversations about possible mistakes, things that might be missing and lines that seem to really hit the point. Deadlines are usually involved and it can be difficult to find the right words while looking at the clock, but I work to make sure that the process feels more like a team effort than a list of problems to fix. At the end of the day, they need to be happy with the words they see on the page and feel confident to publish it.
What problems I solve:
When you’re trying to run a brand, if that’s a publication of your own or the mission of an entire company, ensuring quality control for your content can be tricky. There are a lot of plates up in the air. It takes more than one set of eyes to find mistakes that can hide in plain sight, and when you already have other things that are also a priority, grammar, spelling and style can sometimes fall through the cracks. My job is to step in and take that off of your to-do list, so you can focus on other important things. Your content will be polished and ready for you to publish whenever you need it.
What sets me apart:
Aside from the rules for clear and technically correct writing, I understand the growing importance for Keyword Research and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The stories of our society change and so do the tactics we need for those narratives to be seen. There is room for the foundational principles of copyediting to stand with the impacts of technology that will continue to change how we write and interact with content.
What I’m most proud of:
If there was one piece of McDonough Editorial that I’m most proud of, I’d have to say it’s the blog. What started as a small portion of the business, meant to try and start conversations about communication, has grown into a space where people from all different countries are coming to learn more about the tricks and turns of writing in English. We know how to write things down, but when we forget that these words are each a technical tool of their own purpose, it can be hard to work your way out of certain problems.
What are the main things I want them to know about my service:
Now I know a lot of people hear the word edit and they see judgemental looks with red pens at the ready. But, while my job is to fix mistakes, this process isn’t meant to shame people for the way that they write. I’m here to simply be a collaborator and show you ways that your message and approach can improve, based on the goals most important to you.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
The number of credible online courses and certifications have been a resource I continue to hold close. It didn’t take long before I understood that Keyword Research and SEO were important skills, especially for anyone that wanted to continue writing or editing in a business setting. How to format webpages for optimization and write keyword focused content were not things that I picked up at a print newspaper. That hands-on experience was trying to help me understand the physical act of being a journalist. Nevertheless, the fall after graduation, I found industry experts, like the company HubSpot, who offered in-depth certifications through their online academy. From their lessons, I found a way to connect my journalist roots for good storytelling, with the current marketing landscape, and the SEO mindset. But more importantly, SEO is now one more skill that I can bring to the table as a copy editor. Had this come to my attention sooner, it would have allowed me even more time to explore and refine this new set of critical editing skills.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Along with senior capstone courses, newspaper responsibilities, and the general insomnia that comes with trying to finish college papers before the due date, I was trying to cram in another life milestone on top of that workload. I wanted to leave college with my driver’s license.
For a quick note of context, I have a mobility-related physical disability that requires assistive controls if I want to drive a car. That kind of technology, along with the work of installation, isn’t exactly something covered by insurance. Luckily enough, I was working with a program run by the State of Michigan that would provide total financial assistance. But here is the catch, as a condition of the program, I couldn’t be employed while receiving their help.
Initially, I was supposed to be going through the process for a first time driver’s license while I was still in school. With that as my focus, full-time employment wasn’t on my radar. The intent was to finish up all my hours on the road before graduation. That way, I could drive off in my very own car, with a diploma to match. Yet, as everyone knows by now, there was no way to predict what unfolded in those following weeks.
What was expected to only last a few months, possibly one year at most, turned into two years. The demand that the pandemic put on rehabilitation services, not only strained resources for those who needed it desperately, but non-urgent cases like mine moved at a slower pace. Pieces of progress would come together and it looked like we might be done sooner than we thought, only to go through another set of hoops. It was around the first major waiting period in the Fall of 2020 that I was hit with the reality of my choices. Either I had to jump into freelancing right at that moment to pay for the hand controls and all of the training, or I had to swallow my pride and find something to fill my time, until I passed the final road test.
Logistically, it would have been easier to take that first summer in lockdown and learn all I could about freelancing then jump right into some form of work. Internships and other opportunities meant for fresh college graduates, could have been an option but most of those were unpaid. Not to mention, the need for my license would have always hung over my head, and gotten in the way of other possibilities. This gap was going to happen at some point in my life, the real question was to do it now or later. Knowing that this much flexible time wouldn’t be easily repeated at another stage in my life, I had to find other ways to advance professionally and postpone any employment. Once I knew that was the case, freelancing became a concrete launching point I could use, whenever the time was right.
In those two years, I taught myself how to design and construct my own website through WordPress,, and dove into any online class I thought would help. By the time I passed my road test in late March 2022, did I have shiny new opportunities meant for people fresh out of college? Not quite. However, with that two year wait out of the way, I was able to put months of planning into action. Sure, it put me in an unusual position compared to my peers. But, I can look back at all of that now and tell you it was worth it. There is a horizon out there that shows me uninterrupted progress.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mcdonougheditorial.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-mcdonough-20ba151a3/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarMcDonou
Image Credits
Image credits: unsplash.com