Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Megan Barnes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Megan, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
As a business owner who is still in the first few years post-launch, it’s hard to think about “legacy.” When you are still in the brick-by-brick phase, trying to envision the bigger vision is a bit challenging. However, on the days when I am just getting through until the next, or the days when the workload feels insurmountable, the thing that gets me through is the joy from writers who know that their work is being handled with care. That someone out there (me) is putting blood, sweat, and tears into making their work the best it can be. I want the writers I work with to feel empowered. To feel like their work matters. To feel like they can accomplish everything they’ve imagined for their writing and for themselves.
I think one of the hardest things for writers, especially NEW writers, is struggling with imposter syndrome. Most of us deal with imposter syndrome at some point or another (I know I sure have), but writers engage in something so personal for so long and have to just hope that the world loves it. I think if I was to leave only one legacy, it would be to have the writers I work with say, “Megan really helped me believe in myself. She showed me I could do it and that my dreams were possible.” I want writers’ experience with Two Tales Editing to be one of joy, fun, dedication, and passion. I care deeply about every single project I work on–big or small–and I would love it if my legacy reflected those qualities.
Megan, 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?
Where to even begin…I am someone who only ever wanted a job where I could read books for a living. I am that little girl who checked out the most amount of books allowed on each trip to the library. I am that child who said, “Goodnight!” and then turned on the flashlight to keep reading under the covers. I am that middle-schooler who struggled between being “too cool” for books and who got yelled at in Math class for reading under the desk. I am that high school student who co-founded the school’s first Book Club because we weren’t reading anything “juicy enough” in AP Lit. I am that college student who changed their major a zillion different times in fear that settling on English would relegate them to a future of nothing but teaching. I am that graduate student who fell into teaching regardless. I am that teacher who spent the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic contemplating the existential crisis of what it means to work with passion. I am that editor who had over nine years of editing experience under their belt and didn’t realize for the longest time that editing was, in fact, the gateway to everything they ever wanted.
And that is the SparkNotes version!
As the founder and editor of Two Tales Editing, I now get to do exactly what I wanted with my life; that is, read books for a living. I work with writers of all fields at every stage of their writing. Academic writers working to polish their PhD dissertation. Fantasy authors who have finished the first two books in a seven-book series and need edits for the first and coaching for the rest. Memoir authors who need assistance finding the perfect balance between what’s important to them vs. what’s important to the story. Children’s book authors who need someone to verify that “kind” does in fact rhyme with “mind” after they’ve looked at it too many times to tell. Professionals who are looking to remake their resume for the dream job they’re finally ready to pursue. Retirees who are itching to write the tome of ideas they’ve been sitting on for decades. If anyone is unsure if their project is the right fit for me, the chances are . . . YES.
I like to tell people that Two Tales Editing is a one-stop-shop for writers. We provide editorial services that include line editing, developmental editing, proofreading, copy editing, etc. We provide coaching services for writers who need help getting their ideas off the ground all the way to writers who have prolifically published and are looking for a new challenge. We also help format and style a writer’s work, especially if they are self-publishing. We even offer publicity services for both traditional and self-published authors. Publicist work with Two Tales Editing includes website building, social media content creation, scheduling book tours/events, and so much more. Really the only thing we don’t do is print the actual books themselves. But for everything before and after the printing? We are here to take care of whatever a writer may need. Everyone is welcome.
One of the things that sets Two Tales Editing apart from other services is the opportunity for payment plans. When creating the business, it was a major priority to be able to provide total financial equity to writers. Some writers have disposable income, so it’s no issue. For others, hiring an editor or coach is a huge financial risk, and I wanted to ensure that both types of writers had access to the same quality services, regardless of their financial situation. This is something I am so proud to be able to offer people, and I really think it speaks towards the mission of Two Tales Editing: Bringing services to ALL types of writers at EVERY stage of the writing process.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
Two weeks after Two Tales Editing launched, I was standing inside my own booth at the LA Times Festival of Books, watching hundreds of people pass me by, and praying for a miracle.
Rewind about two months from that moment. I was starting to “tease” the business on social media. I was ordering business cards and bookmarks with the Two Tales Editing logo and information. I was, to put it gently, panicking. There were (and still are) so many editing services out there. Everything from the corporate Grammarly to the countless “mom-and-pop” services offered online. I wanted to do what all these people were doing, but I was acutely aware of what my chances of success were amidst the more seasoned pros. I was scrambling for ways to make myself stand out among the noise of competition. That’s when I scrolled by a post on Instagram encouraging “last chance” submissions to be an exhibitor at the Festival. It took me all of two seconds, several deep breaths, and hundreds of dollars in a deposit to dive into something that was the biggest risk of marketing a fledgling business could make.
The expense of the booth, I very quickly learned, was not the sole expense invested in the LA Times Festival of Books. I needed booth décor (table cloth, streamers, knick knacks for display); merch items to giveaway (mugs, tote bags, buttons, bookmarks, t-shirts); personnel to help run the weekend with me; advertisement in the weekend edition of the LA Times; and a million other things that added up dollar after dollar. I was digging myself quite the financial pit in the hope that I would pique the interest of even just a few clients. It was a gamble . . . a gamble scheduled to take place a mere two weeks after launching the company into the world.
For those unfamiliar, the LA Times Festival of Books is a two-day event hosting hundreds of publisher, author, bookish-themed, and LA-based booths. There are food trucks and famous speakers and games. Living in Los Angeles, I had been a patron of the Festival for several years. I always brought an empty tote bag with me to fill with all the signed books bought throughout the day. It is a massive event in the book world. And Two Tales Editing? Not so massive. I wasn’t selling anything at my booth other than myself and my services. The only thing someone could “get” out of coming up to the booth was a tote bag or a mug if they signed up for a free 30-minute consultation. Oh, and not to mention the free lollipops for anyone who wanted one. That was really the draw, let’s be honest.
On Saturday, I stumbled over my words every time someone asked me what Two Tales offers. “E-e-editing?” It was . . . very embarrassing. Thankfully, as the day continued and the sun got warmer and the crowds surged, I gained my footing with a few one-liners about the business. My older brother (who is a literal saint and flew out from the East Coast to be my assistant for the day–thank you, again!) helped refine my pitch between curious patrons. Eventually, one person signed up for a free consultation. And then another. And as it always happens in life, when one person is standing at the booth, others felt more comfortable approaching. The day ended with about a dozen signatures of interest.
Sunday came and went like a blur. After working out the kinks on Saturday, I felt much more comfortable talking about the business. It was still a little awkward every time someone asked how long Two Tales Editing had been around and I had to answer, “two weeks . . .” but I was always quick to follow that up with the years and years of editing experience gained prior to launching. We continued to rack in signatures and by the end of the weekend, there were approximately 50 people who had signed up for a consultation. I wept in relief.
The fairy-tale ending to this story? The very first person who I scheduled a free consultation with after the Festival ended up signing a contract. That contract paid off all of the money I spent on the Festival. I broke even after just one of those signatures. It was a dream come true.
Now, of course, about a third of those people never followed up after I emailed them with information about their free consultation. A few others I met with, but did not sign a contract. But in all honesty, a majority of them not only met with me for their free consultation, but also then signed contracts, and I am still working with several of them still today.
After the Festival, I discovered that Two Tales Editing was the only editing services booth at the Festival that year. I had no idea that I had hit the jackpot. The following year, I naturally signed up again, and was only one of two booths. Who knows how many other editors will see my success and invest in a booth for themselves in the next few years. But my wildly impulsive decision, my “Hail Mary pass” right at the launch of my business, was the best thing I could have done. If I had not taken the marketing risk to get my business name out there at the book event in Southern California . . . I shudder to think where I’d be today.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Two Tales Editing is the direct result of a few side hustles. As most book-lovers do, I worked at a bookstore for about two years. One of my colleagues worked for an academic journal in desperate need of copy editors. He knew that I taught writing at the collegiate level (three-cheers to LMU) and offered me a volunteer position. I jumped at the chance to take my editing skills out of the classroom. I worked for the journal for about a year, but grew weary of tight deadlines, high workloads, and zero pay. I transitioned out of the copy editing role around the same time I left the bookstore. I started taking freelance editing projects of all kinds for friends and family and friends of friends. I worked on a novel, a dissertation, a short-story collection, website copy, and more. I admittedly could not have dabbled and hopped around without my full-time job at LMU. But teaching writing to college freshmen still wasn’t fulfilling enough and I always had at least one other job at any given time.
Eventually, I found myself hired as a medical editor for a major Life Sciences company. This was an entirely new world of corporate editing, hierarchically assigned tasks, learning what “deliverables” meant, and knowing that a missing reference could cost a company thousands of dollars. The stakes were high, the pace was fast, the pay was (finally) what I deserved. I loved every minute of it.
Why not continue with that job? Well, imagine someone who wants to be a chef at their own restaurant. For now, they are working at a grocery store. There is absolutely nothing wrong with working at a grocery store. They make good money, they get to be around food and try out recipes from the daily take-home, etc. All is well, except . . . it’s just not the same as being a chef at their own restaurant. That’s how I started to feel doing medical editing. Sure, I was editing, but not in the way I truly wanted to. I wanted to help people with their books. I wanted to read manuscript after manuscript and see authors’ dreams come true. I grew tired of the hustle and decided it was time to take all of the different types of editing and experiences gathered over the part-time years and transform them into something full-time that I knew would be driven by passion.
Contact Info:
- Website: twotalesediting.com
- Instagram: @twotales_editing
- Facebook: Two Tales Editing
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/megan-barnes29