Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cindy Nixon, owner and operator of Bookmarker Editorial Services. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cindy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
To be honest, “editorial services” as a catch-all category isn’t all that widely known in the professional marketplace and certainly isn’t what I’d call a “sexy” business sector. But it is indeed here—there are a lot of wordsmithing freelancers like me out there who are striving to uphold the highest standards of the English language in business publications and products, at a time when attention span, written literacy, and adherence to proper grammar and punctuation are at an all-time low. Why would a company invest in a professional copy editor or proofreader when hardly anyone knows or cares anymore how to use a semicolon or the difference between a hyphen, en dash, and em dash? Especially in our “rush to get it up” culture. Especially in content that won’t have a long shelf life, like social media posts.
Well, I care. And I suppose that the main way my business, Bookmarker Editorial Services, stands out and makes its mark is by just how much I care and just how much effort I’ll put into each and every job I get, no matter how small, to keep reaching for the ideal of perfection in print. It has become commonplace to automate many editorial tasks, to rely on a spell-checker or Grammarly to catch mistakes, to lean on AI tools for content development and competent writing. As much as I appreciate these advancements and can see their value, that value is limited. Nothing can replace an eagle eye, a perfectionist’s attention to detail, and a skilled human brain for actual cognitive processing of language, opposed to the assemblage and regurgitation of words already written, no matter how instantaneously and palatably the prompt result is spewed out. And although terms like “seasoned” and “veteran” no longer appeal to the generations currently steering and shaping the U.S. workplace, nothing can replace years and years of experience either.
The difference I bring to the industry? A minimum of two full passes on all assignments I get (i.e., once is never enough). Query flags that don’t just point out problems, but that offer solutions. Fine-tuning graphics and formatting, in addition to words. One-on-one personalized service that makes a company’s assets truly personal. Treating every deliverable I return as though it’s my name in the byline, my reputation at stake, not just my clients’. I bring an uncommon level of expertise. A commitment to excellence in copy in all its forms, whether text-based or visual. And I proudly maintain a ceaseless loyalty to the timeless tenets—and beauty—of the English language.
Cindy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’ve always been a bookworm—it’s what led me to pursue my master’s in English literature and then employment in academic book publishing. But a love of reading isn’t enough to produce a truly skilled proofreader, copy editor, or copywriter. That takes years of becoming immersed in the art of masterfully crafted language and accustomed to what the business marketplace demands and expects of its editorial output, at any given time on the ever-changing landscape of business communications across today’s multiple channels.
I remember when I was a production editor for a scholarly imprint in New Jersey—I served as a hub for making assignments to freelancers at all the various stages of book publication, and I soon realized I’d rather be one of those freelancers at home at my own desk getting the assignments instead of making them. I was more interested in the sentence-level nitty-gritty than the actual production process. So I started paying extremely close attention to what the copy editors were doing in manuscripts as I reviewed them, not just what, but why. I became familiar with all the different style guides of my trade—Chicago, MLA, APA, GPO, AP—until I was able to properly format a citation reference in my head according to the guidelines of any of them. I jumped on any opportunity for continuing education my employer offered me. I subscribed to industry newsletters, joined industry associations, and followed industry developments. With a background in art, I became adept at designing books, not just editing them. And most valuable of all, I greedily swallowed up any and all lessons I could glean from the more veteran copy editors with whom I interacted.
When I first went out of my own, I named my business Bookmarker Editorial Services because I mostly marked up books. But book publishing hardly pays the bills. So slowly but steadily—relying partly on generous word-of-mouth referrals and partly on good old-fashioned hard work coupled with an unwavering passion for the occupation I found so fulfilling—I expanded my service offerings beyond books to websites, brochures, flyers, handbooks, annual reports, company newsletters, PowerPoint presentations, speeches … you name it.
Now, on the cusp of celebrating the 30th anniversary of my business, I’d say I’m a hybrid editorial professional who can tackle pretty much any kind of project composed in the English language. I especially like the marketing and PR space, because I’ve learned so much about content creation and social media; my heart still leaps a little when I get a design job; and although I prefer working on promotional copy—whether writing it from scratch or polishing up others’ drafts—I’ve been known to win an RFP contract or two for my clients with my technical writing skills. Needless to say, I’ve had to stay up on things, to learn countless new apps and digital tools, and I obviously had to transition from paper to screen a long time ago and, with it, transition to the standards that inform my industry today.
What problems do I solve for my clients? I take responsibility for finding and fixing absolutely anything in their assets that could be messy, erroneous, ungrammatical, or just subpar. What makes the Bookmarker brand stand out? A steadfast commitment to excellence and decades of applied expertise. What am I most proud of in my work? The incredibly kind feedback I get from my clients, which keeps me motivated when I’m nearing burnout and keeps me assured that I found my calling.
I’d label both me and my business “old school.” And I’m not in the least ashamed to admit that! With my torrent of tracked changes, my barrage of query flags, and my meticulous eye, I teach my clients how to become better wordsmiths themselves and my own skill set continues to grow. When I’m at work, I’m in school with my clients and colleagues—and I never want the learning to end!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Well, I mentioned this in an earlier reply, but when computer screens took over office desks, paper was replaced with windows, and Track Changes took over red pencils, the transition wasn’t easy for me. What makes me so good at my job—my neurotic, perfectionist tendencies; my obsessive attention to detail; my control-freak nature—also makes me resistant to change. And at first, I wasn’t quite prepared for how quickly the change beset us all.
My father owned a print shop his whole career, and when I saw a friend have to shift his print business to a digital shop, I knew that my dad would never have been able to pull that off—that he’d retired at the right time. I couldn’t do that. I had to pivot—I had no choice if I wanted to stay in business—and so, you know, I figured it out as I went along.
Macros still intimidate me, I’m still waiting for Google Docs functionality to become as robust as Microsoft Word, and I still use a hard-copy to-do list and wall calendar to run my business. But not standing in line at FedEx anymore to deliver my jobs on deadline? Not having to edit longhand in tiny little writing between the lines of a printed draft? Designing a logo in InDesign or Canva instead of in my sketchpad? I wouldn’t trade the old for the new for anything in the world. And although I’m at my desk more hours than ever, I work much, much faster!
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Undoubtedly, hands-down, my business has grown, almost exclusively, by word of mouth. Remember that control-freak nature I spoke of? It won’t let me muck up my website copy with a slew of repeated SEO keywords. I’m very straightforward and honest in my LinkedIn profile as well—I don’t embrace trendy buzzwords there, call myself a “change agent” when I’m just a really, really good “copy editor”—so I don’t get a lot of traffic there either. Bottom line: I’m not really found much online. And, honestly, I’m fortunate enough to have so much paying work on my desk that I can’t leave it very often for conferences, networking, and event attendance. What about blogs and social media, you ask? Ha! Refer back to “so much work on my desk.” I rarely quit before 10 p.m., and I’m having real trouble honoring that slash in “work/life balance.”
So, yeah, I get new clients primarily because my existing clients are spectacularly generous in telling other people about the value I add, to fill a need they maybe didn’t even know they had. Should I at least try to keep up with the times to elicit new business—start a column, purchase platform ads, create content I can repurpose into passive income? Sure, probably. But I don’t have an internal need to be a thought leader in my industry to attract new clients. I just want to be up there with the best copy editors and copywriters my profession has ever seen, and so I dedicate all my time to copyediting and copywriting. If you build it, they will come. If you’re good at what you do, the clients will materialize.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bookmarker-es.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindy-nixon-bookmarker/
- Other: Email: [email protected]
