We recently connected with Karen Hough and have shared our conversation below.

Karen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think a willingness to learn, a willingness to pivot, and a sense of humour are the keys to what I consider success.

I chose to study science—but a fun science—at university, and came away with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Human Kinetics. My studies kickstarted my career in fitness, personal training, coaching, fitness centre management, etc…. I was moving up the chain, making great money, helping people, and was delighted that I could wear running shoes to work! I was never going to sell out for a “regular” office job.

It was the perfect path for me, and I loved everything about it… for 7 years, when I decided that 6am-10pm workdays, plus weekends, was just not a sustainable model anymore. I decided that it was time for me to trade my sneakers for high heels.

Luckily, while I was managing fitness centres (both corporate and professional), and in my downtime between clients, I read up on and took on extra duties, such as marketing, payroll, health and fitness writing, and web content creation, which lined me up well for an administrative position; I went to a temp agency, got my first temp job the next day, and was hired, full-time, the day after that.

I enjoyed the ease of my new 9-5 life. In my “spare time” at work, I emailed long stories to my friends, started a blog, and joined the social committee. I also earned a reputation for being efficient and a stickler for details, grammar, and syntax. I was bored, but it was a great choice for a trailing spouse and a new mother, allowing me to pick up new positions whenever my husband’s job takes us to a new city or country, and to free up my mind for my responsibilities at home.

Admin tasks (used to!) feel easy to me, so, in each position, I asked for more work, different tasks, and challenges, developing experience and expertise in whatever field I was in at the time, and moving up the ladder during my time there, all the while pursuing my interests and having fun.

I was able to focus on project management, earning a certificate in it that the company paid for (and I wrote blog posts about the challenges of a young family, illustrated with amusing Gantt charts); then on national security (sharpening my report writing skills and emailing funny anecdotes about my coworkers to my friends); then war crimes and crimes against humanity at our justice department (taking on management responsibilities as a senior paralegal and sharing jokes with my staff to deal with the horrors of the cases), to most recently managing a group of litigation analysts and advising senior officers on disclosure requirements… and trying to make disclosure sound interesting with colourful PowerPoints. I’ve also written copy for LED controller technology and ecommerce success stories, taught bootcamps in London parks, and have had one speculative fiction novel published, with another due to be submitted to my publisher any day now.

“Your degree is in WHAT?” I’m often asked. “How did you get here?”

Easy: a willingness to learn, and a willingness to pivot. Because yes, I’m currently on leave from my disclosure position, because I’ve followed my spouse yet again. My litigation analysis is couched in the Canadian system, so I’ve recertified in personal training and fitness instruction here in the US. This time, it’s been on my terms, with my boundaries firmly in place (for now).

My eager inquisitiveness and adaptability, helped by my sense of humour, get me through every day: through challenging moves, always being the new kid, impostor syndrome, and the horrible, dehumanizing process of querying a novel and working with an editor.

Success, to me, is finding ways to contribute, learning how to do something well, and having a good time doing it. I have friends all over the world, my kids are healthy and funny, we’re comfortable with adventure, and my resume almost looks like I made it up.

Karen, 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?

Finicky? Persnickety? Pedantic? These are three things you want (and need) in an editor. Better yet, you want one that knows the slightly-different grammatical conventions of the US, the UK, and Canada.

I’m Karen. I love words, grammar, and sentence structure; I’m a copy- and line editor that sincerely enjoys working with clients to fix the (sometimes-not-so-) little issues of flow and structure that stop an incredible story from really shining.

With my clients, my love of this craft really comes through. I try to make suggestions that will keep their voice, but offering recommendations for improved clarity and—of course—grammar.

When I sit down to work on a project, I approach it as a reader. That means that I edit and make notes on a cold read, ask questions in the margins as I go, mention what I want to know more about, and flag inconsistencies that will take away from the target audience’s experience. A little like life coaching: by asking the author questions about, for example, a character’s motivation, they uncover a fuller perspective, and can lead to a deeper, more realistic depiction. This is different than many editors work, but I (and my clients) find this a thorough and effective technique.

I’m a writer, too, but an editor first, spending about 10x longer on the rewrites/editing process than on the writing part! Of course I count on an external (human) editor to review my finished work, as everyone should.

My own writing tends to feature lots of introspection, and a twist or three that render the setting… different. My work is grouped into the speculative fiction genre, but I tend to describe it as “women’s fiction, but on a spaceship,” or “relationship problems on another planet,” or even, “reality, but more pernicious.” I try to include as much science in the science fiction as possible, to write plausible stories of events that could never happen. My first novel, Ground Control, was published by Sley House in 2022, and my second, Paper Moons, is expected from Sley House this year.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

When I was just starting out and had no published samples, I asked myself: how can I build my portfolio? I needed to write for someone — anyone — for money.

I reached out to a childhood friend, whom I’ve known forever, and who wants to keep me on his good side. After all, I know where the bodies are buried, and I talk to his wife.

He had a business and a good-looking website. I told him that his website was great, but that the “news” section was three years old, and that I’d like to help him out. Because we were friends, and I was “building my portfolio”, I offered him a very cheap price: I offered him the $10 package: I would simply change “news” to say “olds”.

He’s known me since we were, literally, one year old, and he knew that I could write well. As a businessman, he knew that a small, low-cost contract would be a smart move on his part, and low risk. Also, he came to visit us in London and stayed at our place for free, so I had a bit of leverage.

Over the course of a few months, I wrote six short, quite technical, news pieces for his site. He liked them and paid me (it was more than $10), and I had something for my portfolio.

Shortly after the deliverables were approved, I reached out to him again. I negotiated another contract with him for eight more articles, each at 20% more than the first. As well, I’m on call for any more writing he needs.

Another childhood friend (we were three when we met) came to visit later that year. Another entrepreneur, another informal, friendly conversation, in which I offered to fix the typos on the homepage of his website for $50: I’d be helping him, and he’d be helping me. Instead, he offered me a trial contract, easy to get out of on either side, and sent me a short piece to edit. I turned it around quickly, then he sent me a few items to rewrite. The contract has renewed (for 30% more), and I am assigned new work weekly, with lots more in sight.

Short story: childhood friends. But really, I created two great opportunities, two great references, built my portfolio considerably, and renegotiated my rates after I proved my worth. I expanded my specialist knowledge in two, previously completely-unfamiliar fields, definitely enough to show the next opportunity (and prove to myself) that it didn’t matter the subject involved — I can write.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think my authenticity and enthusiasm has really helped me connect with the market.

My clients pay me to shine up their words, but in doing so, they earn a fan and a cheerleader. I stay in touch and follow/boost them on social media, whether they’re authors I’ve copyedited, or businesses that have hired me for web content and media releases. I flag them for opportunities for marketing or awards, and I’m genuinely excited to read their new work or share their new products.

This is why they refer me to others; they know that I do a good job, and that I want them to succeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://karenhoughwrites.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenhoughwrites/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenHoughWrites/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-hough-56a95285/
• Twitter: https://x.com/kapowfit
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@karenhoughwrites5885
• Other: https://medium.com/@karenhoughwrites