Since learning to read at a young age, I've always had a book within arm's reach. In the first grade I was plowing through 500-page novels within a week, always hungry for more knowledge and more information. This avid reading is what sparked my love for books, and in turn, polishing them and allowing them to live up to their fullest potential. I always had a keen eye and great attention to detail, forever pointing out grammar and spelling errors in books and newspapers I read, which most people didn't take too kindly to (I wonder why?).

 

A few years after I first learned to speak, I developed a stutter that I still live with today. I was constantly frustrated growing up because I couldn't relay the thoughts in my head out loud the way I wanted to. I've always said that I'm smarter on paper than I am in person. Because of my speech difficulties, finding a job that I'm not only good at but am also capable of doing, proved almost impossible. People have told me "no" to even the simplest jobs. I would go on to get a degree, but still couldn't get a job bagging groceries. It would seem the trick was to find a career that limited my verbal communication, but highlighted my written communication.

 

At 15 years old and in the eleventh grade, that I decided to job-shadow at my local classifieds, the Action Ads. Because I was still in school, I had set out to work with them for a week as I didn't want to get under anyone's feet, and I thought even a week would be enough to give me a glimpse inside the world of publishing. As it happens, the Editor-in-chief was so impressed with my work, they asked me to stay on for another few weeks, which I happily obliged.

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After high school, I decided to go into the field of psychology as I never thought my dream job of being a freelance editor was something I could make a decent career out of. In 2018, I graduated from the University of South Africa (UNISA) with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology done through correspondence, which I believe speaks to my ability to be self-motivated, focused, and diligent. During that same year, I fell into some financial issues as I lost the part-time job I held as an e-mail marketer, and a dear friend of mine (who is an editor himself) reached out to me and offered me a job, allowing me to finish my studies. I later enrolled at the South African Writers College to do a course in Copy-editing and Proofreading, which I completed in the same year. In 2023, I enrolled for two more courses with SAWC—Mastering Punctuation and Grammar for Writers—and received distinctions for both.

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Coming to terms with the fact that I had chosen the wrong career at this stage of the game was a devastating blow to me. I truly thought I had wasted the last few years of my life getting a degree I wasn't actually going to use, all the while ignoring my true passion for editing. But then I realized two things: 1) I still had time, and 2) It wasn't all for naught. Because psychology entails doing endless amounts of research, peer reviews, essays, and articles, I realized that my talents with editing and proofreading were not wasted, and that all the time I spent fact-checking, formatting research papers, and double-checking references, I was perfectly priming myself to be a non-fiction editor.

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I worked in non-fiction and academic editing as a freelancer from 2017, and even though I loved it, I loved editing fiction writing more. So, in June of 2020, I created a freelance account on Fiverr where I could market my services as both a fiction and non-fiction editor. Nearly a year later, I have established myself as a 5-star reviewed seller on the site, with many return customers exclusively using me to fulfill their editing needs. In September of 2021, I became a Fiverr Pro Seller (a hand-vetted selection of the top 1% of performers), and became a Top Rated Seller in May of 2023.

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From 2018 to 2021, I also worked as a freelance video captioner for Rev. As anyone who has worked for Rev could tell you, their standards when it comes to accuracy, spelling, and grammar, are very high. If your work is anything short of flawless, you get the boot. I pride myself on having maintained perfect scores for 4 years until I voluntarily left to pursue editing full-time. I still have an active account with Rev, but because the work (and work load) is much less rewarding, I've stowed it away as a last-resort source of income.

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The bottom line: I am passionate, hard-working, and I get the job done. I am educated, qualified, and have proven myself a worthy and successful freelance editor, with years of experience and unmatched determination.