When I decided to change my career to become a Copyeditor and Proofreader, I knew I wasn’t stepping onto an express elevator to success. I was taking the stairs—every carefully crafted email, every silent rejection, every late-night scroll through CMOS—to prove that I was ready to do this for real.

I had the training—and I’m still racking up the certificates. The passion. A professional website I’d built from scratch with soft hands and stubborn hope. But what I didn’t have was a client list. A testimonial. A reason for someone to trust me with their words other than, “I promise I care deeply, and I’m good at this.”

So, I did what many new freelancers do:
🔹 Set up my Upwork and Fiverr profiles
🔹 Created project catalogs and descriptions that whispered, “I know what I’m doing”
🔹 Researched keyword placement for my gigs like I was preparing for SEO midterms
🔹 Spent hours tweaking thumbnails and taglines to sound sharp—but not shouty

I pitched. I crafted cover letters that balanced humility with capability. I considered offering rock-bottom prices… and then stopped myself. I didn’t want to be hired because I was cheap. I wanted to be hired because I was right for the job.

And still… nothing.

The silence was loud. No messages. No bites. Just a dashboard of proposals marked “not viewed,” and a creeping voice in the back of my head asking, “Who did you think you were?”

But the thing is, I am an editor. I do have an eye for voice, rhythm, logic, and flow. I know how to cut clutter, preserve tone, and polish until the prose hums. I just hadn’t been given the chance—yet.

So, I kept moving:

• I revamped my website again (and again).
• I cold-messaged potential clients on LinkedIn and via email—politely, professionally, and with purpose.
• I refined my branding, designed my own banner, and learned things like conversion paths, alt text, and font pairings I never thought I’d need as an editor.

Some days felt like progress. Other days felt like I was talking to an empty room. But I’m here, showing up—even when the inbox is quiet.

Because someone will read this post. Someone will see the care I take with every comma, every cadence. And when that first client comes through, they'll know I climbed every step of this staircase to meet them—with clarity, integrity, and an unswerving red pen.

Yvonne Smith is the founder of Second Sight Editing, where she combines editorial precision with a deep respect for authorial voice. When she’s not fine-tuning manuscripts or decoding CMOS, she’s building her business one bold step at a time. Learn more at Second Sight | Home.