Finding Your Editorial Niche

by Natalia Iwanek

In the recent past, I had the privilege of attending an Editors Canada webinar in which Greg Ioannou talked about the importance of finding an editorial niche. Admittedly, incorporating this advice into my career took me longer than I would have liked, but, ultimately, it altered the way I approach the editing sphere.

For quite some time, I was a bit of a “generalist” editor. While I felt sure that my skills lay in copy editing and stylistic editing, I could not shake the feeling that, perhaps, I also needed to take additional training in something I did not offer, such as developmental editing. Many things felt necessary, but, in all honesty, I did not particularly wish to pursue them. 

I vaguely knew in which direction I was heading, but I couldn’t quite put all the pieces together. I knew that, as someone from an immigrant background, as someone who spoke several languages, and as someone from various intersecting identities, accessible and inclusive language meant a great deal to me. I completed additional certification in plain language and attended webinars, courses, trainings, and networking events. One day, it all suddenly fell into place.

To this day, I am still very much figuring things out, refining my skills, and continuing with lifelong learning and unlearning. And I will say that, after talking to many colleagues, I know I am not alone when, periodically, that feeling of impostor syndrome surfaces: “Do I really know that much about this?” I have come to realize that, perhaps, this feeling can lead to a positive outcome—namely, never allowing us to become too confident or too comfortable in our skills, and instead urging us to continue with the learning and unlearning process.

However, in terms of ultimately finding my niche, I can say with certainty that several things helped me along the way. 

Focus on what brings you joy

For me, this joy was found in the non-fiction, copy editing, and stylistic editing spheres, along with plain language, inclusive—or conscious—language, and accessibility. This is my life, this is what I know—and these types of projects are what make me appreciate each day in this profession.

Language is ever-evolving, best practices are ever-changing, and discussion and debate are ever-present. And in fields like inclusive language, this often means going against and questioning often harmful and outdated editing, writing, and publishing norms. Loving what you do will keep you going in difficult times. Based on conversations with fellow editors, some examples of situations in which pushback often occurs are regarding the singular pronoun “they” and the use of identity-first versus person-first language when mentioning the disability community.

Narrow it down

Even though finding your niche is an admittedly large undertaking, I have found continuously narrowing it down to be helpful. For example, in the immense domain of inclusive language, I often analyze disability and accessibility. 

Specialize, specialize, and specialize some more

Finally, when you’ve managed to narrow it down reasonably, focus on specializing within this niche. In my experience, I have found that focusing on the intersections of disability and accessibility with various identities and lived experiences to be what I very much enjoy. 

It could be said that this specialization process will continue for the rest of your editing career, as you work on becoming a more experienced editor than you were the day before. In my experience, I have taken countless additional courses, attended various webinars, and spent hours in conversation with colleagues, and, to this day, I continuously upgrade my professional skills. 

As I further specialize, I have also built a network of fellow editors I turn to when work outside of my editing niche and/or experience comes my way.

That said, in my opinion there is a fine line between specializing and over-specializing, as societal changes have made it necessary to possess various skills. At times, we may need to return full circle to a more generalized editing approach.

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Natalia Iwanek (she/they) is a freelance copy editor, stylistic editor, and proofreader who works with a variety of clients on a diverse portfolio of projects.

This article was copy edited by Ren Baron, a freelance academic editor at Toronto Copy Editing.