At the end of April, I attended the ACES 2026 conference in Atlanta. ACES is a US-based organization for editors in many industries, including journalism, book publishing, and corporate communications.

Basically, it’s a society of people who work with words for a living.

Here are some of my takeaways:

1. Community is crucial.​
   I got to meet and connect with a lot of people, including editors I’d only met before on Zoom or in a Slack channel. It was so energizing to be around other people who understand the work and the industry, and it reminded me how important it is to build those relationships, especially as a freelancer.
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2. When you're editing, ask yourself if the feedback you're giving is helpful and specific. ​
   You are identifying what the issue is and why it matters, and you are pinpointing when the author is nailing it, too.
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3. Systems and processes take time to build, but they make your work life so much easier.​
   Be open to learning a new way to do something. It might be a game changer in your work tasks.
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4. Generative AI is really bad at a lot of tasks (like fact-checking).​
   It often causes just as much workload, because a human has to double-check every single thing the AI program did anyway.
   I have never used, and do not use, any AI program when I’m editing, but it was still interesting to learn even more specific ways on how problematic, harmful, and unreliable it can be (besides the many we already know).

I’ve attended a few virtual conferences, but this was my first in-person editing conference. It was a great experience and I'll definitely be attending more.

I'd love to hear about any editing, publishing, or writing conferences you've attended and would recommend!

Links I Loved

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​This author's experience publishing her books is worth reading.

Lots of great book recs in this list!

​Reason #4,372 being a writer can be exhausting.

I love this pep talk from author J.R. Ward.

A Book on My Nightstand

I'm in a weird reading mood this week. I wouldn't say I'm in a book slump, but I haven't figured out what I'm wanting to pick up next. Sometimes it isn't fun being a mood reader.

In the past month I've finished Yesteryear (that was wild) and two Miss Marple mysteries: The Moving Finger and A Murder Is Announced. I'm still in a mystery mood, but nothing is grabbing me just yet!

Thanks for Reading!

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