The Editor's Half Hour

When you pick up a cookbook, do you ever wonder how it all comes together? From the ingredients to the instructions to the tempting photos, a lot more happens behind the scenes than meets the eye. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the essential yet often-overlooked role of the cookbook editor.

Join us as we chat with seasoned cookbook editor Melissa Haskin, who reveals what it takes to turn a chef’s vision into a polished, reader-friendly masterpiece. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Melissa works on recipes, resumes, and research. Most recently, she edited "The Solo Stove Fire Pit Cookbook." She offers coaching for freelance editors and will be launching her first course, Recipe Editing 101, in March 2025.

In this episode, you'll learn why editing is essential—not just for correcting grammar but for refining recipes, ensuring accuracy, and creating a seamless flow that makes readers feel right at home in their kitchens. Discover the magic of balancing clarity with creativity, making dishes look delicious, and keeping flavors authentic.

Below is a list of resources mentioned in this episode:

The Modern Proper Website: https://themodernproper.com/

The Modern Proper Book: https://themodernproper.com/cookbook

World Central Kitchen: https://wck.org/

Melissa’s website: https://www.melissa-haskin.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissahaskin/

Recipe Class (March 2025): https://www.melissa-haskin.com/courses.html

• Full price: $497 (similar in price to Erin Servais' AI for Editors Course and the Toronto Metropolitan University course)
• Automatic 10% discount for early registration (through February 1)
• Extra $25 off at any time for listeners of your podcast with code Nadia25 (valid for the March 2025 course) 
• Currently slotted to be a 6-week course over Zoom/video call at a set time each week. Will be offered as a self-paced course in the future. 

Reedsy: https://reedsy.com/melissa-haskin

Recipe Editing class through the Toronto Metropolitan University (no affiliation) 

Other Resources:

The Romantasy Cookbook: Epic Recipes Inspired by Great Romantasy Novels and Their Fearless Heroines Hardcover – May 27, 2025by Gabriela Leon (Author)

Sandwiches of History: The Cookbook: All the Best (and Most Surprising) Things People Have Put Between Slices of Bread

Northwest Editors Guild Red Pencil Conferences

Recommended Books:

The Complete Recipe Writing Guide: Mastering Recipe Development, Writing, Testing, Nutrition Analysis and Food Styling, Raeanne Sarazen, MA, RDN, FAND

The Recipe Writer's Handbook, Revised and Updated Paperback – March 30, 2001, by Barbara Gibbs Ostmann (Author), Jane L. Baker (Author)

The Food Lover's Companion 5th Edition/The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion 2nd Edition 

In this insightful episode, we dive into the nuanced world of editing for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writers. It’s one thing to edit for grammar and flow, but how do editors balance maintaining a writer’s authentic voice while adapting the language for clarity and readability in English? This episode unpacks what it takes to work effectively with EFL writers, touching on topics like cultural sensitivity, linguistic diversity, and the unique challenges editors face when working with non-native English speakers.

Whether you're an editor, writer, or just curious about the intricacies of language, this episode sheds light on how editors approach the delicate yet crucial task of working with EFL authors. Tune in for expert tips and fascinating stories from Mekiya Outini—an award-winning author and editor with over ten years of experience providing editorial services to EFL writers, authors of literary fiction and creative nonfiction, and international students and scholars. He holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he met his wife and collaborator, Itto Outini. Together, the Outinis have garnered support from the MacDowell Foundation and the Steinbeck Fellowship Program at San Jose State University and co-founded The DateKeepers, a full-service author support platform dedicated to serving artists and creators around the globe.

Website: https://www.thedatekeepers.com

Mekiya’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mekiya-o-1157b9184/

The DateKeepers LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-datekeepers-–-a-hub-for-writers-and-creators-372831275/

The DateKeepers LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/names-dates-7147355807444049920/

Isabella Furth shares her insight about emotional labor and how it affects the editing process. Emotional Labor is defined as caring work or relationship work; it’s about managing emotional resources, but it can often become devalued or taken for granted.

Isabella explains the importance of recognizing emotional labor because it isn't something that should be avoided or ignored. As editors, we must find the moments in our work where we are taking the extra steps necessary to make our clients feel comfortable and safe.

In this episode, Isabella shares tips on how to factor emotional labor into your costs, and most importantly, how to recognize and manage it.

For more information about emotional labor, read the blog that covers this topic at www.sdpen.com. Search for "Editing and Emotional Labor."

Isabella's vast editorial experience includes journal articles, scholarly books, doctoral theses, biographies, textbooks, test prep materials, and general interest non-fiction. She also has more than 12 years of experience in policy research, writing, design, and structured dialogue. She is a member of the American Copy Editors Society (ACES), the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), and the San Diego Professional Editors Network (which she served as co-president from 2018 to 2020).

To learn more about Isabella, please visit her website at http://www.bluefisheditorial.com.

For about 20 years, the University of Chicago Press has been looking to publish a book about book design, and it has finally happened. In 2024, The Design of Books, written by Debbie Berne was officially published and it shares everything that authors, editors, and agents should know about book design. Debbie has been a professional book designer since 2002 and has designed hundreds of book interiors and covers in genres across the board.

In this episode, Debbie walks us through the basics of book design. She explains how the design process differs from the freelancer’s perspective to an in-house designer at a major publishing house. She also talks about timing and conversations with authors. When should the conversation about a book’s interior begin, and how involved should the author be throughout the design process? According to Debbie, it depends. Listen to this episode to gain valuable insight into what goes on behind the scenes of creating good book design.

Rebecca Scharpf of Scrollwork Edits provides an abundance of information about what it takes to work with neurodivergent clients. She primarily works with fiction writers and specializes in editing fantasy, sci-fi, and romance novels.

In this episode, she shares a variety of ways editors can create positive and affirming spaces for neurodivergent writers.

Rebecca shares several resources for both writers and editors:

Yo Samdy Sam (autistic and ADHD): https://www.youtube.com/@YoSamdySam/videos

Orion Kelly - That Autistic Guy (autism as it presents in men): https://www.youtube.com/@orionkelly

Purple Ella (nonbinary, autistic, and ADHD, parent to a neurodivergent child): https://www.youtube.com/@PurpleElla

How to ADHD (ADHD in women): https://www.youtube.com/@HowtoADHD

I am MindBlind (autistic / ADHD / mother / aphantasia / memory disorder): https://www.youtube.com/@HowtoADHD

Also, check out Meg McIntyre’s blog that shares additional tools and resources for both writers and editors: https://mcintyreeditorial.com/blog/tools-resources-neurodivergent-writer-editor

To learn more about Rebecca and her business, please visit: https://www.scrollworkedits.com/

Award-winning editor, Karen Yin joins us to discuss her latest book, The Conscious Style Guide: A Flexible Approach to Language That Includes, Respects, and Empowers (Little, Brown Spark). She provides insight and guidance on how to be more equitable in the way we communicate.

Karen explains that this is not a book of dos and don'ts. In fact, it's the opposite of that! This book is a cornerstone guide that teaches us to be more aware and to use critical thinking as language continually evolves.

She has also written several stories for children, including Whole Whale (Barefoot Books), So Not Ghoul (Page Street Kids), Doug the Pug and the Kindness Crew (Scholastic), Nice to Eat You (Scholastic), and “My Kinda Sorta Badass Move” (Boundless: Twenty Voices Celebrating Multicultural and Multiracial Identities, Inkyard). Acclaim for her writing includes a 2021 California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, a 2020 SCBWI/Smithsonian Nonfiction Grant, selection of her flash fiction by the Los Angeles Public Library for its permanent collection in 2020, and a 2015 Lambda Literary Fellowship.

Karen was also the winner of the 2017 ACES Robinson Prize (Editor of the Year). She founded several acclaimed digital resources, including Conscious Style Guide, The Conscious Language Newsletter, and the Editors of Color Database. Conscious Style Guide was named by Poynter as one of the top tools for journalists in 2018 and is recommended by Poets & Writers, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and countless others, including NASA. The Editors of Color Database was one of Writer’s Digest’s Best Websites for Writers in 2023. Karen serves on the advisory board of The Chicago Manual of Style.

Find her online at KarenYin.com and her book recommendations at DiversePictureBooks.com.

There are several things that CaTyra Polland is known for, but the most notable is being the founder of National Black Authors Day, which is celebrated on May 4. In this episode, she shares valuable insight into how she started her editorial career, which led her to start her own business, Love For Words (love4words.com). She explains her mentality behind starting this national holiday and what it means for Black authors.

CaTyra spends her time serving her clients as a guide and mentor for the publishing process—especially in writing and editing. She is an award-winning author, entrepreneur, editor, creator, poet, and international speaker. After being recognized for her ambition, community service, and literary expertise in the Rochester area, CaTyra continues to build a legacy.

She also shares details about why she created the Literacy Love Scholarship for high school students, which is a way to empower young kids to write, edit, and pursue their dreams.

Last but not least, she is also the host of the Editor Knows Best, which is an international podcast for literary creatives. In between running her business and speaking at conferences, she also volunteers her time as the grant reviewer for the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, chairwoman for the Innova Girls Academy (the first and only all-girls elementary school), and as a grant writer for the Rochester Black Authors Association.

In this “STET Special” one-hour podcast episode with the award-winning copywriter, Erin Brenner, we take a deep dive into her latest book, The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors: How to Take Care of Your Business, Your Clients, and Yourself from Start-Up to Sustainability.

We cover a variety of topics like branding, marketing, finances, setting rates, and last but not least, self-care. This book, published by the University of Chicago Press, has wonderful takeaways for newbies and seasoned professionals.

Erin Brenner is an award-winning copywriter who has been a communications professional for two decades, but before running her own company, she worked for ClickZ, IDC, and Epsilon, which gave her a deep understanding of marketers’ needs.

Erin shares her expertise in communications and business by speaking at industry conferences, such as those for ACES, Editors’ Association of Canada, and MagsBC. She also provides staff training in writing for private companies, such as Slipstream and Meister Consultants Group.

She is the former co-owner of Copyediting, a publications and training brand, where she was CEO and publisher. She is also a former instructor in the Copyediting certificate program at the University of California San Diego.

Erin is the author of Copyediting’s Grammar Tune-Up Workbook, 1001 Words for Success: Synonyms, Antonyms & Homonyms, and Quick Study Dictionary of Commonly Confused and Misspelled Words (with Steve Berner). She has written hundreds of articles and blog posts for Copyediting.com, Visual Thesaurus, and others. Read more of her work on Right Touch Editing’s blog (https://www.righttouchediting.com/blog).

The Universally Acknowledged Truth About Romance examines the editorial approach to romance through the lens of Jane Austen. Our special guest, Sarah Calfee—founder and owner of Three Little Words Romance Editing—has been a fiction editor since 2018 and specializes in romance.

In this episode, Sarah gets into the nuts and bolts of what it takes to provide dev editing and line/copy editing her way. With an MFA in creative writing and a deep, abiding obsession for Jane Austen, particularly Pride and Prejudice, Sarah gets to the core of what makes romance great. She shares her opinions and expertise about dev editing and story-level issues and how they can be solved using a Jane Austen writing strategy.

Visit www.ThreeLittleWordsEditing.com to view Sarah’s website and to learn more about her upcoming book, How to Pride and Prejudice.

Unlock the magic of what it takes to integrate your personal story with your business. In this episode, Sonia Alleyne shares advice that freelancers can take when they are forming their businesses or updating information on their websites. Potential clients need to be sold on an experience, but first, they need to be “seen.” Sonia got her start as an editor in New York and has interviewed high-profile business leaders including Ursula Burns, Oprah Winfrey, Don Thompson (former CEO of McDonald's), and Canadian billionaire Michael Lee-Chin. As press secretary, she has secured a significant and unprecedented amount of content placement in major media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, New York Post, Crain’s New York, Village Voice, ABC, and CBS.

Sonia has written two books and has co-authored one. She wrote I Kick Ass at Work! The Strategy Journal for Career Professionals (Hunter Publishing Group, 2020), which is the first journal of its kind to help women gain better insight and perspective about how they perform at their jobs. She is the co-author of Good is Not Enough: And Other Unwritten Rules for Minority Professionals (Penguin Books, 2008), which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. She was also a contributor to Tips for Life, by Maria Shriver.

As founding editorial director for the Women of Power Summit, Sonia created and designed the content of the event for 10 years. She is a member of Black Women of Influence, a by-invitation-only professional women's group, and a former advisory board member of the California Women's Conference—one of the largest women's conferences in the country.

In this episode, Sonia mentions a thought-provoking speech by David Brooks, who wrote, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. She highly encourages everyone to listen or watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwENbKn3tqI

Sonia also discusses her latest book, The Storytelling Business Journal, which can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Storytellers-Magic-Storytelling-Step-Step/dp/1662942966

To learn more about Sonia and her company, Storyteller’s Magic, please visit https://storytellersmagic.com.