TCC Podcast #134: Copy Editing with Autumn Tompkins

Grumpy Grammarian, Autumn Tompkins, is our guest for the 134th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. Autumn has been a member of the club almost from the beginning. And she’s shared her editing and proofreading advice with anyone who asked. Now we took the chance to ask a few questions about her business. Here’s most of what we talked about: •  how she went from ink slinger to grumpy grammarian •  her business rules that keep her from being miserable •  the difference between copyediting (art) and copywriting (science) •  the impact of spending 7 months in the hospital and how she dealt with it •  how she uses music to inspire what she does—and her copywriting mix tape •  the resources—her personal master class—she’s used to learn copywriting •  living with muscular dystrophy and what she’s learned from it •  the fine line between grumpy and bitchy and the need for lightheartedness •  her editing process and tips for doing your own copy editing •  the 5 mistakes she sees copywriters make over and over •  a few tips for improving transitions in your copy •  her 3 favorite rhetorical devices and why they work in copy •  how she finds clients and what her packages and pricing look like We also asked Autumn about her copy edit school and the 5 components she teaches her students. To get hear everything that Autumn has to say, click the play button below, or download the episode to your favorite podcast app. Prefer reading? Scroll down for a full transcript.   The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Erika Lyremark Copy Edit School The Grumpy Grammarian's Guide to Copy Editing Autumn’s Website Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground Intro: Content (for now) Outro: Gravity   Full Transcript: Rob:   This podcast is sponsored by The Copywriter Underground. Kira:   It's our new membership designed for you to help you attract more clients and hit 10K a month consistently. Rob:   For more information or to sign up, go to thecopywriterunderground.com. Kira:   What if you could hang out with seriously talented copywriters and other experts, ask them about their successes and failures, their work processes, and their habits, then steal an idea or two to inspire your own work? That's what Rob and I do every week at The Copywriter Club Podcast. Rob:   You're invited to join the club for episode 134 as we chat with author, copy editor, and grumpy grammarian, Autumn Tompkins, about the ins and outs of copy editing, how it's different from copywriting, what she's done to find success in spite of serious life changes, and we'll ask, ‘Why is she so grumpy?’ Kira:   Autumn, welcome. Rob:   Hey, Autumn. Autumn:        Hi. Thank you so much for having me. Kira:   It's great to have you here, Autumn, because we've worked closely on many different projects. You've cleaned up my copy many, many times. You've worked with The Copywriter Club on our newsletter as well, cleaning that up and making Rob and I look a little bit smarter than we actually are. So, it's so wonderful to finally bring you onto the show. Autumn:        Well, I'm so happy to be here. It's a total honor. Kira:   Well, let's start with your story. So, how did you end up as The Grumpy Grammarian? Autumn:        So, I used to be a copywriter for hire. I would sling ink for the right price. I had good intentions, write copy for business owners, so their prospects would buy from them. As soon as I landed my first client, I put my head down, never came up for air. And fast forward five years later, and I burned out. Back then, my marketing plan was simple. Find clients, write copy, get money, but part of the reason why I burned out was because that I didn't put my business first, and the other part of that reason was because I didn't know what I stood for. Who was I as a business owner and copywriter, and what did I believe in? Right around that time, I got hooked up with Erika Lyremark, and she helped me figure out that the [inaudible 00:02:32] was real, and her name was Autumn. I didn't put effort into growing my business. I never expressed my personal opinions, and fun wasn't something I should be having while writing copy or even business, but with Erika's help, I was able to align my business and my life and my viewpoints so that I could evaluate where I was, where I wanted to be, and what I loved to do. And with her help, that's when I made the decision to become The Grumpy Grammarian, and it's where I embrace my grumpy self, but also copyediting because for me, it's not about how great of a writer I was, it's how well I could edit. I know I could take word vomit that I wrote and spin it into word gold that everyone wanted to read. So, I decided to transition from copywriter to copyeditor. I could spot certain words and phrases in my copy and sweep them so that the writing made sense, and it connected with readers on a deeper, more memorable level. I started to share helpful tips. I got vulnerable with my email subscribers. I made a list of how I wanted to move through the world, and when I started living by my own set of rules is when I started finding my perfect partner, and following these rules allowed me to share my viewpoints and what I believe in, and when I started doing that, I discovered that I had so many opinions about copywriting and copyediting. And so, for once, I put myself and my business first, but nobody's just born with a moniker like The Grumpy Grammarian. It's a title that I earned, and that's based off my childhood where I spent quite a bit of time in the hospital from chronic pneumonia and other complications associated with muscular dystrophy. My average hospital stay was three months, but my longest when I was kid was just shy of seven months. So, all of that made me kind of grumpy because staying in a hospital bed, I had no siblings to play with. They had to be at school. I had no pets to cuddle with because they weren't allowed at the hospital. A lot of the times, I was in the hospital during the holidays. So, we didn't celebrate until we were all together. A lot of the time, I was also in the hospital for my birthdays. I couldn't have cake because I was hooked to a ventilator. So, all of that, needles and uncomfortable beds and ventilators made me totally grumpy. I embraced my grumpy side from when I was a child and really projected that into my business, which is sort of how I became The Grumpy Grammarian. Rob:   I like it. Love the story and definitely want to ask you more about your childhood, but while you were talking about the process that you went through to identify your viewpoints and maybe some of the rules, will you tell us just a little bit more about that? How did you decide what were the viewpoints that you were going to go with? Was it a natural process? Did it take some digging, some real thinking work? How did that all come about? Autumn:        Well, it took a lot of work. I had to go through and make a list, like I said, of how I wanted to move through the world. For example, I make connections without expectations. To me, people are not transactions, but before I made that rule when I was a copywriter, I looked at everyone as a transaction because it's always a feast or famine cycle for me back then. So, I had to really make my own set of rules, and another rule that I came up with is that language is not about conforming to stodgy, old grammar rules. So, I'm not going to conform to those rules. I don't believe in it or do that either, and also, you have to have fun. If you're not having fun, your clients aren't going to have fun, and it's just going to be a trickle down effect where everyone's kind of going to be miserable. So, I found that if I made these rules, and I came up with these viewpoints because my rules shape my viewpoints. And so, like I was saying where language isn't about conforming to stodgy, old grammar rules, one of my viewpoints is that copyediting isn't about memorizing grammar rules. There are so many different ways to move through the world, and when you look at the world differently, and you decide that this is how I'm going to move through the world, I'm able to expand on my knowledge base and really share and have more fun. Kira:   So, Autumn, when you create these rules, how do you share them? Are these rules posted on your website, or is this something that becomes blog content? How do you start to share that with the world? Autumn:        It is in the introduction to my book. I call it ... My viewpoints are almost like a mini manifesto. So, that is where I share them, and it's also eventually going to be on my website. I am in the middle of redoing my content again for like the hundredth time because nothing is ever perfect for me, and I want it to be perfect, but I have to acknowledge that everything evolves just like language. So, eventually, my viewpoint will be listed on my website. Kira:   Okay. Cool. And what's the impact been on your business once you really figured out these rules, these viewpoints and shared them with prospects? How did your business change as far as the people you're attracting, what you're selling, and just kind of the bottom line, too? Autumn:        I'm learning more about myself as I go, and the more I learn about myself, the more I attract people who are like me that have the same ambitions and the same drive that I have, and we share the same ... I don't want to say mindset, but the same ideals, but when I really embraced my viewpoints and how to move through the world, I was able to get hyper-focused and super intentional. So, I was growing my business, forming lasting client relationships, having fun, like I said, and because of that, last June, I was able to offboard my final copywriting client, a long-term client. I absolutely adored her, and because of that,