Our Featured Editor series is a way to recognize our members’ editing achievements. Today we interview Gold member and PEN Tips Featured Editor Ken Walker.
How did you get your start as an editor, and how long have you been editing?
I kind of transitioned into it by becoming a member of The Christian PEN in hopes of finding more work after a disastrous 2013. I took the screening tests for Christian Editor Connection, and while I passed for ghostwriting and substantive editing, I flunked the article test—badly. I saw that I needed to upgrade my editing skills and purchased several guides, including Kathy Ide’s Proofreading Secrets of Bestselling Authors. Once I had brushed up on my skills, I started getting more editing jobs. I consider myself as much a writer as an editor, since I do ghostwriting and still write articles for three publications. But in becoming a better editor, I feel I am much more capable of handling a variety of assignments. And, my substantive book edits often involve ghostwriting and revision, which are things I learned when I was mainly doing writing projects.
What are your areas of focus, and why did you select them?
I have done a number of memoirs and enjoy working on historical material, as well as personal experience and teaching material. I spent so many years as a generalist, writing magazine stories on a host of topics and ghostwriting with a variety of authors, that it’s hard to say I have a particular area of focus.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
At my desk by 8:30 and working steadily until 5:30, with a break for lunch—and 2–3 times a week, a trip to the YMCA also to maintain my physical condition. I often wind up working 2–3 hours on Saturday to catch up on things and plan for the next week. One thing I’ve learned to do in the past year or so is to give myself permission to take a couple short breaks during the day of five or so minutes to goof off, listen to a favorite tune or play a game of Spider solitaire. This gives me a mental release from demanding projects and helps keep me fresh.
How do you manage your time?
I taught a workshop on this at the 2019 annual meeting in Nashville. I keep a daily Excel spreadsheet of tasks and anticipated time each will take. I treat this like my boss, a list that tells me what to work on next and how much time to allot to each task before moving on. This sounds so simple—and it is. Being a technological bumbler, I don’t how to use the high-tech time trackers or phone apps, but over a five-year period after I started scheduling my time, my revenue increased 70%.
What is your favorite thing about being an editor?
I call it the editorial enterprise. I love rewriting, organizing, correcting, and helping people shape the message God has given them to share with the world.
What is your biggest challenge in being an editor, and how do you work through this?
The ups and downs. The first quarter of 2024 was the worst I’ve had in many years, but I strived to remain calm and know that God would provide. He did. One way was the nonprofit I write for on a retainer agreeing to increase my monthly fee on two separate occasions after they sent me so much work, and several good-paying projects developing. I’m at work right now on a pair of developmental edits and waiting to hear about some ongoing ghostwriting work.
What advice do you have for someone who is just starting their career as an editor?
Don’t sell yourself short. Remember you know more about writing than 90% of those who are seeking your help and many will try to persuade you to work for next to nothing. Ignore those who plead poverty because those who aren’t willing to invest anything in their craft usually aren’t too serious about it.
What are you currently working on?
Helping write and revise a short book on dealing with change for a megachurch pastor from Memphis and editing a collection of short stories for an author from Alabama I met in 2010 at a conference in the Atlanta area. Working on a pair of articles for two denominations. Always writing or editing copy for a nonprofit hospital foundation.
Where can people find you online or on social media?
Email: kenwalker33@gmail.com or website: kenwalkerwriter.com. I’m on Facebook too, but only erratically and not with much expertise.
About PEN Tips Featured Editor Ken Walker
Ken Walker is a freelance writer and book editor with more than 4,600 article bylines to his credit. He has coauthored, edited or contributed to more than 90 books. The latest released in late April: a substantive edit of He Still Walks on Water by Gary J. Lewis.
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