Interview with Manda Waller

Joining the CIEP Council 

1. How does it feel to have joined the CIEP Council, and what motivated you to put yourself forward? 
   I’m absolutely delighted to be joining the Council! When I first started my editorial business, the CIEP (or the SfEP as it was then) was just an incredibly warm and welcoming place. Now feels like a good time to give some energy back to a group that I’ve found wonderfully non-judgemental and supportive over the last six years. 
2. What perspectives or experience are you hoping to bring to the Council as you settle into your role? 
   I’m very much a community person – I love chatting, and networking, and meeting new people. I don’t have a lot of time for “corporate speak”, and instead promote honesty and kindness in my editorial business. I’m bringing this positivity with me as I join the Council, to support the excellent ethos already in place. 

Insight on the editorial profession 

3. What’s one misconception about the editorial profession that you wish you could clear up? 
   That we are the grammar police! The editors I’ve met have been universally open-minded and supportive, and I think the image of the harridan with the red pen is incredibly unfair! 

4. What skills or habits do you think are essential for editors today, especially with the rise of AI tools? 
   Showing our humanity. Adding the human touch. We all know how just moving a word, or moving a comma, can completely change the emphasis and the impact and even the meaning of a sentence. As humans we can be championing nuance and subtlety and the layered meaning hidden within our wonderful language. 

5. You recently spoke at the CIEP Conference about marketing yourself as an editorial professional. What’s one piece of marketing advice you’d give to those in the profession? 
   Don’t be scared to experiment! Try it for a bit. If you don’t like it, or it’s not getting you the results you want, try something else. Also, be yourself (sorry, that’s two things now) – we don’t all need to sound the same (because we aren’t robots!), and different clients are looking for different things. 

6. When it comes to working with editors, what should clients look for beyond the standard ‘services offered’ list? 
   Having a book edited is an incredibly personal experience – certainly with the authors I work with (mainly indie authors), I’m often the first person outside of their family to see the book. All editors work in different ways, and it’s really important that clients spend time understanding not just what their editor will do, but how they will communicate their thoughts and suggestions. 

Getting to know Manda  

7. Do you have any hobbies you're passionate about? 
   There’s a wild swimming lake about ten minutes from my house, where I can swim with the fish and watch the resident kingfisher. I appreciate that this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea of course! 

8. All-time favourite book? 
   I’m not sure it’s fair to ask this question! There are so many.  
   Recent favourites include Anxious People (Fredrik Backman), Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman), and A Boy Made of Blocks (Keith Stuart). But I will add that I never read a book more than once. There are simply too many books out there to enjoy! 

9. Favourite film? 
   My favourite film is It’s a Wonderful Life (nearly time to watch that again, although my children don’t seem to love it as much as I do), but the two films I quote most frequently are Love Actually and Arthur Christmas! 

10. Favourite place? 
    I’m a keen marathon walker, and my favourite place in the world is the stretch of Sussex coast from Cuckmere Haven, over the Seven Sisters towards Birling Gap and Beachy Head. I’ve walked the Seven Sisters marathon fifteen times – there’s something about the sea air, the spectacular views and the undulating (mountainous!) landscape that’s incredibly freeing! 
    
    If I can’t be outside walking, then like most editors I’m always happy in a cosy corner with a roaring fire and a good book.