How to find a knitting tech editor
When you first start out designing knitting patterns, there are many important decisions you’ll have to make. What will your business be called? How do you want your patterns to look? What sorts of patterns do you want to design? Who will be your tech editor?
Tech editing is an important step in the knitting pattern design process. A knitting tech editor is there to look at your pattern and ensure there aren’t any errors in it. Besides checking for errors, tech editors can help you clear up confusing instructions, refine your style, and provide guidance on the areas of design you still need a helping hand with. Tech editing can be such a collaborative process, and when the relationship is good, it can do wonders for your design process. That’s why it’s worth the effort to find a good one.
There are many ways you can find a tech editor. Here are my recommendations of how to go about this process, in order of effectiveness.
Ask other designers
The easiest (and maybe most reliable) way to find a tech editor is to ask people you trust for recommendations. If you are friends with an established designer, it might be wise to ask them who they use for editing and if they’d recommend their editor to you.
This gives you peace of mind that the tech editor you reach out to is vetted by at least one person you trust.
The Tech Editor Hub Job Board
The Tech Editor Hub has a feature on its website where you can post a job and tech editors subscribed to the mailing list can respond to you. This is helpful because it ensures that you’re getting responses from tech editors who have the ability to take on new work, and who are comfortable editing the specific type of pattern you need edited.
Currently, only tech editors who have completed The Tech Editor Hub’s Learn to Tech Edit course are allowed to be on the mailing list, which narrows your pool down to only tech editors who have gone through proper training.
This one might prove more difficult than it sounds. I just went to Google and searched for “knitting tech editor” and the first 7 results were not actually tech editors. So if you go this route, just be aware that you may have to sort through some other results before you find what you’re looking for.
But on the bright side, it’s likely that the first few results for tech editors are established businesses that have been around for a bit (or they’re just really good at SEO, but hey, that’s also a skill and likely also points to a tech editor serious about their business).
Social media
If you open up Instagram, search “tech editor” and then switch to “Accounts” and you’ll find several people who are tech editors.
On social media you might also be able to get a sense of who this person tech edits for if they post about the patterns they’ve edited.
Tech Editor Databases
And finally, another option is to look at the various databases where tech editors can add their information, such as Yarn Database or Yarnpond.
The only downside to this is you are going to be looking at a long list of people and this might lead you down a rabbit hole.
Ready to take your knitting patterns to the next level?
As a knitting tech editor, I can work with you to ensure your patterns are clear, accurate, and easy to follow. Visit my Tech Editing Services page to learn more and get started today!
