dear tech editor
I’m so excited to post this letter from the exquisite ‘words can’t explain her skill or awesomeness’ designer Jen Parroccini, that she wrote for us.
Jen is an accomplished grader, educator, artist, and exceptional human, as well as a knitting designer. She is compassionate and inclusive in her business model, and like me, loves learning and getting things right. Her work reflects all of that, and informs her expectations of collaborators on her patterns.
If we could be a fly on the wall, this is definitely the wall we want to be on as editors, and take notes from as designers.
Dear Tech Editors –
- by guest author Jen Parroccini
I am someone who likes to bounce around. In my experience, each tech editor I’ve worked with has something that makes their work unique. One might be deeply focused on style and consistency, another might be more focused on layout improvements I could make. But here are the things I wish I could offer and ask for from everyone!
The job takes as long as it takes.
I imagine that tech editors feel a lot of pressure to keep costs down. It’s a low-margin industry and many designers are breaking even – at best. Every tech editor I’ve worked with has been incredibly conscious of my budget, and that’s received as respectful and conscientious.
But the industry is counting on TE’s to hold the line. I know you want to save me money on tech editing, but by giving the project the time it needs you’re saving me time and money in the long run. I would rather pay for a few extra hours and get a pattern that never has errata or pattern support, so let’s aim for that. You also deserve to be paid fairly for your work, and not to work in a chaotic pressure cooker.
- Don’t feel pressured to rush or undercharge.
- If a project is taking longer than expected, let me know why and the new revised estimate. This is part of the process.
- Put expectations into your agreement – how long it usually takes, what exactly you’re checking, and what you’ll do if things take longer than you estimated.
- I design garments, and depending on how thorough the edit is, I expect them to take 5-12 hours.
- I am more likely to return to a tech editor that has a low error rate than an editor that has a low bill.
Schedule accordingly.
Stand by the schedule you need to do the best job possible. If you need a full week with my pattern to be able to stop and rest your brain sufficiently, then let’s plan for that. Designers can be chaotic, and it’s generous to offer flexibility. But designers are professionals and it’s reasonable to expect a designer to agree to a schedule and to stick to it.
In my dream agreements, we settle ahead of time on the following dates:
- Pattern due to tech editor
- First draft back to designer
- Resolution day – we both expect to be back and forth a few times this day and to be generally available to lock it down before testing
- Post-test back to tech editor
- Post-test back to designer
The mathematical accuracy of the pattern is my lowest concern.
There’s this idea that tech editing is primarily to ‘check the numbers.’ And yeah, that’s important - I’m not saying I want numerical errors in my pattern. But of all the things I count on an editor for, grinding the math is the part that feels like a commodity. I’m counting on you to partner with me in important ways where YOUR touch matters, like:
- Style. Have I stuck with my own rules? Am I creating a consistent experience across the pattern?
- Conciseness. Have I used the least number of words to convey the instructions?
- Fit and grade. Will it work on human bodies? Is the grade consistent?
- Zoomed out perspective – what is the overall user experience? Do the parts flow well? Are there friction points? Have I explained the process of making things in way that’s going to work and be pleasant?
Let’s talk extra about style.
The most transformative part of tech editing is, for me, when a tech editor reviews my pattern and makes sure that the style is consistent and helpful. Nothing confuses a knitter more than things being treated differently within the same pattern. Is this capitalized here and not there for a reason? Is this row any different from when you told me to do this before using different language? Is this a new garment piece or just a continuation of the old piece? Style is invisible, but it absolutely makes or breaks the knitting experience.
Timeliness and communication.
Typically, if I settle on a schedule with you, I’m counting on it. I’m often working not only around my own needs, but plans with dyers, testers, yarn shops and other collaborators – sometimes a year or more in advance.
It might not seem like much to be just a day or two late, but if it pushes testing out by a week, that can have ripple effects. Testers need at least 12 weeks with a garment, I need a week to synthesize the final pattern after the test, and dyers often have collabs back-to-back. If pushing the whole process back a week slams me into another designer’s collab spot with that dyer, I may need to choose between holding the pattern for months and releasing it off-season or holding it for a year until the season comes back around.
Note – why does it all have to be so tightly timed? Designers are competing against the 52 seasons of fast fashion. If you walk into your department store, you’ll see their clothing turns over WEEKLY. I’m lucky if I have four seasons in my year. Fashion moves fast, and as much as we like to think we’re trend agnostic and making heirlooms, even knitters aren’t immune to trends and seasonality. Indie designers don’t have the ridiculous turnarounds of magazines because we can be nimbler. But that also means that the stakes are higher, and missing release by even a week can have big consequences.
We’re human though, and most of us are solopreneurs, and emergencies happen. I build in cushion wherever I can, and I bet you do too. Let me know as soon as you know that our timeline is at risk, so that I can make an informed decision. That builds trust and loyalty on my end, and having agency over the timeline means I will keep coming back – even if we must pivot mid-process.
Errors that make it through.
There is never a PERFECT pattern. My personal perspective is that tech editing should catch 95% of errors, and the sloppier the product I give you?... the more I expect that rate to go up. I have tech editor friends and I’ve heard them really drag themselves over mistakes. We’re humans and we’re making art.
Having said that, the errors that unnerve me the most are the ones that undermine my faith in the process.
- Numerical errors in areas with dependencies. Okay, this is a little hard to explain. Some numbers are part of the linear part of the pattern. Basic stitch counts and rows, culminating in the schematic. Others are not dependent on the basic frame of the garment, like pocket placements or stitch patterns.
But if I have a numerical error not caught in the basics, I get nervous. For example, once I had a spreadsheet error that created a sleeve that was only 7”/17.5 cm long in the largest size, and that made it through TE and into testing. That kind of error makes me wonder, “did the tech editor even check the schematic?” It’s what I think of as a systemic mistake – it feels like it’s only possible if a whole routine wasn’t implemented.
In contrast, I once had written short row turns for an in-the-round neckline, and it turned out there was one stitch too few to make the DS before the decrease. That makes me less nervous, because it’s a human mistake, not a systems mistake. Forgetting to check one manual thing is not the same as forgetting to check the foundation of the pattern.
- Errors that aren’t errors. I get nervous about the quality of the edit when a tech editor proposes changes that make things, well, wronger.
- Errors not caught in areas where I ask for extra surveillance. For example, I’m weak in left and right mirroring and will ask for extra help making sure I’ve written an even neckline or symmetrical cardigan fronts. When I send my patterns off, I try to flag areas where my skill set is soft. If an error comes back there, I get nervous, because I feel like neither one of us is handling this area well.
A final list of tips from the other side.
Here are the things I’m looking for when I’m hiring a tech editor. I hope these things set your mind at ease about what designers are judging, and help you in your marketing.
- If a TE has a well thought out agreement as a standard practice, that’s a green flag. Editing requires a strong administrative skill set, and having an agreement in place lets me know I am working with a professional.
- I rely on word of mouth. I have a strong network of peer designers at this point in my career, and I will ask around to see if anyone has worked with a prospective editor before. I’ll typically ask, “What was the error rate? Was the project delivered on time? How was communication?”
- Is your website up to date? If your website is evergreen or has recent content, that’s a green flag. If you have a blog but haven’t posted to it in a while, or have out-of-date seasonal content on the front page, I tend to think this is more of a hobby or that it’s not your current focus.
- Responding to my inquiry quickly and offering a quick Zoom chat to get to know me is a huge green flag! I want to be in relationship with my collaborative partners, and to work together over years.
- Don’t assume that a lower rate means more work. A lower rate tells me you’re not very confident in your own work or might not yet have the experience to take on patterns of the complexity that I write. Charge a rate that reflects your expertise and experience!
Finally, I’d like to close out by saying that tech editors and other behind-the-scenes freelancers are the absolute lifeblood of this industry. We designers count on you, and your work is so often invisible. What you do is equal parts art and science, and it’s absolutely invaluable.
Overall, I’ve learned something from every tech editor I’ve worked with. The first time I hired a tech editor I was terrified of being judged, and I’ve grown to be excited for the chance to work with someone new as often as possible, so that I can learn from the tremendous knowledge that TE’s have. So, thank YOU, for your contributions to the world full of collaborative art we’re all making together.
Cheers,
Jen
Jen has a very robust presence online, and my favorite place to find her is on she and Elizabeth Margaret's One Wild Knitting Podcast.
You can learn more and support her work here.
