Saturday, November 8, 2025 | Lynnwood Event Center & Online | Lynnwood, WA
Online Red Pencil 2025 Schedule
Thank you to our Live Stream Sponsors, Conscious Style Guide and Inclusive Media Solutions, LLC!
Welcome | 9:00-9:30 a.m.
Virtual Coffee Networking
Zoom
Keynote | 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Editing in the Age of AI: Protecting and Advancing the Craft of Writing
Live Stream 1
Presented by: Jane Friedman
Description: As artificial intelligence reshapes the publishing landscape, editors face unprecedented questions about their role, their relationships with writers, and the future of literary creation itself. In this keynote address, publishing industry veteran Jane Friedman examines how AI is already transforming the editorial process—from manuscript evaluation to developmental guidance to line editing—while placing these changes within broader industry shifts. Rather than taking a utopian or dystopian view, Jane will offer a clear-eyed assessment of both the opportunities and threats that AI presents to editors and writers alike. At this pivotal moment, editors have a unique opportunity to shape how these technologies serve—rather than supplant—the craft of writing and editing.
Block 1 | 10:45-11:45 a.m. PT
Panel: Finding Work As A Freelancer
Live Stream 1
Presented by: Melissa Haskin, Crystal Shelley, Lee Hornbrook, Lynne Pearson, Shannon Roman, and Nicole Guenther
Description: Join experts for a panel discussion on how to find freelance work!
Building Bridges: Networking for Freelance Editors
Live Stream 2
Presented by: Linda Ruggieri
Description: Intentional networking empowers editors to turn connections into lasting partnerships, unlock new opportunities, and achieve their business goals.
Lunch | 11:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m. PT
Virtual Networking Lunch
Zoom
Block 2 | 1:00-2:00 p.m. PT
How to Give Yourself Accommodations: On Working as a Neurodivergent Editor
Live Stream 1
Presented by: Laura Burge
Description: It’s one thing to ask others about accommodations, but what about when you work for yourself and you’re neurodivergent? How do you give yourself those same considerations?
Helping Indie Authors Thrive without a Traditional Publisher
Live Stream 2
Presented by: Elizabeth MS Flynn
Description: Authors are in the driver’s seat, and indie editors have to step up to help them along on their journey.
Block 3 | 2:15-3:15 p.m. PT
Up Your Query Game: Build Client Loyalty with Declarative Language and Empathy
Live Stream 1
Presented by: Gina Wassyng
Description: Turn your queries into a collaboration, not a confrontation—learn how to use empathy, declarative language, and strategic questioning to make tough edits easier for clients and keep them coming back.
Trends in the Book Publishing Industry as They Impact Freelancers
Live Stream 2
Presented by: Ingrid Emerick and Katherine Richards
Description: As technology gallops forward and the publishing landscape continues to shift and change, what are publishers expecting from freelance editors? Do traditional publishers have the same expectations as hybrid publishers or self-publishers? As a book publisher, producer, and packager, Girl Friday Productions works with clients from all three branches, and we’ll be discussing how to combine what’s helpful in today’s evolving tech with tried-and-true practices to make you the type of editor publishers want to work with over and over again.
Block 4 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. PT
Sensitivity or Censorship: How Editors Address Bias
Live Stream 1
Presented by: Brittany Yost
Description: This session will explore strategies to navigate challenging conversations with authors when biased language is detected.
Keeping Grounded: Work-Life Balance for Freelancers
Live Stream 2
Presented by: Laura Poole
Description: Learn how to craft and maintain a work-life balance in which you can be a successful freelancer AND a happy person.
Closing | 4:45-5:15 p.m. PT
Closing remarks + Guild Award of Excellence
Live Stream 1
Presented by: TBD
Virtual attendees will also get six months of access to the recordings of the above sessions plus these bonus recordings:
World Building for Developmental Editors of All Genres
Presented by: Andrea Karin Nelson
Description: Learn how architecture and landscape, laws and customs, history and technology come together to create a fully realized world for characters to inhabit, and how to guide writers of any genre to apply robust world-building to their stories.
Red Pen, Green Light: How to Use AI Without Using Client Text
Presented by: Erin Servais & Nadia Geagea Pupa
Description: Discover how AI can support your editing practice without crossing your red lines around privacy, security, and ethics.
OK Computer: Advocating for Human-Powered Editing in a Technical World
Presented by: Rebecca Brinbury and Jen Koogler
Description: We’ll tackle a conundrum that editors have faced since even before AI started knocking on our door—how to convince your stakeholders, clients, leadership teams, or colleagues that a skillfully executed, human-led editorial process matters.
The Writing Coach: Boost your Business and Nurture Aspiring Writers
Presented by: William Kenower
Description: Learn how a writing coach differs from a developmental editor and why you might want to offer this service to your clients.