Blog Post

Mid-year business review

Lisa de Caux • 27 September 2019

I knew that I’d have a formal business review exercise once my little girl went back to school in September. The start of the academic year, halfway through my business’s tax year, felt like the perfect time to take stock of the situation.

For this kind of exercise, I prefer to start my thinking in advance, before I actually put pen to paper (or type words on the screen). I find I often do good business thinking at unrelated moments – cleaning the bathroom is an excellent example!

A bit of coaching

In July, I was lucky enough to receive a ‘birthday treat’ from Mira Rutter – to celebrate her birthday she was offering 20-minute coaching sessions. She came across me via LinkedIn and asked if I’d like a birthday treat. My birthday's in July too, so it felt just right! I was glad to talk to her – she’s a life balance coach, and looks at business and personal balance.

When I completed her pre-session questionnaire, I was thinking that I just needed to be more organised in order to fit in domestic jobs while working on and in my business. I work from home and these things tend to prey on my mind… When I worked in an office, that big pile of washing wasn’t there when I made a cup of tea!

Mira asks questions from different angles. There’s more than one way to balance your life, and Mira encouraged me to consider that. It’s possible to make business changes that are good for the business and good for your personal life too.

This conversation was still on my mind as I started my mid-year review, and I got to thinking about where I’d made changes to my business plan for the year, why I’d made the changes, and what the knock-on effects were.
Having a plan at the start of the year

I write a business plan at the start of the calendar year – it sets me up for the year ahead and makes sure I’ve thought about all the parts of my business. I have a number of broad headings for my business plan, and then I set more detailed targets for each area.

Clients are my first priority, and after that I have marketing, accounting, training/CPD, SfEP (the Society for Editors and Proofreaders is so important to me that it gets a separate heading!), operations, and IT.
Two main changes to the plan

Looking at everything I’d planned in January, I’m glad to have had direction, and I’ve followed the plan for most areas, but it’s been important to me to be able to change that direction when needed! I’ve had two areas where I’ve made significant changes to the plan.

1)    I invested in PerfectIt, ‘Proofreading Software for Professionals’.

Making this change was all about efficiency, and I’m really glad I changed the plan.

2)    An opportunity came up, via LinkedIn, to talk about being a freelancer in publishing at a Society of Young Publishers (SYP) event in Leeds. I found it a really worthwhile event – and it encouraged me to write my first blog.

IT: PerfectIt

PerfectIt falls under my IT heading. It was very easy to download and set up – once it’s been installed, it’s possible to use straight away.

It’s highly recommended by proofreaders and editors and, once I’d tried it, I could see why.

To get even more out of it you can set up ‘styles’. For example, you can tell the software what you want it to look for when you are editing/proofreading for a particular client.

So I sat down one weekend, with the video tutorials open in front of me, and I set up ‘styles’ for some regular clients. If a client prefers Chief Executive to chief executive, PerfectIt will highlight all instances so that I can easily take a look at each one and check whether this is OK. It’s really useful as there can be reasons why you should accept a change from the usual writing style – PerfectIt helps make this process more efficient.

I’ve only scratched the surface so far with PerfectIt – there’s more to learn! This has had a knock-on effect on my studying plans– I’d planned to take an OpenLearn course (Exploring books for children: words and pictures). Instead, I’m learning more about wildcards, so that I’ll be able to use the PerfectIt software more efficiently.

I’ll come back to that OpenLearn course though!

Marketing: networking

Trying a little more networking (to attend at least two events) had been part of my plan.

We have four Manchester SfEP local group meetings a year, but I didn’t include those in my networking goal. After all, the SfEP has a heading all to itself in my business plan!

Becoming a speaker was unexpected, and more than a little nerve-wracking! Talking about my freelance experience to others has consolidated my own thinking about the business. And that kind of public speaking challenged me in a different way – my comfort zone was left far behind! I spent quite a lot of time rehearsing to our pet hamster…

I’m going to be speaking at an SYP event in Manchester in October (more rehearsing in front of the hamster!), and it has encouraged me to think about how I’ve grown my business.

Marketing: LinkedIn (where the plan didn’t change)

The main focus of my marketing this year has been LinkedIn.

At the SfEP conference in 2018, I attended a session on LinkedIn by John Espirian. It had a big impact on me and offered a blueprint that I was sure I could follow. This mid-year review coincides with a year of commitment to LinkedIn and I couldn’t resist including it here.

#LinkedInLearnerLounge

After I’d seen the #SfEP2018 session, I became a dedicated follower of John Espirian’s #LinkedInLearnerLounge.

One of my marketing plans was to revisit John’s starter guide after a year and check that I’d completed it all. I had completed it, but there’s always more to learn, and, as my business changes and grows, I need to make sure that I think about how I engage with LinkedIn too. Some of the actions have become regular items on my to-do list.

I thought I’d see what my data analytics showed me… The number of connections shows clear growth from September 2018, when I started focusing on LinkedIn and taking action.


This is a good early milestone, but I’ve adopted John’s 30-month mindset!

What should I do as a result of my review?

Writing this blog has really helped to bring my thoughts together. I won’t leave these thoughts behind though – now I need to decide how I can use the mid-year review to help my business.

Thank you to Annie Deakins, at Proofnow Proofreader, for proofreading this blog for me.
by Lisa De Caux 7 February 2025
What are prelims for your book and why are they important? The prelims (aka the ‘front matter’) are the pages that come before the main content of the book. For example, a list of other books by the same author, the copyright page and the contents page. Why are prelims important? You want to give your readers a good reading experience and, if you’ve set the stage properly, they will engage with your book, which hopefully leads to positive reviews. Setting the stage The prelims will set the stage for your book. They prepare the reader to receive the book – like the curtain at the theatre before the show starts. They guide the reader. For instance, the contents page is a map for the reader to follow through the book. Prelims give the reader key publication information. The title page and copyright page provide details about the book’s title, author, publisher, and edition. The prelims support legal and scholarly needs – the ISBN number, copyright notice, disclaimers. This is about proper attribution and protecting your rights as the book’s author. Who organises the prelims? If you’re working with a traditional publisher, they’ll generally organise them for you. They may include layout in their style guide, so there’ll be guidelines for consistency across all their titles. If you’re self-publishing, you’ll need to pay attention to your own prelims. When prelims become ‘postlims’ It’s important to note that some publishers may prefer to include conventional prelims as ‘postlims’. For instance, acknowledgements may appear at the back of the book. It’s a choice for self-publishing authors, though you may prefer to stick with convention. My top tip if you’re self-publishing is to check how prelims are laid out in any books you’re reading, especially books published in the same genre as the book you’re writing. This will give you guidance on what your readers will expect to see. Essential prelims Title page Title and subtitles of the books, author(s) full name(s) or editor’s) full names, and edition of the books. Copyright page Contains copyright information, the ISBN, edition details, publisher’s info, and legal disclaimers. This protects the author’s rights and helps with cataloguing. ⭐ If your book is a novel, it will need a different copyright statement from a non-fiction publication. After this point, you’ll see a difference between fiction and non-fiction prelims. Not all prelims are relevant for every book, whether fiction or non-fiction. This is an ‘it depends’ choice for an author. Prelims in fiction books (usually simpler) A list of other books by the same author Dedication A short, personal note from the author dedicating the book to someone. Acknowledgements A section thanking those who helped in the book’s creation (sometimes placed at the back as a postlim). Prologue A brief scene or background information before the main story begins. Maps If location is critical to the plot (like a murder mystery set in a rural location), or if the story is set in a fictional location (think about Narnia), maps may be helpful. Glossary This may be a list of characters and their relation to each other, or a list of definitions for concepts specific to the fictional universe. Prelims in non-fiction books (may be more extensive) A list of other books by the same author Table of contents (TOC or contents page) A TOC provides a structured outline of your book. It’s a map to help readers navigate chapters and sections. It’s essential in non-fiction and academic books, though a novel may be fine without a contents page. Foreword This is written by someone else (often someone likely to be familiar to the readers), explaining the book’s significance or the author’s credibility. Preface The author’s explanation of why the book was written and what the reader can expect. Acknowledgments A section thanking those who helped in the book’s creation (sometimes placed at the back as a postlim). For a research-heavy book this is likely to be used. List of illustrations/tables This helps readers find important visual elements. Introduction Provides background information and context for the main content (sometimes replacing the preface). Maps Where a geographical reference is needed to help readers understand the context and follow the narrative. Glossary A list of important words and their definitions mentioned in the book. Key differences between fiction and non-fiction prelims Fiction: You’ll find fewer prelims and they’ll be focused on storytelling. Prologues may be included, but contents lists are rare. Non-fiction: You’ll find more structured prelims, often with a foreword, preface, introduction, and it’s very likely that there’ll be a table of contents to aid readability and credibility. Prelims – what next? Consider how you want to set the stage for your book with your readers. I’ve talked at a high level about the conventional prelims that you’ll see most often. Not all prelims will be appropriate for every book. It depends! For more information I use Butcher’s Copy-editing (Fourth Edition) . I heartily recommend it. There’s a section about preliminary pages. My top tip for self-publishing authors is worth repeating: I recommend looking at the prelims for the book you’re currently reading, and any published books that fall into the same genre as your book. You’ll get a feel for what your readers will expect. **************************** 📚 Stop your readers getting distracted by wordy niggles. I’m Lisa. I’m an editor and proofreader, specialising in business books and fiction. I spent many years as a chartered accountant before retraining as an editor and proofreader. Now I get to embrace my degree in English Lit! Please do DM me to talk about editing or proofreading, or to be added to my waiting list. The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.
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