Meet Nicole Frail | Fiction & Nonfiction Book Editor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicole Frail and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ve always had a hard time relaxing! Or basically just not being productive in some way. I held three jobs in college while simultaneously taking classes, and I freelanced alongside my first full-time job, A few weeks into my current job (I’ve been with the company for eleven years now), I was already scouting out overtime/freelance opportunities. So when a friend of my aunt’s needed some editorial help a few years later, I figured it’d be a good opportunity to work on something new. My boss gave me his blessing, and off I went.

While working with that first author-client, I realized that this was the perfect way to help authors who hadn’t received traditional publishing contracts despite years of trying or who were never interested in traditional publishing to begin with. I could provide professional editorial feedback, drawing on my experience in traditional publishing, to those on the path to self-publishing. At the time, I was strictly working on nonfiction during my day job, so I figured it would be refreshing to work on fiction on freelance basis.

I created a website and an email, set up profiles on a handful of platforms, and a few clients found their way to me. As the years go on, the majority of my customers are returning clients who come to me with at least one new book every year or two. I’ve barely raised my prices since first creating my website, and that’s been intentional. I know how difficult it is to sell books, regardless of whether you’re traditionally or self-published. I know how much time and energy goes into trying to get every single sale, and I know what a standard royalty check looks like.

I love my work. I love that I can work on books and with authors all day and all night, if I want to. I love seeing both sides of the publishing industry: traditional and self-pub. I love being able to help people realize their dreams of being published, regardless of which path they choose.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As an avid reader, I’d always wanted to work with books, but I had no idea how to get there. I didn’t know anyone in publishing, so I set out to be a journalist. I wrote for my city’s paper in elementary school, I wrote for my high school newspaper, I was editor-in-chief of my university’s student-run newspaper, and my degree is in communications with a focus on journalism. I figured I would write for a magazine or something, until I realized I liked editing other people’s work far more than writing my own stories.

I picked up a part-time job in college at an educational book production company. And then I worked for them full time after graduation. I wrote instructional manuals and I edited test questions for all levels of education and programs, and after about two years of that, I knew it was time for a change.

I started looking into publishing jobs, and I was getting a lot of pushback because my experience thus far had been in educational/academic publishing, not trade publishing, and I didn’t know it then, but there was a big difference between the two. A former colleague I messaged for advice during this time suggested I look for paid internships instead of full-time work. I didn’t love the idea of scratching the experience I’d gained so far and starting from the bottom, but I decided to be open to it. And that turned out to be my in.

Eleven years later, I’m still with the small trade publishing company that hired me as a 24-year-old intern in May 2012. I am now a senior editor, and I acquire titles for both children’s and adult audiences. I’ve worked on hundreds of books at this point, and I really do enjoy my work.

Because we’re a smaller company, and because I’ve been there so long, my hands are in every step of the process: acquisitions and contracts, editing, cover design, interior design, publicity and marketing, metadata. Also because we’re a smaller company, I’ve gained experience working on books in a variety of genres, and I think that sets me apart from editors at other publishing houses and editors who offer freelance services.

I can and have specialized for periods of time, but I like knowing that this week, for example, I’ve touched a picture book biography about Jackie O., a workbook for kids about making new friends, a crafting book for the holidays, a middle-grade novel that’s been translated, and I’m in talks with one of my authors about a fantasy-themed cookbook. Every day is something different, and it’s what allows me to remain enthusiastic about my work rather than feeling burnt out.

All of this experience, as random as it may seem on paper, helps immensely when I work with my author-clients on a freelance basis. While editing is usually my focus, I can consult on a variety of projects at nearly every stage. I can offer opinions on cover design, illustrator sketches, and back cover copy. We can talk about effective subtitles and metadata. I love talking about this, and I especially love when the person I’m speaking to is as interested in it as I am!

I love seeing my authors, whether they’re freelance clients or writers I’ve signed up to publish for my company, excitedly unbox their new books when they arrive in the mail. I love receiving excited responses to my editorial letters and learning that I’ve inspired someone to keep writing and keep improving. And I know that if I hadn’t been open to starting over when I was trying to break into the industry, there’s a good possibility that life would look very, very different right now.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My town of Avoca, Pennsylvania, is only one square mile, so we wouldn’t spend too much time here — unless we wanted to go to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, which is literally three minutes from my house, and watch the planes takeoff and land! We’d probably have to tour the surrounding cities:

I am currently obsessed with a little local coffeeshop called Drip Coffee Co. in downtown Pittston, so we’d stop there every morning. And probably every afternoon, too.

We’d get breakfast at Marie’s Diner in Duryea, lunch at Canteen Central in Pittston, and we’d make sure to order a few pizzas from Gerry’s in Wilkes-Barre during the visit.

I’d drag them to a different ice cream shop every night, too: Picc’s in Old Forge, Jitty Joe’s in Moosic. Malacari’s… I-Screamers… Choo-Choos… Snack Shack… Manning’s Farmhouse. (I love ice cream, and best friend would just have to deal if they didn’t!)

We could go to the Steamtown Rail Museum in Scranton (yes, the city from The Office) to see the trains or walk around to look at the outdoor art exhibits, We could go to Hillside Farms in Dallas to see the cows — and eat more ice cream and buy the best chocolate milk in the world. If our timing was right in the summer, we could do the Pittston City Second Friday Art Walk. Or if the visit was in August, we could go to the Pittston City Tomato Festival (Tomato Capital of the World!).

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, Matthew, deserves so much credit for putting up with me on a daily basis! He listens to my ideas, he supports my decisions, he is the best father to our three boys, and he reset his own career goals to make a better life for our family, which has allowed me to focus on mine. He’s been my best friend for nearly twenty years, and I am lucky to have him as my partner in life.

Website: www.nicolefrail.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/nicolefrailedits

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolefrail/

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