List of favorite resources for editors, and my writing from 2012-2022

In 2012, something magical happened.

(And this is how I came to write a list of resources for editors.)

I had been writing a blog about life in downtown Raleigh, which was suddenly booming, and a stranger reached out. He wanted to know if I was interested in copy editing for a budding publication shepherded by the marketing team at Red Hat, a leading software company headquartered in Raleigh.

Yes!

To say yes, I needed to become part-time at my full-time job, and eventually, I phased it out as I ramped up with the new role. I quickly became the editorial manager for the budding publication, Opensource.com, and published 100s of my own articles about topics that related to open source and the community around it.

Python, open government, Linux, open source conferences… 

>> Read my articles

I created the editorial process, framed it up on Trello, and trained colleagues and authors to use it. I hosted meetings, managed a contributor mailing list, and maintained programs to support the community. Here’s a list of my favorite tools and resources during that time.

List of favorite resources as an editor and community manager

• Trello – kanban boards for the editorial process
  • OpenProject is a great open source, configurable alternative
• Google docs – writing and editing, doc storage
  • Turn on “suggesting” mode and leave comments with questions and deeper thoughts
  • NextCloud is a great open source alternative
• Discourse – community forum for news, ideas, and planning
  • It’s open source!
• Ahrefs – SEO research
  • SEMrush is another great option, both offer a ton of free resources