Meet Megan Barnes | Founder & Editor of Two Tales Editing LLC

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

Hi Megan, putting aside the decision to work for yourself, what other decisions were critical to your success?
My answer here might surprise people a bit, but the single most important decision I made (and I’m purposefully repeating the question here to really emphasize just HOW important it was for me), was acknowledging my blind spots and accepting the vulnerability of asking others for help. This may seem like a “yeah, duh” thing for a lot of people, but it was actually a whole mental and emotional process for me. I am someone who likes to wait until a project is perfect before putting it out into the world. I don’t easily let people in to help because I have a “I can figure this out myself!” mindset. As a woman in business, this “do it yourself” mindset is especially perpetuated, with so many women not feeling like there is enough space for everyone in their respected fields. I felt that if I didn’t do every single step of creating and launching my business on my own, could I really call myself a true business woman? This is not great thinking, I know that.

I highly encourage anyone who feels similarly and is letting it get in their way of starting a business, to recognize that there are people in your life who not only want to help, but whose help could exponentially aid in your business development. I looked at some of the people in my life who run small creatively-minded businesses and ultimately made the decision to ask them for advise, help, and support. I realized that it is OK if I don’t know how to do graphic design for a website. It is OK if some of the legal language of an LLC is outside my wheelhouse. To run an editing business, I don’t need every skill in the world. I need people in my life who can make those things happen for me so that I can spend my time and energy on the actual editing! Once I embraced this reality, my entire approach to success shifted for the better.

I know this interview is about me and my business, but since you asked about important decisions, it would be remiss of me to not acknowledge that my decisions include others. Without them, I am certain Two Tales Editing would not have the success it has today. The patience and kindness and willingness of others to help me launch this business taught me so much about empathy when I am the one approached for help from clients. It’s so much easier for me to recognize just how vulnerable someone has to be to come to me, a total stranger, and ask them for help/critique/direction on their writing. In certain ways, I should have known all of this from the start. I have worked as a full-time writing and composition Instructor at Loyola Marymount University for six years (even longer if you factor in part-time) and it always bothered me why students had such a hard time just coming to me for help if they were confused about or needed guidance on an assignment. I like to think I’m not a scary person to approach, so I would always say to them, “Why didn’t you just ask?” Now, having been on the other side of that scenario, I believe I am a better editor, book coach, teacher, mentor, and more because I know intimately the courage it takes to admit to someone, “I don’t know what to do and I need your help.” I am now better at helping others because I decided to ask for help myself. Sounds like a cliché, but it’s as real as could be!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
If you ever go online and type in: “Editorial Services,” or, my personal favorite, “I need an editor,” the number of search results that will pop up on your screen will be incredibly overwhelming. Let me be the first to acknowledge that the editing world is quite saturated and, therefore, can be quite difficult to find just the right fit for your needs. Acknowledging and accepting that there are already so many editing services out there was one of the initial things I had to do when creating Two Tales. If I stood in a place of denial or waving it off as “not as bad as I think,” the business would not be where it is today.

I very quickly had to embrace the saturation and think hard and fast about how to make my business stand out. I made two decisions before I launched that I am so proud of and can’t ever stop talking about. The first regarded services offered. The majority of editors/editing companies offer services geared towards a particular field/genre/client. Most market for a specialty service offered; for example, a company specializing in students seeking help with academic papers. When I was writing up my business model, I kept going back and forth between what type of client I wanted to attract. I have years of working with students and faculty at all stages, so maybe academics and academia in general should be my target audience. But I love literature more than anything in the world and have read more books than most people I know, so wouldn’t creative writing make the most sense? Yet, what about all of those other people, who may not be academics or creative writers, but who also need help with writing. Don’t they deserve someone specific for their needs too? I was so hesitant to limit myself because I know that I have the editing experience and the life experience to help ALL writers. Thus, my first decision was to open up editorial services for all writers, regardless of field/genre, at every stage of their writing process.

When I have to sum up what Two Tales Editing offers, I say it is a one-stop shop for writers because we do it all. From brainstorming an idea, to developmental editing, to copy-editing, and more. We’ve just recently taken on a few ghost-writing projects as well, so that can be added to the list! So often, writers have a zillion ideas happening at once. There are people out there who write both academic articles and epic fantasy novels. Why should those people have to hire two separate people/companies to help with their editing needs when they can just come to Two Tales where we do it all. I am also currently in the process of getting an official licensing as a Book Coach. To be able to offer coaching services alongside editorial services is a huge asset in the business because writers don’t have to stretch themselves too thin between too many different voices critiquing their work. Currently, our clientele ranges from a high school student needing help with college admissions essays to PhD candidates seeking dissertation help to retirees finally sitting down to write that great novel they’ve always dreamed about. Every single one of them can find exactly what they are looking for because of the variety of services and packages offered.

The second decision I made had to do with one of the top things people hate talking about: money. When I decided to open up my targeted audience to any writer who needed help, I realized that that also meant opening up financial options. We all know that every writer is not the same when it comes to their writing, but so often people forget that writers are not the same in terms of what they can afford for their writing. Financial equity became one of the top missions of Two Tales and I am so proud to offer personalized payment plans for clients. I want to guarantee to every single person I talk to that just because they might be working with a tight budget or don’t have the same kind of financial freedom as others does not mean they don’t deserve excellent and efficient editing. Time and again I have seen so many writers scammed by services that offer the moon for practically nothing, but they end up with services rendered similar to what they paid: practically nothing. Why should someone who can afford more get better quality editing than someone who deserves the same quality but has different budgetary boundaries?

Hopefully you can see that I have very strong feelings about this, and thankfully I am in a position where I can work with my clients on a one-on-one basis to work out options for them. Some of those options include capping working hours at a certain amount each week/month, that way they know exactly what their bill each time will look like. I also offer payment in installments, with no additional interest fees, so that clients can spread out their payment as needed, kind of like the Afterpay of editing! A huge mission of Two Tales is promoting diverse voices across the academic and literary world and helping remove some of the barriers that marginalized communities have faced from a multitude of institutions; one of these barriers, for so many people, is a financial one. If I can help remove that barrier, I consider it a job well done.

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.
This is a tricky question for me because, even though I have lived in Los Angeles for eight years now, I still feel like I have barely scratched the surface of what the city has to offer. But since you asked:

First stop would be a literary tour of LA. And by literary tour, I mean dragging people to all my favorite bookstores so that I can just bask in the rows and rows of literary masterpieces and smell all the bookish smells. This includes The Last Bookstore (obviously). The Book Jewel (their bookstore cat, Pages, is the cutest), Village Well Books & Coffee (the whole vibe is just *chefs kiss*), and Small World Books (hello Venice Beach).

Looking at good books puts everyone in the mood for good food, so next up would be getting something to eat. If feeling like view of Downtown, one can’t go wrong with Perch LA. Looking for a surf/sand/seafood moment? Paradise Cove Beach Cafe in Malibu is the place. Needing a happy hour with a chill atmosphere and amazing food? Cinco in Westchester is it. I’ve been going there almost every week for years and it never gets old. And if wanting a little caffeine pick-me-up, I always recommend Hilltop Coffee & Kitchen. There are two locations (the Inglewood location is my favorite), and their acai bowl and lavender latte are must-haves.

For a little culture, there are more things to do in Los Angeles than anyone has time for. Some of my top choices are catching a summertime Shakespeare performance at the the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga. I go every year to see their rendition of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Just make sure to bring a jacket, as it gets chilly at night in the canyons. I love having sunset gatherings around a fire pit at Dockweiler Beach. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll of course show off Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu, etc. to people. But when it comes to a good, old fashioned beach hangout, I prefer Dockweiler (which can be a little loud sometimes because we get to watch all the planes from LAX land and depart). I think the last thing that would be a must is a concert at either The Greek Theater or The Hollywood Bowl, or both! The acoustics, the landscape, the enormity of feeling connected with so many people at once; I would absolutely chose those things to give someone the best time ever!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
As I mentioned before, there are so many people who have helped me along the way. How much room here do we have for them all? I need to thank Alexa Johansen (GoldScriptCo Publishing), for paving the inspirational way and helping me with so many of the ins and outs and emotional support of diving head first into the book business. Thank you, Evan Littman (GetMade Consulting), for being one of the first people I actually shared this dream with and for spending hours on the phone with me, walking through everything from setting up an LLC to the importance of choosing a name, and more. Thank you, Kali Vasich (Kali Joseph Design), for walking me through the vulnerable creative process of logo design and for creating the most perfect logo for my business. Thank you, Suhasini Yeeda (NITI Communications), for taking on the task of building my website and social media in ways better than I could have imagined.

I can’t go without thanking my best friend in the world, Caroline McGervey, who believed in my potential long before I did. My family, for always supporting my literary ambitions, even when we ran out of space in the house for all my books. I have to shoutout to my older brother, Matthew Barnes, in particular, for the weekly Facetime sessions, the feedback on every decision that I just couldn’t make myself, and for flying out to LA to be my righthand for the Two Tales Editing booth at the LA Times Festival of Books. And of course, my partner/sounding board/cat dad/emotional rock/favorite person in the world, Harley Richards.

To my two fur-babies, Chicken and Muppet (and yes, I did name one of my cats ‘Chicken’). Believe it or not, they were the initial inspiration for the company name. I worried that if I went with Two TAILS, people might get confused and think I was offering pet grooming services, not editorial services; therefore, I opted for Two Tales to have a more literary feel to it while still keeping the initial inspiration close to my heart. And so many people don’t know this, but the two plants coming out of the book in my logo are actually cattails as a nod to my constant editing companions who like to spend all their time chewing my red pencils!

And last but not least, to my favorite author, John Steinbeck, for writing “East of Eden” and providing me with my #1 motto in life: Timshel, or Thou Mayest. Without this reminder, I might have forgotten that one’s path in life can be whatever they want it to be. Nothing is set in stone, and we have the freedom and capacity to write our own life story.

Website: https://www.twotalesediting.com/

Instagram: @twotales_editing

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/megan-barnes29

Twitter: @twotalesediting

Other: Email: twotalesediting@gmail.com