Editing

How Acorns Investing App Helps Freelance Editors Plan for the Future

As a freelance novel editor, I know the importance of focusing on the finer details. Whether it’s a character arc or ensuring continuity across multiple chapters, every small effort builds toward the larger goal: a polished, compelling novel. In a similar way, small, consistent actions can have a big impact on personal finances. Enter the Acorns investing app—a tool designed for those of us who might not have a finance degree but want to secure a more stable financial future.

What is Acorns?

Acorns is a micro-investing app that allows you to invest spare change by rounding up everyday purchases to the nearest dollar. Imagine paying $2.50 for your coffee, and Acorns takes the extra $0.50, investing it into a diversified portfolio on your behalf. It’s effortless, automated, and beginner-friendly—perfect for busy freelancers like me.

How Editing and Investing Are Alike

The similarities between editing and investing through Acorns are surprising. Here are a few ways that both my work and Acorns follow the same principles:

1. Small Changes Make a Big Difference

When editing a novel, it’s the subtle shifts in tone, the slight tweaks to dialogue, and the adjustment of pacing that can turn a good story into a great one. Similarly, with Acorns, those tiny spare-change roundups—insignificant on their own—grow over time into something substantial. Consistency is key. In editing, just like in investing, it’s about focusing on the long-term result.

2. Automated Processes Save Time

Just like a well-organized editorial schedule saves me time and energy, Acorns’ automation does the same for investing. The app handles everything, from pulling funds to choosing a portfolio, allowing me to focus on what I love—helping authors perfect their stories—while my money grows quietly in the background.

3. Investing in the Future

Editing a manuscript is an investment of time and effort that ultimately pays off when the novel is ready for publication. Similarly, using Acorns is an investment in my financial future. I might not always have the stability of a 9-to-5 job or a steady paycheck as a freelancer, but with tools like Acorns, I’m creating a safety net that grows as I continue to work and grow my business.

Why Freelancers Should Consider Acorns

Freelancing comes with many uncertainties, and for many of us, retirement planning is a distant afterthought. Acorns makes it easy to invest without requiring large sums of money upfront. For someone like me who juggles multiple projects, clients, and deadlines, the app simplifies investing in a way that fits naturally into my work life.

By making small, consistent investments, freelancers can build financial security over time—just like crafting the perfect plot or helping characters come to life. Acorns is more than an app; it’s a tool that empowers freelancers to focus on their work while planning for the future.

Final Thoughts

If you’re a freelance editor, writer, or creative professional, managing both your work and finances can be a challenge. The Acorns app offers a practical, low-maintenance solution to grow your investments. Just like editing, it’s a process of refinement and small, deliberate improvements that lead to long-term rewards. It’s time to invest not only in the stories we help create, but in our own futures as well.


Cheers!

Cayla!

Book Reviews

Mysterious FMC in Cutthroat Grad School | Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance

Rating: ★★★★★
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Tropes:
– Academy setting
– Reverse Harem
– Fated mates
– Curses
– Paranormal
– Hidden identity

I was not expecting this book at all. A cutthroat, blood thirsty grad school setting? I didn’t know I needed this in my life. Our FMC is mysterious as heck, we don’t know who she is or where she comes from, but man, does she give me Wednesday Adams vibes. We have four unique MMCs: an over-the-top protective dragon shifter with a temper, a frosty, smart as hell ice elemental with commitment issues, a psychotic incubus prince with some violent tendencies, and a morally grey blood fae with a curse that might be his undoing.

Watching the FMC futilely try to push them away was sheer comedy, and I loved every minute of it. The writing and pacing are so well done that it had me devouring this in a matter of hours.

My only drawback is that the third book isn’t out yet!

I am so surprised there are not more people talking about this book, and I will shout it from the rooftops that this book is amazing and worth the read!

Have you read this one yet? What was your last five star?

Book Reviews, General Bookish

Kindle Vella

The first 11 episodes of my story are up for viewing with more on the way if anyone is interested!

As a friendly reminder, it’s a college, sports romance between a football player playboy and the true crime loving athletic training student. They both sign up for the schools dating app turned tv show, only to match despite it being forbidden by the school for them to be together.

It’s spicy. It’s a little angsty. It’s giggle inducing.

You can try it out here!

Sunday Spotlight

Sunday Spotlight : Mina Brower

I had the pleasure of working on this book as the proofreader, but never has a book felt less like work than this one!

Blurb:

A single woman stands between order and chaos.

She will determine the fate of Taria.

An anomaly in the world that values the future over the ways of old, Renna is in great danger.

Possessing unexplained—and forbidden—magic, she now attracts unwanted, dangerous attention.

Amidst the chaos, there are two who desire her safety.

Khellios mourned her, living with guilt for the last two millennia. The God of Moon and Stars, he offers her a sanctuary in Taria, trying to rekindle the flame between them.

Sethos, a fae with unusual magic, has been guiding Renna from afar, drawing her nearer and keeping her safe. He now visits within her dreams.

Conflicted by her desires, Renna is pulled between the men who are willing to fight for her. But when a deadly force breaches the sanctuary and threatens to destroy Taria, she is faced with an impossible choice.

Embrace the life she’s wanted without magic with Khellios’s help, or accept her destiny as a daughter of chaos at Sethos’s side.

This book had everything I could want, and I’m already harassing Mina for the next book! I cannot wait to see what happens in Renna’s story!

Pre-order here!

General Bookish

I did something today

So I did something huge today. I published an episode on Kindle Vella. It’s my first time publishing something I’ve written in the fiction realm. While I don’t think anyone will actually read it because I’m anxious about marketing it and it being me as the author and people knowing that, I am proud of myself for finally doing it.

Shoot, maybe I’ll finally finish the thing too!

However, if anyone is interested, you can find it for free here!

Here’s our cover for it!

General Bookish, Sunday Spotlight

Sunday Spotlight: The Ardelean Bloodline – Sarah Jaeger

We’re starting something new today. I’m going to feature a different indie author every Sunday, in addition to reviews, ARC reads, and y’know, just general posts about indies.

Today, we’re focusing on an indie that I actually stumbled upon right before releasing her debut novel, Smoke. I signed up for her ARC team on a whim, and I’m so glad I did because she’s become a dear friend of mine.

Smoke is a wolf shifter romance with bodyguard, politicians daughter, “she’s mine,” and star crossed lovers vibes. There’s also fated mates, some delicious hand necklaces, outdoor spice, plus size rep, and mental health—specifically, anxiety—rep.

Shifter romances are so hard to make seem not cheesy. It’s common for shifter romances to feel like the MCs are just going through the motions and don’t feel like they really have an option other than ending up together. Not the case here! I love the struggle between the characters as well as the outside world.

While I thought Cade was my end all be all of sexy, alpha wolves, Finn came barreling in the door in book 2 knocking that thought right out the window.

I mean….isn’t he just delectable.

Irish. Mobster. Alpha af. Caretaker.

Sign me tf up. These books are chunky. Jaeger doesn’t leave any world building out and does it so beautifully it all feels seamless with the real world. On top of that, each book’s politics build on the last so they don’t end up being ships passing in the night in terms of an interconnected series. Plus, we love a well-written woman in STEM.

Our third MMC in this series is near and dear to my heart….not only because he lives in my backyard basically, but because he is so perfectly flawed and troubled. I won’t give anything away about who he is, other than her dad’s best friend and deliciously alpha.

Sarah’s books are some you don’t want to miss.

They’re on Amazon here! You can also follow Sarah Jaeger on insta here!

Happy reading, fam!

Editing

4 ways to fix a comma splice.

Comma splices are so common. I think everyone was taught to just add a comma if you pause, but comma splices are just one problem that arises.

So what is a comma splice?

It happens when two independent clauses are joined by a comma and nothing else. It feels natural to take pause between those two clauses, but that pause should be a full stop period or it requires different punctuation and another device to reach a proper sentence.

So, what are the ways we can fix that?

1. You can use a conjunction!

Let’s throw it back to freshman English. Fanboys, do yall remember those? I’ll be honest, I forgot to use them all the time before I really got into focusing on grammar and writing.

2. Fix it with a semicolon!

Are your two clauses related to each other? Great! You can now get rid of the splicing comma by swapping it for a semicolon. Easy fix, right?

3. Fix it with a semicolon and a transition word.

This one adds a little flair to our last option. The transition is a bridge between two thoughts. However, although, in addition, furthermore, and understandably are all examples of those transitions.

4. Fix it with a period!

By far the easiest way to fix the comma splice is to just use a period. This is your best option when the two thoughts or clauses do not relate to each other.

Hopefully this helps someone out there! Happy writing!

Cayla

General Bookish

Dearest beloved…oh wait

What personal belongings do you hold most dear?

Since this is a book blog, we’ll relate this back to my book collection.

But I think my old typewriter is one of my most dear possessions. It holds a special place in my heart because it relates to my love of reading, my job of editing, and my dream of writing.

Over the years, I’ve found solace and comfort between the pages of a book, I’ve found joy in my small editing business, and I’ve rediscovered my creativity in writing.

What is something that’s a little unconventional you hold dear?

Cayla

Editing, General Bookish

You can’t edit a blank page…

I’ve been staring at a blank page for far too long trying to think of something to talk about today when I realized that I actually made a post on my Instagram about that this week.

Ironic, no?

My post feels a little on the nose after having sat here for who knows how long. I can’t even edit a blog post if there’s nothing there.

I think that’s something all of us creators need a reminder of every now and then. Your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to make sense. Just get the words out on the page. Get the ideas going because sometimes, once you get going, the words just keep going.

For me at least, staring at a blank page will breed self doubt and apathy toward my project, but once I get going, I find myself on a roll. Do I go back and edit out a good bit of what I’ve written or rewrite things and add others? Of course, but you can’t edit what isn’t there!

Just dump the words out

Throwing it back to middle school here. Do a mind dump. Just let the stream of consciousness take over the page. Don’t let anything tell you that it doesn’t belong on the page. Put it on there and go back later to make cuts and changes.

Set a timer

I find quick sprints to be really effective. When you’re dumping out the words or just trying to work on an idea, set a timer anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes and just work. Put your phone on do not disturb, ignore that email notification that just came in, just let your brain focus on one task. Get your coffee or your snack before you set the timer so you’re not tempted to make a trip to the kitchen mid sprint.

Doodle

Okay hear me out, do you ever let your mind wander while you’re on the phone and somehow you have this great idea but then you don’t remember it? Start doodling so your brain is focused on that, but once your brain wanders and the idea strikes, open the word doc and work! Or just start making notes on your doodle paper!


What do you typically do when you’re staring at a blank page?

Cayla

Book Reviews, General Bookish

Retellings You Should Totally Read

Photo by David Gonzales on Pexels.com

What is that quote that’s been circulating bookstagram lately? “I still read fairytales, they’re just dirtier now?” Well, that feels rather accurate with some of the books I’ve been reading and also adding to my TBR lately. Beauty and the Beast is a super popular fairytale in the retelling world, but I recently read a Rapunzel retelling, and thought to myself, you know, I should make a list of retellings that *aren’t* Beauty and the Beast. So, here we are.

Kept by Evelyn Flood

I devoured this one. Fair warning, it is why choose, but it is so well done. I thoroughly enjoyed that one of the MMCs is named Ryder. Shout out to Disney’s Tangled. I’ve never actually read the original fable, so I can’t say whether or not the villain is supposed to be a male or female, but I liked that the “Mother Gothel” in this situation was a male, it added some interesting twists and turns.

You can read it on KU free here! Evelyn Flood has a whole series of retellings too!

Gild by Raven Kennedy

This one is a few years old, but Kennedy just released book five, book six will be released in September! Gild is a King Midas retelling, which if you aren’t familiar, King Midas turned everything he touched into gold. In the legend, he was gifted this power from Dionysus and delighted in turning his garden into gold, but he later lamented his choice of gift when he turned his food and drink into gold and could not control the power.

The Plated Prisoner, though, is the story of Auren, the true source of King Midas’ power. I loved the twists and the drama and the emotional rollercoaster that this one sent me on.

You can snag a copy on KU or order here!

A Ship of Bones and Teeth by Karina Halle

I love a good Little Mermaid Retelling, and this one did not disappoint! Princess Maren has a secret and now she’s trying to escape the bargain that she made with the sea witch Edonia. This one is dark, as many of Halle’s books tend to be, so check trigger warnings before diving into this one! However, it is such a delectable and emotional ride between Maren and Captain Ramsay.

You can find it on KU or order a copy here!

A Curse of Shadows and Thorns by LJ Andrews

So, I think I said earlier I wouldn’t do a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I couldn’t leave this one out. I think this is one of my favorite BatB retellings. It has Viking vibes and the MMC is such a delicious morally grey cinnamon roll. If you’ve read her Ever King series, you definitely need to pick up this series. Even if you haven’t read Ever King, this one is a great read. Honestly, just thinking about this one makes me want to go reread it.

You can snag a copy here!

There are so many retellings out there, but these are just a few that I thoroughly enjoyed! I love new and original stories, but sometimes revisiting our favorite fairytales in new formats can be such a comfort. Do you have any that you always recommend to people?

Cayla