Barb Barnes is a senior editor at Baker Publishing Group. Prior to this, she was a stay-at-home mom and freelanced as a proofreader and copyeditor. While she works on some nonfiction, fiction is her primary focus. She and her hubby live in the Grand Rapids area.

Keynote: You Gotta Serve Somebody.

Years back, Bob Dylan reminded us that we “gotta serve somebody.” Serving God and advocating for our authors, readers, and publishers as editors is a privilege and challenge. In-house editors often battle looming deadlines and mental fatigue, contrary clients (or manuscripts) and overcrowded schedules. Freelancers may wrestle with the same issues and the added task of finding clients. In all this, we can ask for God’s help, heed his nudges, listen to his whispers. The resources of the One we serve are available. We’ll explore what that can look like.