The only program for PhDs, professors, and postdocs who want to turn their experience, knowledge, and skills into a profitable academic business.
January 2026 Cohort – SOLD OUT
Enrolling now for March 2026
Save $1,000 on the BAE Core + Studio bundle when you join before February 6
Burned Out, Underpaid, and Wondering What Else You Can Do?
Youâre burning out in your academic job, but you don’t want to give up your calling or your flexible schedule.
You’ve spent years giving all of yourself to your students, your department, and your universityâwith no pay raises (not even COLAs).
Administrators (who make 3x what you do) are talking about cutting programs or increasing the teaching loadâbut aren’t giving up their own salary or perks. đ
The constant anxiety, guilt, and worry are wearing you down.
Youâre on the brink of collapse, but you’re terrified to take the leap into something different.
You’re not alone. I get messages like these every day:
I know you didn’t spend years earning your PhD to feel this miserable.
You have valuable expertiseâbut you need a new way to use it that doesn’t involve toxic departments, endless committee meetings, or begging for scraps.
What if you could take all that academic experience and build something that’s actually yoursâmatching or exceeding your current salary while working whenever and wherever you want?
Introducing…
Becoming an Academic Editor
(or Coach)
BAE Is Your Step-by-Step Plan to Transform Your Academic Skills into a Profitable BusinessâWithout Burnout
Becoming an Academic Editor (BAE) is a course and live group coaching program that teaches you how to startâand growâa sustainable freelance editing or coaching business.
Whether you want to start slowly as a side hustle or you’re ready to go full-time, BAE shows you exactly how to:
â figure out the kind of business you wantâone that fits into your life and gives more than it takes
â set up your editing or coaching businessâwith all the tools, templates, and resources you need to launch and grow
â land your first clients (and cash your first check đľ) in 90 days or less
â grow your business at a pace that works for youâyou’re in complete control of your schedule and time commitment
Hereâs how it works:
Get the Clear, Step-by-Step Process
Get immediate + lifetime access to my proven system that shows you exactly how to price your services, land your first clients, and build a sustainable income streamâeven if you’ve never freelanced before.
Attend Your 12-Week Live Cohort
Connect with 15-20 fellow academics in weekly live coaching calls where you’ll get direct feedback on your website, pricing strategy, and client outreachâplus the accountability to take meaningful action. Replays are sent following each meeting.
Never Feel Alone Again
Get ongoing support in our private community of successful academic editors and coaches. Attend quarterly workshops with industry experts. Join quarterly office hoursâso you’re never left wondering about your next step.
Whether you want to supplement your income with part-time editing or coaching work, or replace (or exceed) your academic salary with a full-time freelance business, BAE gives you the proven roadmap and community support to make it happen.
Hi, Iâm Paulina. After years of exhaustion, anxiety, and burnout in a tenure-track job, I finally got the courage to leave academia in 2019. At the time, I was working 7 days a week and had a newborn at home.
As a professor, I had no idea that academic copy editors even existed. But when I discovered that I could actually make a living while working from home, setting my own hours, and reading exciting research from kind, brilliant clients, I jumped in without hesitation.
Within one year of taking on private clients, I was earning 20% more than my previous assistant professor salary. By 2024, I had a six-figure business, working with clients I love and setting my own schedule.
I’ve now helped over 90 academics build their own editing and coaching businessesâmany landing their first clients during our 12-week program.
I created Becoming an Academic Editor (BAE) because I know how overwhelming this transition feels. After a few years of freelancing, I cracked the code and hit $10k months as an editor. Now I’m sharing everything I’ve learned with our supportive BAE community filled with people just like you.
You Deserve Better Than Burnout and Uncertainty
Letâs be honest about what staying in academia really costs you:
đŠ Another year of 60-hour work weeks… for a salary that barely pays your bills
đŠ Another round of job applications that disappear into the voidâor get rejected after months of waiting
đŠ Another semester of worrying and wondering what the next budget crisis will bring
đŠ Endless Sunday nights spent dreading tomorrow’s trip to the office
If nothing changes⌠nothing changes.
Every month you wait is another month of your life that you can’t get back.
But here’s what I know about you:
You didn’t spend a decade or more earning advanced degrees and building expertise just to accept a life of burnout and financial struggle.
You already have everything you need to build something better. You just need a guide to help you get started.
What if you could run a profitable business (and work just 25-30 hours a week)?
Imagine this (because it’s exactly what my students are living):
đ You work with doctoral students and professors who actually respect and appreciate you
đ You set your own scheduleâaround your family, health, and life, not department meetings and mandatory office hours
đ You feel confident and valued because clients actively seek you out and refer their colleagues to you
This isnât wishful thinking. Itâs what many BAE students have accomplished while completing our program.
These BAE grads are thriving… and so can you!
Meg was a tenured professor who was fed up with administrative BS. She’s now fully booked with editing and coaching clients and is moving home to live near family.
Julia gave all her time and energy to her job in a campus writing program, leaving little for herself and her family. Now she has a steady stream of editing and coaching clients pouring inâand she schedules her appointments around her kids’ dance classes and play dates.
Laura was utterly burned out and chose to retire early so she could start living her life instead of continuing to sacrifice her health to her job. She’s done almost no marketing and has been booked out for a year with editing clients.
Sophia recently finished her PhD and knew that academia wasn’t right for her. She landed her first editing and coaching clients during her cohort, and even moved countries to live where she loves.
What’s the difference between where you are now and these lovely people? Just 90 days. They learned my proven system for attracting clients, pricing your services, and building a business that brings you joy and a reliable paycheck.
Course Modules + Resources
Becoming an Academic Editor (or Coach) has been thoughtfully designed to guide you step by step to build your academic business from the ground up. The modules support you through shifting your identity from burnt-out academic to renewed, rejuvenated, and empowered business owner. The videos and their accompanying resources build on each other so you always know which step to take and in what order.
PLUS⌠join weekly 60-minute group coaching calls for 12 weeks
This community support is priceless. Be with people who get you and who are in the same boat đŁââď¸ We’re here to walk together as you build this new identity and career.
If you’ve read this far, it’s time to choose the level of support that’s right for you…
Core
âď¸ Lifetime course + Slack access
âď¸ 12 weekly LIVE sessions
âď¸ Ideal if you want to grow at your own pace
âď¸ Most popular option
Core + Studio
Everything in Core PLUS membership in The Academic Entrepreneurs Studio, my small-group mastermind:
âď¸ BAE Core (course, Slack, and 12 weekly LIVE sessions)
âď¸ The Studio (6 months of twice-monthly LIVE sessions, after you complete BAE)
âď¸ Two 1:1 sessions with Paulina
âď¸ Long-term, personalized support
âď¸ Best for those who want to launch and grow quickly
**SAVE $1,000 when you enroll by February 6 at 12pm EST!! (reg. is $4,997)
đŚâđĽThe March 2026 cohort will meet Tuesdays, 11-12:30 ET
đ´All 2025 cohorts and January 2026: SOLD OUT
đ˘Now enrolling for March 2026 (doors close February 20)
Start slowly and build a side hustle while you continue in your academic job. Or go all-in and quickly launch a full-time career as an academic editor or coach. You get to decide what works for you.
Instant access
100% money-back guarantee
Iâm so confident that youâll LOVE Becoming an Academic Editor that this program comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you attend all cohort sessions during the first 30 days and still feel like the program isn’t the right fit for you, I’ll issue a full refund.
Take a Peek Inside BAE ⤾ď¸
Curious whatâs actually inside the course? Watch this quick walkthrough to see exactly what you get when you enroll.
đ´ All 2025 cohorts and January 2026 cohort SOLD OUT
đ˘ Now enrolling for March 2026 (doors close February 20)
How I Went From Burned-Out Academic to Six-Figure Freelancer (Working Just 30 Hours a Week)
When I started editing in 2020, I didnât know if I could replace my salaryâlet alone exceed it. But year after year, my income kept growing as I built a business that truly fit my life.
Hereâs what that growth has looked like:
đś Year 1: I had a toddler at home and worked just 25 hours a week.
đź Year 2: I had Baby #2 and took 3 months off.
đ Year 3: I finally found the courage to seek out private clients. This changed everything.
đź Year 4: I exceeded my faculty salaryâworking just 30 hours a week.
đ¸ Year 5/2024: I earned a six-figure income from editing and coaching (about 70% from editing, 30% from coaching).
I have a proven system for building a freelance businessâand I’m sharing it with you inside BAE.
Instead of spending years figuring it out for yourself, you can fast-track your success with the exact blueprint I wish I’d had from day one.
đ Over 90 people have already joined Becoming an Academic Editor.
Hereâs what they’re saying:
Youâre Standing at a Crossroads. Which Path Will You Take?
Youâve already done the hard workâbuilding your skills, navigating academia, showing up every day.
This means youâre not starting from scratch. Youâre starting from experience. You have the knowledge, skills, creativity, and persistence to apply your academic training in a new contextâone that you control, where you are appreciated, and where you get to call all the shots.
So… you can keep hoping academia miraculously solves all its problemsâŚ
Or you can take the first step toward a career that truly supports your life.
Becoming an Academic Editor gives you the roadmap, the coaching, and the community to build a business you actually want to wake up to.
Itâs your turn to thrive.
To your bright future,
FAQs
How much time will this take each week?
Not as much as you think! You can complete the program in just 1-2 hours a week watching the videos and working on the templates, plus 90 minutes a week in our Zoom coaching. When you begin editing or coaching, you can spend as little as 5 hours to edit just one article per week or work with clients.
How long will it take me to complete the program?
The course is designed to be completed over 12 weeks, but itâs self-paced, so you can take as much or as little time as you like. And with lifetime access, you can return to the videos, templates, and other materials again and again.
Is there a payment plan?
Yes! Payment plans are shown in the big yellow buttons above.
During the secure checkout process, Thinkific (the course platform) also offers you the following payment options: credit card, Google Pay, Affirm, Afterpay, CashApp pay, and Klarna (some of these offer up to 6 interest-free payments).
Moreover, even if you charge a low per-word rate as a beginning editor, it’s possible to make back your investment–and THEN SOME–when you edit just ONE dissertation. It’s entirely possible for you to earn what you’ve invested in the course before the 12-week program even ends.
Can I take this course if Iâm an academic but have never published anything? What if Iâm an editor but donât have a scholarly background?
Becoming an Academic Editor (or Coach) assumes that you know how to edit scholarly research (i.e., that you can spot errors/typosâif you want to do copy editingâand that you can offer constructive feedback on how to improve the clientâs writing and get publishedâif youâre doing developmental editing or coaching).
If youâre a strong writer with an eagle eye (regardless of your publication experience or educational background), you should make a successful copy editor. And if you donât like making red-pen edits, or English is not your strongest language, but you know what it takes to publish in peer-reviewed journals and with academic presses, then you can still make a great developmental editor or publishing coach! If you have any questions or doubts, donât hesitate to email me.
What can I really accomplish in this course?
Iâll let my studentsâ work speak for itself. These students created their websites from scratch during the group coaching program. Many of them had editing projects and coaching clients rolling in before the end of the 12-week cohort.
When can I access the course materials?
You have immediate access to all of the course materials (videos, templates, and more) as soon as you enroll. You will join the weekly Zoom calls starting the first week of your scheduled 12-week cohort. The digital course itself is self-paced, so you can enroll at any time.
How long do I have access to the course?
You have lifetime access to the course, including all new materials and updates. As long as the course is published online, youâll be able to access the videos, downloads, and other resources.
What if I have questions while completing the program?
Included in the course is 12 weeks of community support. During this period, you can ask questions at any time inside the online community group (on Slack), and you can get live support from Paulina during weekly group coaching calls on Zoom.
What if I canât attend the coaching call?
All group coaching calls will be recorded and shared with course community members following the call.
Is the course relevant to people outside the US?
Yes! Academic editors and coaches are everywhere, and so are the companies and clients that hire them. Iâve personally freelanced for companies in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. Current BAE members come from the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Argentina, and more.
What technology and tools do I need?
Because most editing clients use Microsoft Word, you will need a personal computer, access to a recent version of Word, and an internet connection. If you decide to do coaching, you’ll need access to Zoom, Google Meet, or a similar video meeting platform.
What about AI? Will AI take all of our editing jobs?
I’m no fortune teller, but my prediction is a hard NO. Check out my article about how terrible AI is as an editor. And remember: human editors provide something that AI simply can’t: connection. Scholars come to you for your expertise not only in checking their grammar and sentence structure, but also to get your feedback on the persuasiveness and construction of their arguments, which journals or presses they should submit to, and even moral support. I don’t see AI taking over editing jobs anytime soon.
What if I have another question that’s not answered here?
Please email me with your question. I’m happy to help!