Full-time freelance copyeditor here. Some random thoughts:
There’s actually plenty of work to be had, despite the recent decline in the publishing industry. You just need to know where to look. Of course, it helps to have an established client base in this economy, because the freelance pool increases every day as publishers dump in-house staff. Still, book publishers, packagers (editorial services companies who handle production for the publishers), government, nonprofits, corporations, organizations, journals, and private authors are all fruitful sources for freelance work.
You can continue with the cold-calling, but I’d keep it extremely targeted to your skills. Right now in-house people are struggling to keep their own jobs and are swamped with freelance applications. You need to be EXACTLY the person they are looking for.
The bidding sites like Elance and Guru.com are mostly meat markets because most people are looking for the lowest bidder, and U.S. editors simply can’t compete on price with overseas editors who are willing to work for peanuts. However, I do know of some editors who’ve picked up a few projects there now and then by competing on skills, not price. Their angle is that they’re worth their higher fees. Apparently this strategy occasionally works at those sites. However, these jobs don’t make up the bulk of their work. (And, of course, run, run away from any site that wants money up front. Total scam.)
I surf a few listings sites several times a week, but I see that the pickings have been getting slimmer. Finding projects is definitely more a push operation than pull these days; you have to go and tease them out rather than simply surfing job listings.
The “take an editor to lunch” thing may work if you’re in a metro publishing area. I’m in Bumfuck, Wisconsin, and all my clients are hundreds of miles away. I’ve met only two of them in person, when I was traveling on vacation, and some I’ve never even spoken to on the phone, only e-mailed.
I’m sure I’ve discussed “how I find work” previously; just search on my handle and “copyeditor.”
The Internet is also your friend. Have you joined lists such as Copyediting-L, Freelance (at community.lsoft.com), and Freelance Writers & Editors at Google Groups? Their archives are chock full of advice on getting started, and several members either maintain informational pages with scads of links, or will sell for a token fee their booklets on the topic. I’ve also gotten and given several referrals based on my participation there. After a while you get an idea of who knows their stuff, and if you present yourself well, other people may get to know you and refer you themselves. I acquired two of my current clients because listmates recommended me for projects that they could not take.
Also, do you have a profile on LinkedIn and are you networking there? Lots of groups to join there as well. I’m not terribly active there, but there are occasional job leads, and it’s another way to get your name out there just by being active, responding to threads, asking and answering questions, etc.
I wish I’d had Google when I was first starting out. A few years ago during a self-marketing blitz, I searched on various permutations of keywords related to the type of work I do, such as “freelance copyediting textbooks” and got scads of leads.
An updated resume, a professional-looking Web site, and a willingness to do a lot of legwork will go a long way in helping you turn up work. Also, be willing to take a short test to show your stuff. I’ve been freelancing full time for nearly 15 years, and although now I often get work by word of mouth or based on my experience, without needing to take a test, some potential clients do sometimes ask me to take one. Some longtime editors refuse to take tests anymore just on principle, and it’s great if they’re busy enough without doing so. I admit that sometimes it’s hard to squeeze in a test that might take me a few hours if I’m swamped or on deadline. But if it gives them the confidence in you to trust you with their projects, everyone wins.
Also, the fact that you have existing clients is awesome. While you look for more baskets in which to keep your eggs (a wise move in this economic climate), can you simply let them know that you’re available for more work? (This winter I had a sort-of dry spell in which most of my clients were slow – but one was glad to have me all to themselves, and I told them to lay it on me. My bread and butter is textbooks, but I did almost nothing but novels for the first four months of 2009, until the other work started coming in again.) If they don’t have more work for you, can you offer a different service? Ask them to refer you? Ask your ESL authors to refer you? I know of at least two ESL medical editors who get lots of new work because Dr. X refers them to his colleague Dr. Y. Their Asian physician clients get big career boosts by getting their articles published in U.S. journals, so a copyeditor who can translate their work into solid American Medical English is like gold to them, and they are extremely grateful (and prompt, generous payers, I’m told!).
Good luck!