Tips for aspiring editor?

LCB · Jun 7, 2007

Hi! Hope this is the right forum for this question (I'm new). I am a writer, but I am a mother first, and the kid's got to eat. I am looking to get in to editing. I am (was as of June 18th) a high school English teacher. I have no industry experience, but I am used to reading and editing roughly 2000 to 5000 words an evening after work. Still, although I am quite confident about my work ethic and relative skill base, I have no idea how to break into the publishing world. Should I pursue proofing jobs at podunk newspapers? Can I claim teaching as editing experience? Should I try to get publishing credits first?

Please, experienced ones, any advice?

Anthony Ravenscroft · Jun 7, 2007

For your own growth, you very much need some real-world grounding. You can edit or write for free, & there are many community groups that'd be grateful... but they'd be about as grateful for third-rate work. That's why you need to get some sort of a job where there's actual cash on the line, & you have to do the stuff day in & day out. I'd already done a string of newsletter work when I got into a big college newspaper as a copy editor -- working under deadline, on a regular flow of controversial articles, on a paper lauded for its muckraking, very much honed my abilities.

Every few months, I get a query from one person or another who's a professional writing teacher, & I have to tell you that it's well-crafted garbage. Marking corrections that if accepted will take an illiterate to the lofty realms of marginal literacy... well, not really related to for-money publishing.

There's really not much income to be made in freelance editing, unless you're a proven item & are regularly under contract to publishing houses, or have other skills (like providing HTML-ready Web content). I did have a short-lived contract with a California house where I bid at $125/hour -- I have a smattering of non-English languages & the house buys translation rights from Germany. When they got steady enough, they hired someone for in-house work who costs them a fraction of my rate, which I totally agree was the right thing to do.

LCB · Jun 8, 2007

Anthony Ravenscroft said:
For your own growth, you very much need some real-world grounding. You can edit or write for free, & there are many community groups that'd be grateful... but they'd be about as grateful for third-rate work. That's why you need to get some sort of a job where there's actual cash on the line, & you have to do the stuff day in & day out. I'd already done a string of newsletter work when I got into a big college newspaper as a copy editor -- working under deadline, on a regular flow of controversial articles, on a paper lauded for its muckraking, very much honed my abilities.

Thanks, Anthony! Yes, I am sure the world I have lived in and the world of professional editing barely orbit the same sun, but I need to go with my training...and I just can't teach high school anymore. I gather from your advice above that I will slowly need to build my resume, starting from volunteer editing. That's a relief, since that is what I'm doing. I am volunteer editing for a non-profit's website and have been offering my services around to anyone writing anything. I plan, when school is out, to cold-call on every small time operation in the area, from college lit mags to local newspapers to Civil War publishers.

Another question, if I may. Should I try proofreading first? Or, is that a job for college kids--a step back?

larocca · Jun 8, 2007

Breaking into the Editing Biz

LCB said:
I am looking to get in to editing.

Publishing credits are nice -- I have them -- but you can become an editor without them. Visit http://www.chinarice.org (my site) and click on the link, on the left side menu bar, called Elance.

I ask to you visit this way, instead of just going directly, for two reasons:

1) The link will take you straight to my user profile. You can see my earnings, my positive feedback, my resume and credentials. Kind of a "how to" demonstration, I think, since it's my main source of income.

2) If you join, I'll earn a $10 referral credit. Hey, at least I'm honest about it.

I'll be happy to give you advice on bidding for jobs if you decide this kind of work is for you. I'm so overworked that I have NO fear of your competition driving me out of business. My email address is also on my site.

Later, once you've established a reputation at Elance, you can probably use that on your resume. Then your resume will begin with your English teaching experience, an excellent demonstration of your knowledge and skills, and move on to the more recent list of editing credits. With many satisfied authors as references, you should be in good shape.

Keep in mind I'm an old redneck who moved to Thailand, so I may not know a whole lot about the U.S. job market. But it sounds like a plan to me, and since you'll be able to work from home, you'll be with your kid, knowing the joys of saying, "No no, Mommy is at WORK right now. No, really, I am..."

Namatu · Jun 8, 2007

You can contact publishing companies and inquire about freelance proofing and editing work. Many require completion of proofing and editing tests. This would be a good way to overcome any lack of existing credentials. If you do well on the tests, they may be willing to give you work, and you can build from there. Are you interested in editing fiction or nonfiction material?

If you can start in on the ground floor with a paying job as an assistant editor/editorial assistant, this would also be a good stepping stone.

Technology is also helpful to have in your bag of skills, such as thorough knowledge of Word, some familiarity with HTML, SGML, or Quark tagging.

LCB · Jun 8, 2007

Namatu said:
Technology is also helpful to have in your bag of skills, such as thorough knowledge of Word, some familiarity with HTML, SGML, or Quark tagging.

Oh, boy . . . Good advice, but I think I see a computer class in my future. I told everyone I know that I was "posting" (?) on a "message board" (?) . . . I'm so proud of myself.

I don't know how to answer the fiction/nonfiction question. I'm used to both--in student writing. Is one easier to break into than the other? Is fact-checking/ research a standard part of the pro editing process? Geez, maybe I should take two computer classes. . .

LCB · Jun 8, 2007

larocca said:
2) If you join, I'll earn a $10 referral credit. Hey, at least I'm honest about it.

I'll be happy to give you advice on bidding for jobs if you decide this kind of work is for you. I'm so overworked that I have NO fear of your competition driving me out of business. My email address is also on my site.

Thanks! I checked out your site and Elance --I didn't sign up, though. Sorry about the ten bucks. I would have, except (a) I don't have $500 to join and (b) I'm getting the feeling I need to take a computer class. You gave me a great idea, though. Your original training/talent was in a scientific field, correct? Maybe I should be hunting down educational publishers.

How many languages do you speak?

Namatu · Jun 8, 2007

LCB said:
Oh, boy . . . Good advice, but I think I see a computer class in my future. I told everyone I know that I was "posting" (?) on a "message board" (?) . . . I'm so proud of myself.

Definitely know the ins and out of Word. The tagging stuff can be learned once you grasp the concept behind it, but you certainly don't need a programming class.

I don't know how to answer the fiction/nonfiction question. I'm used to both--in student writing. Is one easier to break into than the other? Is fact-checking/ research a standard part of the pro editing process? Geez, maybe I should take two computer classes. . .

My background's in nonfiction so I can't address fiction. Sometimes fact-checking is required. This can be as basic as confirming names and birth and death dates in Webster's Biographical Dictionary or as thorough as confirming quoted material with its source. Mostly, in my experience, the former. For nonfiction editing, you do want to familiarize yourself with the predominant styles in the industry, Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., and APA. You can check them out at the library (don't know if you can literally check them out of if they'd be noncirculating reference) or buy your own copies (recommended if you do start getting work).

Always ask your editor questions! Never be afraid to give work back if you can't complete it all. An editor won't be happy about it, but he or she will be far less happy if you do a crappy job on it or deliver it late. Questions to me always indicate the freelancer is paying attention. Silence, especially with a new person, is scary.

SHBueche · Jun 9, 2007

Visit copyeditor.com, for advice and more. They also have a great job board.

jclarkdawe · Jun 9, 2007

One way to get a lot of practice, and in a different environment than school, is to go over to the Share Your Work forum and start critiquing and editing. Most of the people appreciate any help they can get, and it will begin to give you some idea of the variety of levels of work you'll be seeing.

Jim Clark-Dawe

LCB · Jun 9, 2007

Thanks, all of you. I will do as suggested...great idea to practice by doing gratis critiquing on the Web. Must check out APA and Chicago style manuals... I was sure MLA alone was not enough.

By the way, if there are any others like me out there, the adviced I gleaned from Anthony was excellent: I am compiling a list of educational publishers and am going to do some sort of mass mailing to introduce myself . . . Maybe I will get some part-time telecommuting position out of it.

Am starting to get an inkling of how little I know. I guess that's a start!

Cassie · Jun 10, 2007

LCB said:
Thanks, all of you. I will do as suggested...great idea to practice by doing gratis critiquing on the Web. Must check out APA and Chicago style manuals... I was sure MLA alone was not enough.

By the way, if there are any others like me out there, the adviced I gleaned from Anthony was excellent: I am compiling a list of educational publishers and am going to do some sort of mass mailing to introduce myself . . . Maybe I will get some part-time telecommuting position out of it.

Am starting to get an inkling of how little I know. I guess that's a start!

Hello, LCB! I think you and I are here to ask many of the same questions. So, I appreciate your starting this thread. And I appreciate the responses here, too.

I worked as a paralegal for 26 years (and I also volunteer as an ESL tutor and am slowly working on an M.Ed. in TESOL). I'd really like to work from home, doing what I love: copy editing/proofreading. So, I'm also looking for information and leads. Again, thanks to all who have shared.

LCB: Let's keep in touch!

larocca · Jun 10, 2007

Contact e-publishers. It's been my experience that they'll ALL jump on a chance to hire a qualified new editor. What does qualified mean? It means if you edit a book or two and they don't say, "Wow, your editing sucks."

I suggest either a flat rate or an hourly wage instead of a percentage of sales. I work for all of the above because I'm a fiction junkie, but I know which ones pay better.

And they all look equally good on a resume, I think. When I say, without lying, "I've edited more than 200 published novels," y'all go "Wow" without asking about my wages, don't you? Ta-da!! :tongue

LCB · Jun 10, 2007

Cassie said:
Hello, LCB! I think you and I are here to ask many of the same questions. So, I appreciate your starting this thread. And I appreciate the responses here, too.

LCB: Let's keep in touch!

Cassie--sure! We even work in the same (relative) part of the state!

I'll let you know if I find out anything good... I sent an obnoxiously eager cover +resume to weekly reader. . . have you checked out ed book pubs yet? That's what I'm doing. Michael (I think that's his name--above) sent me to his site, which led me on a train of sites that gave me a start to understanding how much is done on the web. Check that out.

Are you a Spanish-speaker? There has GOT to be dual language pubs that are being made all over the place. . .

LCB · Jun 10, 2007

larocca said:
Contact e-publishers. It's been my experience that they'll ALL jump on a chance to hire a qualified new editor. What does qualified mean? It means if you edit a book or two and they don't say, "Wow, your editing sucks."

I suggest either a flat rate or an hourly wage instead of a percentage of sales. I work for all of the above because I'm a fiction junkie, but I know which ones pay better.

And they all look equally good on a resume, I think. When I say, without lying, "I've edited more than 200 published novels," y'all go "Wow" without asking about my wages, don't you? Ta-da!!
/quote]

More great advice from you! Thanks, Michael, is it? Question--how do I figure out what to charge? Should I just undercut everybody since I'm inexperienced?

Also, does anyone know of a site where I can do a proofing test of some sort? I need a confidence boost. . .

Namatu · Jun 11, 2007

LCB said:
Question--how do I figure out what to charge? Should I just undercut everybody since I'm inexperienced?

Oftentimes publishers will have their own rates that they're paying. Ask them first before offering a rate of your own. If they leave it up to you to propose, ask to see a sample entry before providing them with a quote.

LCB · Jun 11, 2007

Thanks, I'll do just that when my schedule loosens up. Any recs of e-publishers?

Namatu · Jun 12, 2007

I'm not familiar with that end of the industry. Good luck!

Torgo · Jun 14, 2007

What are you actually interested in doing on a day-to-day basis? (And how little money are you prepared to earn doing it?)

LCB · Jun 16, 2007

I thought I'd already responded! Must have just thought it. . .
I'm interested in editing, fiction or non-, and eventually earning enough at it that I might support my VERY modest lifestyle without supplementing through tutoring or teaching. My assumption is that I will make very little until I get some experience. I am currently editing for a non-profit's website gratis (well, for resume rights) . .Got some work to throw my way? I bet someone could charge enough that I could do the work and we both could make some money. . .Anyone?

BTW, Cassie and others like me, have my first editing test on Monday. . .Am running out shortly to pick up a Chicago Style Manual.

Tips for aspiring editor?

LCB

Anthony Ravenscroft

Scribble, scribble, scribble

LCB

larocca

Proofreader

Namatu

Lost in mental space.

LCB

LCB

Namatu

Lost in mental space.

SHBueche

What happened to my LIFE?!

jclarkdawe

Feeling lucky, Query?

LCB

Cassie

I can't get no, oh no no no.

larocca

Proofreader

LCB

LCB

Namatu

Lost in mental space.

LCB

Namatu

Lost in mental space.

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

LCB