Life as an Editor @lifeasaneditor - Tumblr Blog

lifeasaneditor

Taking on two projects at once

Solution

lifeasaneditor

Reblogging my own post from years ago because, truly, this is a lesson I need to stop learning the hard way.

When the outline makes sense but the blog comes out terrible

#content marketing #content writing #bad writer #bad writing #editor problems #copy editor #we were doing so well

Remembering quarterly taxes are due soon

#freelance #editor problems #khloe kardashian #taxes #Freelance life

When a writer asks if they should self edit before I see their draft

#editor #copy editor #fiction editor #editor problems #writing #writers #writing advice

I'm pursuing an English degree and am still deciding what I want to do with it. The idea of being a copy editor is so fascinating to me, but I feel as though I'm in over my head and don't know where to begin to plan. What did you major in when you were in college? Were you involved with the school newspaper? Any tips would be wonderful! Thanks in advance!

So, I majored in creative writing in college. I took a lot of literature courses, though, and that’s where I wound up finding my passion for editing and analyzing fiction.

My school didn’t have a paper, but I personally wouldn’t have been part of that anyway (I was busy trying to be a cool kid). I didn’t get a “real” writing job until I was 23, and even then it took me a few years to turn that into an editing career.

It takes time, effort, and perseverance. You might not be able to land a full time, salaried job doing exactly what you want. If you can find something similar (or something that gives you financial freedom and time to pursue your editing career in your free time), it’s a great start toward that goal.

Try freelancing (not easy, and takes a while to really earn a good wage) - it’s a great way to sharpen your editing teeth, though. Take on some pro bono jobs, or offer to edit your friends’ resumes for free (you can put that in a portfolio!)

I really want to be a book editor but I'm not sure if my academic background will be what most companies would be looking for. I'm a history major and I have minors in neuroscience and professional writing. Any thoughts?

Look for writing/editing gigs in the marketing field, maybe? Especially at companies that have some connection to neuroscience! It may not be fiction, but it’s still editing.

Book editor gigs at publishing firms are probably all but impossible to come by. I live in a major city where there are lots of publishing companies, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them advertise editor positions. You could always try the approach I took - find a job that pays the bills and start seeking out freelance editing projects to start building your book editing portfolio. Then, if that opportunity does come up, you’ll have all sorts of reasons they won’t be able to say no! :)

Hey LAAE, I'm an upstart copywriter. I currently have a contract copywriter position the networking, (career change). I can't get anyone outside of my circle to take a chance on me. I have a portfolio and nice resume. I am now trolling the internet looking for anything that will tell me exactly what I need to do to get into the industry.

I have no clue how long ago you sent this! I hope that by now you’ve found your dream job and you’re living in the lap of writer-luxury (i.e. earning a modest living)!! Honestly, though, it’s not a super user-friendly market right now, from all I can tell. There are more writers than there are writing jobs, so competition is tough.

There is no golden solution to get a copywriting job (or any job for that matter). Keep writing, keep building your portfolio, and keep applying for jobs. Apply for the same ones you already looked into if you haven’t heard back. Sometimes persistence pays off!

Best of luck! <3

Omg, I love your blog so much! I wanted to ask how did you first start off after highschool? I'm going to graduate mid next year and I was wondering if I should go into the editing career. I'm worried about how you're supposed to start off.

Thanks lovely! I love you so much too! :D

After high school, I went to college, but I didn’t decide what I wanted to major in until my junior year. I focused on creative writing and fiction (still having no clue what I was going to do with my degree after I graduated). When I was done with school, I kept writing - mostly for sites like Examiner.com that paid per click (so I made no money). Eventually, I got a copy writing job, which turned into an editing gig and is where I met my current freelance partner, who helped me get my foot in the door with fiction editing!

So really, it’s about perseverance and setting yourself on a path where the right opportunities are more likely to come up. At least it was for me. The best thing I did, though, was to start writing the type of stuff I wanted to get paid normal wages to do. It didn’t pay much of anything at all, but it gave me experience and helped me build my resume and portfolio for when I landed my first big interview.

It’s not an easy field to break into, but it’s also not a super high-competition career path. If you make efforts to go above and beyond, you’ll stand out and people will clamor for you to edit their stuff!

I want to be an editor, but I also hope to publish my novel some day. Is it possible for me to be the editor of my own novel? Like, is that legal? I wouldn't do that, because I would feel biased towards my work, but I was just wondering if that could even happen...

There are no laws when it comes to editing your own work! But, it’s not something I’d really recommend. You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned bias, but it’s more than just bias. You’re also too close to the work to see things that would jump out to someone else reading it for the first time - that goes for both high-level editing to strengthen the plot/characters/pacing/etc and also for the nitty-gritty grammar and typos.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t self-edit at all, though. Reviewing your own work can help you see many things you might not have noticed as you were writing, now that the whole book is done. It’ll also allow you to clean up any glaring typos. Even when you hire an editor, giving them copy that is as clean as possible will essentially clear a path for them to really home in on the remaining edits. If the book is riddled with basic typos, your editor is going to have a much harder time spotting plot inconsistencies and flow disruptions.

My advice, if you want to write and edit is to find others with the same aspirations. You can edit each other’s work, giving you a chance to stretch your editing muscles and also get valuable, outsider perspective on your writing!

When a writer uses the word “yummy” to describe anything