Editing Work - How Much is Normal?

[Comrade Stalin]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by ironlady:
<strong>Well, it's coming....along.

But....we'd want it to be much denser. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

Terry</strong><hr></blockquote>

That's NO problem.....I can make it *much* denser, thicker and harder.

[img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[chessman71]

Wolf,
What's your problem? You seem to be saying that people without editing experience shouldn't be hired as editors. But then how are they supposed to get expereince in the first place?

So what is necessary? Not a journalism degree. take a look at this quote from the American Society of Newspaper Editors:

An ASNE survey (1990) indicated that half of the editors had no preference for a journalism degree versus a major in another field. About four in 10 editors expressed preference for hiring J-school grads, and one in 10 preferred graduates from other fields.

So beyond good English skills and an eye for detail, just what do you think is necessary for a basic editing position?

[wolf_reinhold]

Alright. Perhaps I expressed this ass-backwards.
My meaning was that if I had been the company, I would not hire someone that I thought had no editing experience.
Of course you have to start somewhere. My feeling is that (and this was based on the assumption that the guy hired had NO previous editing experience) companies of higher caliber should demand that their "editors" have at least some familiarity with the job before being hired.
The guy turned out to have some experience, so my posts were rendered moot. Perhaps I should remove them and put a vase of flowers there instead... [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[chessman71]

While I've got you on the subject, what would you recommend for those of us in "basic" editing postions that want to improve?


You were right to an extent. Just standing in front of a class doesn't mean you are a real teacher and sitting in front of copy with a red pen doesn't really mean you are an editor.

So what resources do editors have here? How can we become more professional in this (ahem!) "unique" environment in which we all live?
Wolf? Iron Lady? Anyone?

[cranky laowai]

chessman71 wrote: <blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva">quote

How can we become more professional in this (ahem!) "unique" environment in which we all live?

Read, read, read. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

Here are some good places to start:
<ul type="square">[*]The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers (14th edition -- the bible of the U.S. publishing industry) [*]Words into Type, by Marjorie Skillin and Robert Malcolm Gay (long out of print but still well worth finding)[*]The Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E.B. White (but everyone should have that already)[*]Fowler's Modern English Usage (I prefer the Gowers edition to the much more recent Burchfield)
[/list]And if you're going to order through Amazon, don't forget to click on the Amazon box here on this site. Gus and Christine could always use some help paying for ORIENTED's expenses. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[Lord Lucan]

The Economist Style Guide.

And if you're in an investment house just go to the Bloomberg, download someone else's reports (say, Barings or CL) and copy them. Viola, instant "experience". Also, annoy the dung out of analysts by continually sending back their illiterate, jargon-saturated, and cliched reports. Then become an analyst and look down your nose at editors ! Work 12 hour days for NT$40k - a real step up from English teaching !

[wolf_reinhold]

Here are a few things that I feel are good qualities and approaches for any copy editor:

1. Proofread your work (don

[goinabroad]

Hi folks,

Quick question. I've been asked to 'edit' (proofread, really) a student of mine's college research papers for grammar, etc. It amounts to about five pages worth of English interspersed throughout a 30 page document.

It is for the statistics department, and they are pretty hardcore statistics papers. I was a GIS major in college, and I have had far more hours of upper-division statistics courses than I care to remember (funny, cuz I never thought they would actually be usuful for anything!), so I am familiar with the terminology and all that.

What is a fair per page rate for this kind of thing? The parts she wants edited are clearly marked so I don't have to read the whole thing. Her prof has expressed interest in me working for him in this way as well, so this could lead to quite a bit more work.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Karen

[ironlady]

This is just what I do, but I never charge by the page --rather I charge by the word (counting the original document). The advantage is that the client knows up front how much the paper will cost to edit (or translate). If the paper is "mixed" (half Chinese and half English, or varying proportions of the two) I count each separately and charge each according to the appropriate rate (translation or editing).

So far clients seem to like the system. I think in Taiwan it's important for them to be able to give a firm price to superiors/committees to get funding when that's an option.

[goinabroad]

Thank you ironlady! Unfortunately I can't charge by the word here, as I am getting a conglomeration of hardcopies by three different authors, so I don't have the electronic copy. This is all very low-tech. The person I'm doing this for is just a college student. It's her major research paper for the year, I think. It took me about 1-1/4 hours to thoroughly proof 5-1/2 pages of statistical jargon (highly entertaining? I think not!). It is entirely English, but contains way more tables and formulas than "words." My job was only to proof the prose portions of the paper. Overall, I would consider the quality of the paper before my input to be "excellent" with a few grammatical mistakes, a bit of incorrect word usage and the usual inappropriate definite or indefinite article.

I am doing this as a favor, but I don't want it to be a freebie, as I do not want to be that popular at the University. I'm pretty sure that my services will be required again. I already worked for 12 hours today, so it's not like I'm bored and don't have anything to do!

I guess I'm looking for something that is "affordable" yet not cheap, but still pays me enough to make it worthwhile. Any suggestions?

Thanks again!
Karen