Re: Beyond technical editing...

[Scott Herron <SHerron -at- OVSOFT -dot- COM>]

From:    "Beck, Sue" <Sue -dot- Beck -at- PSS -dot- BOEING -dot- COM>

> Has anyone broken into the world of text or novel editing? I realize this
is a
> different field, but am interested in making contacts and getting started.
Any
> information you can give would be appreciated. Thanks!

I can't help with specific contacts, but perhaps some ideas.

A good friend of mine partially paid her way through medical school by
editing scholarly papers. Doing business as "Expletives Deleted", she
specialized in
turning theses and dissertations into articles and books for the academic
press, a subtle distinction.

I've no idea what her rates were, but I know that her clients were _very_
appreciative, and she appears in the acknowledgements of at least one
published book. Note that she specialized in the _type_ of editing she did,
not in the subject matter. Topics ranged from medicine to economic
anthropology.

What to take away from this story? Pretty much the usual advice for TWs:
 - Stay flexible and widely read
 - Associate with like-minded people(*)
 - Know yer stuff
 - Offer something unique

   (*)After all, if all of your friends turn out to be novelists,
   journalists, and academics. . .

I'd start by offering some similar service in and around college campi. This
is assuming you want to work on a one on one with authors rather than
starting at the bottom at a major publishing house and working your way up
to a living wage. (Watch out for those "Copy Editor" job postings!)

Semi-interesting sidebar: To this day, she is unable to touch type, but she
wields a mean blue pencil.


Good Luck


Scott Herron  |  sherron -at- ovsoft -dot- com
Documentation Manager
Omnivista Software Corp
Peninsula, Ohio


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