Clarkesworld Issue 35 by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, magazine, short story, clarkesworld, fantasy
Publisher: Wyrm Publishing
Published: 2009-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

Do you have some advice for someone who wants to break into editing?

Nash: In this economy? Waiting until the houses are replenishing some of the blood spilled over the last six-to-eight months might be an idea. Really, though, everyone seems to have their own story about how they got into editing — some came up through the ranks, some from related disciplines, some horizontally from other departments at the same company (my own route was via marketing, which I’d entered after a period in sales).

Some of it’s probably the same advice you’d give a potential writer — read as much as you can; otherwise, try to involve yourself in fanzines, magazines, small presses, web-only publications — anything that gets you editing experience.

Anders: If you think your flame is going to dim, just be a reader and go do something else that makes more money! If you don’t eat sleep breath this stuff, why on earth would you do it?

Beyond that, I’d say, involve yourself with the community from the start, online and in the flesh.

Taber: If you don’t truly love it, don’t do it. I’ve worked with several proofreaders who thought it might be a good way to make some extra cash because they were “pretty good at grammar and spelling.” They burnt out quickly or vanished without a trace.

You have to be enthusiastic enough about understanding the ins and outs and shadings of language to run off and look up anything if you’re the slightest bit unsure. Gill Ainsworth — our Senior Editor of the magazine side of Apex — and I trade resources and pick each other’s brains frequently, not because we have to, but because we like to learn.

If you think you might be nerd enough to try, see if someone is looking for volunteer proofreaders. You’ll get the stuff that has already been through line edits, so if you get frustrated with that, you’ll know you don’t want to go deeper. If, instead, you find yourself wishing you’d been the one to do the line edits because that sentence would have worked so much better over there, then you’re on the right track and now have a little experience to cite when you start looking into copy editing and line editing gigs.

And don’t forget that rules and conventions change. What you were taught in high school may not be true today (plus, there are plenty of teachers who don’t teach well or clearly) so you must be willing to constantly refresh your knowledge of the subject.

Weisman: Pay your dues. Do an internship and take any kind of publishing job you can get, no matter how humble. Specialize. Network in both real-time and online by making a lot of contacts in your chosen area; in the SF/F world, that means attending conferences, commenting on (or starting) your own blog/Facebook page, etc. Read as much as you possibly can. And then read some more. Jeff VanderMeer is an expert on the publishing field, and I have to both give him credit for these ideas and to recommend his blog, www.

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