Advice from Dr. Sexton
Dr. Megan Sexton, an editor of Five Points, GSU's journal of literature and art, and professor at Georgia State, gave a lecture specifically about the trade of copyediting. In her presentation, she admitted that the editing field is a highly competitive one, with little turnover. However, she stressed the importance of gaining experience through "apprenticeship", as that, to her, was the best way to learn, become skilled, and ultimately attract employers. Despite that, she said even persistence and luck might get you somewhere, as one of her students tried simply emailing all publishing houses within a 20-mile radius about possible openings, and got hired on the spot by one of them! She stressed that even though it's hard work, that we be vigilant in our job search and not give up because we may be surprised at what we find.
She told us to be the best, and improve our skills in any way we can by means of tutorials.
She specifically recommended that one subscribe to an online database called Publishers' Marketplace, a free service that allows those who are interested to view job postings, as well as updates in the world of publishing/editing/writing.
With her work at Five Points, she said positions are only available to graduate students, but a lot of the work they do equates to the work we did for them in our class. So just the skills gained from our class alone could land us a job elsewhere. Their main job is to proofread manuscripts and copyedit, but she stressed that copyeditors often end up wearing many different hats. That being said, she told us we needed to feel comfortable multitasking and being flexible in an ever-changing environment. Besides evaluating and editing manuscripts, a copyeditor might be a designer for the cover of something or be a part of the publishing/printing process.
In regards to copyediting work, since our job was closely aligned with that of the actual employees, the roles she described were quite similar:
She told us to be the best, and improve our skills in any way we can by means of tutorials.
She specifically recommended that one subscribe to an online database called Publishers' Marketplace, a free service that allows those who are interested to view job postings, as well as updates in the world of publishing/editing/writing.
With her work at Five Points, she said positions are only available to graduate students, but a lot of the work they do equates to the work we did for them in our class. So just the skills gained from our class alone could land us a job elsewhere. Their main job is to proofread manuscripts and copyedit, but she stressed that copyeditors often end up wearing many different hats. That being said, she told us we needed to feel comfortable multitasking and being flexible in an ever-changing environment. Besides evaluating and editing manuscripts, a copyeditor might be a designer for the cover of something or be a part of the publishing/printing process.
In regards to copyediting work, since our job was closely aligned with that of the actual employees, the roles she described were quite similar:
- Being able to articulate evaluations with colleagues, and having excellent written communication skills
- Having meticulous attention to detail and identifying grammar, spelling, punctuation, or formatting errors
- Adhering to the specific, correct house style guide you are required to use
- Being an expert in digital communication, and being able to develop content for nationally recognized publication.
- Being willing to work under tight deadlines
Besides copyediting itself, Dr. Sexton said that if you want to break into the industry, you cannot just be highly technical and accurate; you also have to have a passion for literature and be able to identify key themes or contexts within a written work. You also have to know how to evaluate different genres, as each requires a different process/approach. Also, you must be able to discern if a text falls in line aesthetically with the aesthetic of the publication.
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