New column: “Undercover editor – views from an insider”

I’m delighted to announce a new column for the Parlour in 2015. “Undercover editor – views from an insider” will feature articles by – and interviews with – my colleague Philip Stirups, an editor working for a well-known UK academic publishing house.

It aims to provide insights into the in-house editorial production process from the viewpoint of a publishing professional, and will pay particular attention to the role of the freelancer.

The column has in mind both the new entrant to the field and the more experienced editorial professional who’s not worked with mainstream publishers.

Some of the issues we’ll be looking at include:

• In-house editor–freelancer relationships
  
• The editor–freelancer–author triad
  
• Freelancer discoverability – how in-house editors find new suppliers
  
• Using new freelancers vs relying on existing suppliers
  
• Giving feedback
  
• Challenges facing in-house project managers
  
• Publishing margins and balancing budgets
  
• Prescriptive proofreading briefs versus a laissez-faire consistency approach
  
• Getting publisher work – what does the in-house editor need and want to know?
  
• Book production schedules and workflows – an overview
  
• The art of querying authors and in-house editors – advice on good practice
  
• Editorial tests – what the freelancer needs to know and show
  
• Onscreen and beyond – adapting to new workflows and technologies
  
• Spotlight on skills – requirements for copy-editors
  
• Spotlight on skills – requirements for proofreaders
  

If there are specific issues that you’d like my undercover editor to shed light on, please email me at louise@louiseharnbyproofreader.com and I’ll add them to the list.

The views expressed in this column aim to provide an understanding of what it’s like to sit on the other side of the desk from the freelancer. Having offered professional proofreading services to publishers for just shy of a decade, though, I recognize that the managing editors for whom I work operate within a variety of procedural and preference frameworks. If you’re an in-house editor who works differently from my undercover editor, or who operates in another country, I’d be delighted to incorporate your views and experiences.

You’re welcome to join in the discussion either by commenting or by contributing your own guest article. Email me at louise@louiseharnbyproofreader.com if you’d like to write for the Proofreader’s Parlour.

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About Louise Harnby
Louise Harnby is a professional proofreader, the curator of The Proofreader's Parlour, and the author of Business Planning for Editorial Freelancers and Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business. Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader, follow her on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or find her on LinkedIn.

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