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The Parlour: A Blog for Editors, Proofreaders and Writers

A BLOG FOR EDITORS, PROOFREADERS AND WRITERS

Undercover editor: Selecting new editorial freelancers

11/3/2015

11 Comments

 
An in-house editor sheds light on his experiences of in-house editorial production, including how freelance editors and proofreaders are selected.
How to get noticed by publishers: Advice for new proofreaders and editors
This editor's contributions are from the point of view of a publishing professional, broadly speaking. So while some of the things he has to say are informed by his experiences within the UK company for which he works, his residency there is not in the capacity of a representative of that particular publishing house.

Louise: Hi, Philip. It’s great to have you on the Parlour! First, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? It would be useful to have an overview of your daily responsibilities – many of our readers haven’t worked in-house so they may be unaware of what an in-house editor does. I understand that different presses work in different ways, but it would still be handy to know what you do.

UE: Hi Louise. It’s equally great to be contributing to your blog. So, a little bit about myself. I started working in publishing straight out of University back in 2010. I studied English and German at the University of Reading – and since my passion is language, publishing seemed like a natural career choice.

I have been working in the editorial department of an academic publishing house for the past five years. It’s absolutely incredible how quickly time flies. You are completely right – every publishing house operates in slightly different ways, so I can’t say the experience is representative of the role of in-house editors up and down the country.

And, even after five years, I am still rather new to the industry, compared with some of my colleagues, so I don’t speak as the one true voice of experience either.

So, about my role … As an editor, I am responsible for the project management of up to fifteen social science/humanities titles at any given time. My ultimate responsibility is ensuring the standards of the final product are in keeping with company and author expectations.

One thing that makes my role unique is that I, as an in-house editor, am responsible for typesetting my own projects. It is absolutely fantastic to feel so involved with a project from day one to the nerve-wracking day the book is ready to be sent to print. There is nothing better than having a satisfied author!

Louise: Which editorial services do you currently contract out to freelancers? Structural/development editing, copy-editing, proofreading, indexing? Anything else?

UE: We have three routes to print:
​
  1. For texts in good shape, we editors are responsible for editing such projects in-house.
  2. Then there are projects that need proofreading by a freelancer. I would say this accounts for about 60% of our projects.
  3. Then, once in a blue moon, a project comes along that needs copy-editing or substantive rewriting, and we contract the work to a freelancer with suitable skills. We also use freelance indexers in cases where authors would like a professional index prepared – otherwise they create it themselves. I rarely have a project without some form of freelancer intervention.

Louise: Today, I’d specifically like to focus on the commissioning of new freelancers. One question that comes up a lot in the freelance editorial community is: How does one get noticed by publishers?

So do you use particular directories when you’re looking to source new suppliers, and if so which ones? Or do you consider freelancers who’ve contacted you direct (by email, telephone, letter)? How about referrals from colleagues working for other presses?


UE: In collaboration with my line manager, I am responsible for curating the freelancer pool and enhancing freelancer processes, so I feel I can answer this question definitively.

The best way to get noticed by a publishing house is simply by finding out who the relevant in-house contact responsible for the freelancer pool is, and then sending them a quick message to enquire about the process. If you don’t ever ask, you’re never going to know.

Granted, a lot of publishers have established pools of people they use. However, I feel that you can never have too many freelancers in your pool – especially law proofreaders, who understand OSCOLA referencing.

A CV and covering letter is a good base from which to start, but I’ve met freelancers in person to whom I have offered work.

For example, I made new contacts off the back of attending the Society of Indexers (SI) conference in Cirencester in 2014, and many more at the joint Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP)/SI conference in York in 2015.

As an in-house editor, I would offer the following two key pieces of advice to any editorial freelancer:
  1. Take the time to research the company you want to work for so you understand their output;
  2. Make sure your CV is error-free.

Louise: When you read a CV and covering letter, or view someone’s listing in a membership directory, what are the key stand-out points that you're looking for?

Here, I’m thinking about the skills, experience, training, and other qualifications that make you think, “Yes, that person’s someone we want in our freelance bank.” When I announced the launch of this column, two of my colleagues asked specific questions that relate directly to these issues. Just as a reminder I’ve included them here:


  • How do you determine whether to hire a freelancer to edit for your company?
  • What kind of academic credentials and qualifications might an in-house editor be looking for in a freelance copy-editor?

UE: It is a combination of different factors that determines whether a particular person is suitable for our freelancer pool. Since we have a quite full freelancer list, freelancer specialities tend to be significant.

A good freelancer should be able to work on a variety of different material, but it is always good having somebody who really understands the text. Law, for example, tends to be one of those lists with a lot of subject-specific terms, and it is always good when these are understood in context.

Having professional accreditation is desirable. For example, with indexing we look for membership of the SI, and with proofreading we look to the SfEP.

Louise: How important is prior publishing experience, broadly speaking? If a freelancer has worked in-house, is this a strong selling point for you? Even if they haven’t worked in-house, is it important that they’ve worked for other publishers?

​I’m interested in your views on this because I’m often asked by new entrants to the field whether a lack of publishing experience means it will be more difficult for them to secure work with publishers.


UE: In general, prior experience is important to in-house editors. If I see that a freelancer has worked for a particular client with similar lists to ours, then I will assume some level of familiarity with the subject matter.

Professional accreditation is great, but experience is what can bring these qualifications to life. I understand that this is often one of the hardest things for new freelancers. They want to gain experience, but in order to do so they have to be given work. And to be given work, they need experience. You see where the problem is! I do therefore respect the fact that everyone has to start somewhere.

You can often get a feeling from initial exchanges with freelancers whether your work together is going to be fruitful – call it editor’s intuition. Since all publishing houses work in different ways, it generally takes a couple of projects to get freelancers up to speed with working processes, but, by and large, the results are very pleasing.

Louise: Finally, do you have any further advice you’d like to share with freelancers who want to acquire work with publishers?

UE: Great question – I would say the following are points to bear in mind for anyone looking to acquire work:
  • Create an online presence that is consistent with your CV.
  • Ensure that your CV is error-free (you’d be surprised).
  • Be pro-active and engaged in the online editorial community. There are a vast amount of wonderful resources online (such as your blog, Louise!) that allow freelancers to feel involved.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask. If you have no work, and you would like some – ask a publisher. The worst thing they can say is no.

Louise Harnby is a fiction copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in helping self-publishing writers prepare their novels for market.
​
She is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors, and runs online courses from within the Craft Your Editorial Fingerprint series. She is also an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. Louise loves books, coffee and craft gin, though not always in that order.

​Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader & Copyeditor, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you're an author, take a look at Louise’s Writing Library and access her latest self-publishing resources, all of which are free and available instantly.

11 Comments
Maia
12/3/2015 12:18:45 am

Great article, thanks :)

Reply
The Undercover Editor
12/3/2015 04:44:21 am

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! :

Reply
Richard Adin link
12/3/2015 01:14:25 am

Very interesting interview. One thing I would like to see clarified is this: What are the expectations for a proofreader versus a copyeditor? I ask because Philip stated: "(2) Then there are projects that need proofreading by a freelancer. I would say this accounts for about 60% of our projects. (3) Then, once in a blue moon, a project comes along that needs copy-editing or substantive rewriting, and we contract the work to a freelancer with suitable skills." His answer implies that some of what a proofreader is expected to do is what, in the United States, would be a copyeditor's job.

I also would like clarification as to why not all of the manuscripts require proofreading. I suppose this comes back to my first question regarding the role of the proofreader vs. the copyeditor, but at least in the United States, the expectation is that all manuscripts will be proofread.

Interesting, at least to me, is that India-based packagers also do not have all manuscripts proofread. I know of several instances where this has haunted them. In the packagers' case the reason to avoid proofreading is financial. Is that the case in Britain as well?

Anyway, I found the interview very interesting. Philip, if you ever need an American copyeditor (and I'm law trained, that is, a lawyer, too), drop me an email. :)

Reply
Louise Harnby
12/3/2015 02:45:18 am

Hi Rich.
I'll let Philip answer in detail, but I'd like to chip in with the following: You say that "His answer implies that some of what a proofreader is expected to do is what, in the United States, would be a copyeditor's job." I'm interested in Philip's response to your query too because there's certainly not a US/UK divide on the issue of how most publishers define the terms. In fact, all but one of my publisher clients treat the term "proofreading" as meaning the annotation of typeset page proofs. Direct intervention in the raw text file would be called "copy-editing". I suspect that Philip's press uses the term proofreading because a light edit is required.

Reply
Undercover Editor
12/3/2015 04:58:30 am

That is most interesting, Louise. No, all of our work is carried out on-screen. In-house, "proofreading" could indeed be thought of as a light edit, and "copyediting" as substantive editing. The question about the US/UK divide is very interesting. When US authors publish are they expecting their text to be "proofread", i.e. sent to a proofreader, or to simply be given editorial attention?

Philip
12/3/2015 04:54:29 am

Hi Richard,

In response to you question, I know the lines between proofreading and copyediting are somewhat blurred. Where I work, proofreading is checking consistency/checking references/checking language/checking citation style up/basic changes in phrasing. Copyediting is what you would call substantive rewriting and is reserved for projects where the English needs improving.

When projects are not sent to proofreaders, the onus is on the in-house editor to work on these. Obviously a lot of what the in-house editors do is "proofreading". However, proofreading tends to be a little bit more in-depth. Usually the two reasons the texts aren't proofread are: a) they are in good enough shape as they stand and wouldn't benefit massively from a proofread, b) it hasn't been budgeted for. We do not avoid proofreading - in fact, as stated the majority of our texts are proofread. It is more often the case that the in-house editors have the skills required to bring the text up to the required level (this is, of course, not to put down the added value applied to texts by actual proofreaders and copyeditors).

I am glad you found the interview interesting and if you have any further questions, please do get in touch.

With all the best,

Philip

Reply
Susan Albinson link
12/3/2015 04:09:21 am

This post is really helpful! It's helped me to see some weaknesses in my approach to asking publishers for work.

Reply
Louise Harnby
12/3/2015 05:34:48 am

Thanks for clarifying, Philip. I think the position Rich and I are coming from is a traditional one - so checking proofs in this sense means working on typeset page proofs. This is what my proofreading work for publishers usually entails. I do all the grammar, punctuation, spelling and consistency checks, reference checking, minor rephrasing if necessary, but I'm also looking beyond the words and checking the layout too - so things like (but not limited to) short lines, bad word breaks, recto word breaks, widows, orphans, correct running heads, and so on. And I do work onscreen for some of these publisher clients - here, I'm annotating PDFs (so the process is a digital version of annotating paper proofs). In this situation, I'm not amending the raw text; I'm just annotating. A typesetter will then implement my suggestions (after the in-house editor has checked them) and a set of second proofs will be issued, which will again be checked by the in-house editor.

This is a really good example of how much editorial workflow and process can differ between presses. In my experience, though, your approach is quite unusual in the academic publishing sector!

Reply
Richard Adin link
12/3/2015 07:38:58 am

Thanks, Philip, for the clarification.

In the U.S., a proofreader makes sure that errors have not been introduced during typesetting and does as Louise outlined (for the most part). The proofreader acts as a final check before the printer is given the OK.

And, yes, there is an expectation that the publisher will have the manuscript proofread. The expectation actually is that the publisher will first have the manuscript copyedited and then will have it proofread. Although that is the expectation, often these days, publishers skip one or both steps.

Even a well-edited manuscript can benefit from a final lookover by a skilled proofreader. It is the exceedingly rare editor (or author) who turns in a perfect manuscript; in my 31 years in publishing, including years in-house and years as the head of a press, I never had the pleasure of receiving the perfect manuscript (although I did have several authors claim theirs was perfect).

Although proofreading is on a faster decline than copyediting in today's publishing world, I do think it is a gamble. I personally know of one book where the proofreading was skipped and the book was printed with errors that a good proofreader would have caught. The press had to recall 10,000 printed copies. An expensive price to pay to save the step of proofreading.

Reply
Tom Ekpo
11/7/2018 02:29:10 pm

Wow!
This is interesting and helpful.
Thanks a lot!

Reply
Louise Harnby link
11/7/2018 05:56:21 pm

Glad you found it useful, Tom!

Reply

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