Seedlings Editing Services

By following Orwell's 5 rules for effective writing, you'll distinguish yourself from competitors and clearly communicate your ideas.

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

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Editing is no small feat. It takes a keen eye, a love for the written word, and creative mystique. Do you want to be an editor? Are you a great writer? Are you constantly scouring the work of others for mistakes without meaning too? If you answered YES to all of these questions, then editing may be the career for you. I knew that editing was for me as a young girl, but it wasn't until my third year of college did I choose to embrace it...I finally said screw what you say, and I began the journey into the realm of book editing.

Before you make this decision, here are the basics about becoming an editor in the United States:

According to the BLS, editors held 130,000 jobs in 2008.

Education Requirements
While no degree in necessary to be an editor, most employers will choose a college educated person over the high school graduate. Why? Four years in a college institution as an English major translates into the ability to write successfully. Moreover, it is important to minor, make an emphasis, or double major in a topic that you would like to work in...for example, during my college education, I minored in History, emphasized in Creative Writing, and took numerous science courses in order to prepare myself as a fantasy fiction writer....or as a fiction editor. Strap as many experiences under your educational belt as you possibly can!

Other Requirements
Your ability to express yourself concisely and clearly can make or break your career. Know that. Additionally, be independent have great judgement. You will not be an editor if you need approval or hand-holding.

How to Advance
A small editing company will immerse you into the editing and writing industry immediately...a large publishing house will not. In the large houses, you will start out as an assistant, a fact checker, or a researcher. Decide what you want to do.

Earnings
Median annual earnings for editors was $50,800 in 2009. This is such a weird number since many editors are earning $75K+. The industry is very unpredicatable.

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reviewing, rewriting, and editing the work of writers;
planning the content of books, journals, and magazines;
deciding what material will appeal to readers;
reviewing and editing drafts of books and articles;
offering comments to improve the work;
suggesting possible titles;
overseeing the production of publications;
reviewing book proposals and deciding whether to buy the publication rights

If you are still interested, then go get started. Read, write, edit. Live your life!

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I am an avid blog reader. I appreciate the words of others because communication is the way that we learn. Anyways, I love to read This Crazy Industry, a blog of an editor. She describes her path from nobody to editor and I believe that it deserves an award.

Link: http://crazyindustry.blogspot.com/2005/03/becoming-editor.html

Here is an excerpt:

1. Discovery of Predilection
Editors like to read. They groove on language, punctuation, and words. Thus, they read voraciously and critically. They notice shifts in language. They wince when they see an apostrophe abused. They abhor an unnecessary passive. However, not all grammarians are editors. Editing demands a flexible approach to language and an understanding of more than when one might employ a subjunctive. Most people I know who work as editors found, even before they got paid for doing it, that they really couldn't not edit. What some of us had to learn was when to curb our inner prescriptivist.

3. Informal Education
Most editors are lifelong learners and tend towards polymathematicism. All the successful editors I know read widely, and know about a lot of stuff, much of it irrelevant to their formal training. They also tend to be curious, and to have well developed critical research skills.

7. Wriggling in Through Any Crack You Can Find
As I understand it, back in the good old days of more publishing houses, more money, and just plain abundance, a hopeful young wordsmith might fall into an job as an assistant or member of the clerical staff at a publishing house, and one of the editors would notice that young hopeful's way with his or her semi-colons and become a mentor to the young editor. This does still seem to happen-several colleagues seem to have worked their way into editorial jobs from the reception desk or the warehouse floor. The trick seems to be not being proud or holding out for an editorial job, since those often require some editorial experience, learning what you can learn wherever you wind up, and keeping your eye on your eventual goal, while doing a good job at whatever job you have taken.

Anyways, read the rest of the article at the aforementioned link.

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I am currently working on a MFA in Creative Writing with the ambition to get a certification in editing, as well. I love to write. I love to edit. Most of all, i love education. While, none of these certificates are required to get a position as an editor, they are the best in the country and will give you a head start in the industry:

1. University of Chicago, The Graham School of Continuing Studies.
https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu/php/editing/

The U of C has an excellent Editing program in its Continuing Studies department. The school follows the Chicago Manual of Style, which makes since, considering that you are IN Chicago. The school is a great program for editors looking to expand their skill set, recent graduates preparing to work in the publishing industry, and freelancers who want Chicago Manual of Style Training.

For more information, visit the link or email Amber Neff at aneff@uchicago.edu

2. New York University, Professional Certificates
http://www.scps.nyu.edu/areas-of-study/publishing/professional-certificates/editing.html

NYU is well known for its creative writing program and English department to boot. Thus, it is no surprise that they have professional certificates for editing. You can choose from twenty five different courses to create the perfect editing certificate that is tailored to your needs.

See the link for more information.

3.ASU, Scholarly Publishing Certificate
http://shprs.clas.asu.edu/scholarlypublishing

For those editors who know that they want to work in the scholarly sector, ASU gives you the chance to learn all about it. The site states, "The program prepares students to enter scholarly publishing fields-university presses, higher education publishing, reference publishing-or to engage successfully in publishing activities they will encounter as academic professionals, such as journal publishing and documentary editing."

Check the link out for all of the goods.

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This is serious. If you are not fantastic with sentence structure, then find another field in the publishing industry. Grammar will get you so far in the writing world.

Fundamentals:

Rule 1. If a verb follows to, it is called an infinitive phrase and is not the main verb. You will find the main verb either before or after the infinitive phrase.

Rule 2. Two singular subjects connected by either/or or neither/nor require a singular verb as in Rule 1.

Rule 3. Object pronouns are used everywhere else (direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition). Object pronouns are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them.

Rule 4. If this, that, these, or those has already introduced an essential clause, you may use which to introduce the next clause, whether it is essential or nonessential.

Rule 5. A common error in using adjectives and adverbs arises from using the wrong form for comparison. For instance, to describe one thing we would say poor, as in, "She is poor." To compare two things, we should say poorer, as in, "She is the poorer of the two women." To compare more than two things, we should say poorest, as in, "She is the poorest of them all."

Rule 6. If you start a sentence with an action, place the actor immediately after or you will have created the infamous dangling modifier.

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There are SO many editing questions, that I feel that it is important that some are answered here. The Chicago Manual of Style answers your most common questions.

Q. Please distinguish between per and as per.

A. They are the same. As per used to be considered a barbarism, and editors learned to change it to per (or reword it into English). CMOS 5.220 still warns against as per: "This phrase, though common in the commercial world, has long been considered nonstandard. Instead of as per your request, write as you requested or (less good) per your request." You will find, however, that popular usage is winning the day, and that as per is treated as standard English by authoritative sources such as Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary, Encarta's dictionary, and even the mighty Oxford English Dictionary.

Q. I am editing a cookbook. When I am referring to a recipe by its full name in introductory text-say, Spelt Butterhorn Rolls-would the name be capitalized as I just did, should it be enclosed in quotation marks, or should it just be lowercase?

A. The caps will suffice. In a cookbook, they are useful in distinguishing actual recipes from generic descriptions of food. As the editor of a cookbook, you would do well to look at a few classic or popular cookbooks to see what stylings are conventional.

Q. I see in section 8.21 of the 16th edition that civil titles, such as "secretary of state," should be lowercase unless appearing as, for example, "Secretary of State Smith." What about titles such as "assistant secretary of state for bureaucracy and obfuscation"? Should "bureaucracy and obfuscation" be lowercase to match "assistant secretary of state" or should it be capitalized as the name of a specific department?

A. Chicago style lowercases the title of the person but uppercases the department name: Jordan Smith is assistant secretary of bureaucracy and obfuscation. The Department of Bureaucracy and Obfuscation requires advance notice of emergency absences. Anyone who works for Bureaucracy and Obfuscation should keep her resume up to date.

For more answers to your most common questions, use this link: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/new/new_questions01.html

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The AP Stylebook, is a style and usage guide used by newspapers and in the news industry in the United States. The book is updated annually by Associated Press editors, usually in June.

As an article producer for Yahoo! News, I have reread this books far too many times to count. It is excellent for citing sources and in-text rules.

The stylebook is organized into sections:

Business Guidelines
A reference section for reporters covering business and financial news including general knowledge of accounting, bankruptcy, mergers and international bureaus. For instance, it includes explanations of five different chapters of bankruptcy.

Sports Guidelines and Style
Includes terminology, statistics, organization rules and guidelines commonly referenced by sports reporters. Example: The correct way to spell and use basketball terminology e.g. half-court pass, field goal and goaltending.

Guide to Punctuation
A specific guide on how to use punctuation in journalistic materials, this section includes rules regarding hyphens, commas, parentheses and quotations. Example: In a series use commas to separate items but no comma before a conjunction. e.g. We bought eggs, milk and cheese at the store.

Briefing on Media Law
An overview of legal issues and ethical expectations for those working in the journalism industry. Example: The difference between slander and libel. Slander is spoken; libel is written, to start with.

Photo Captions
The simple formula of what to include when writing a photo cutline.

Editing Marks
A key with editing symbols to assist the journalist with the proofreading process. Example: When a word is circled it means that the word should be abbreviated or vice versa.

Bibliography
This provides second reference materials for information not included in the book. Example: Use Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, Wiley, Hoboken, N.J. as first reference after the AP Stylebook for spelling, style, usage and foreign geographic names.

In addition to the CMS, buy this book.

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Editing is seeing the dawn of the internet age. More work is being commissioned to freelance editors than ever before. It is critical that you establish yourself in the e-editing business while you are busy working towards your dream as an in-house editor. This is a list of some great freelance editing jobs, job sites, and helpful internet resources.

Lonely Planet
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/jobs/work-at-lonely-planet-editor/

Submitting an Application to be a Freelance Editor
So do you fit the bill? If so, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us a cover letter with your résumé and references, to:

Managing Editor - Freelancers
freelance.editor@lonelyplanet.com.au

Demand Studios Media
http://www.demandstudios.com/freelance-work/copy-editors.html

Go to the link. They have an online application for copy editors. This is a great way to get into the business. Copy editors edit material after the editor has done his/her work.

Flex Jobs
http://www.flexjobs.com/jobs/editing

Flex jobs is a great job board for creative minds. Common job titles for Editing work are Proofreader, Quality Assurance Evaluator, Book Reviewer, Copy Editor, Content Editor, Copywriter, and Writer. If you have the desire to work from home as an Editing professional, then consider applying for some of the contract, freelance, part time and full time opportunities here.

Elance
www.elance.com

Elance is a legitimate job board that gets you paid...if you can land the jobs. I have worked on Elance for years, but it is very hard to get hired by professionals because there are so many people bidding for the jobs. Good Luck!

iFreelance
http://www.ifreelance.com/

If you want a solid job board with endless opportunities, then check out ifreelance.com. This is a employee/employer job board in which employers post jobs and freelancers bid. I really hate this method of freelance editing because employers seem to get lost in the bid, but it seems to work.

More to Come!

Photo Credit: U Texas

All of the above words should be familiar to you. If not, open up your AP Stylebook or Chicago Manual of Style and get reading before I cry. Here are the most important punctuation rules in those books....

Rule 1. Use no spaces on either side of a hyphen.

Rule 2. If the last word in the sentence ends in a period, do not follow it with another period.

Rule 3. Use no more than three marks whether the omission occurs in the middle of a sentence or between sentences.

Rule 4. Use commas before or surrounding the name or title of a person directly addressed.

Rule 5. Use the semicolon between two sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction when one or more commas appear in the first sentence.

Rule 6. Use commas to set off expressions that interrupt sentence flow.

Rule 7. When you are quoting something that has a spelling or grammar mistake or presents material in a confusing way, insert the term sic in italics and enclose it in brackets. Sic means, "This is the way the original
material was."

Rule 8. Use the apostrophe and s after the second name only if two people possess the same item.

Rule 9. Phrases that have verb, noun, and adjective forms should appear as separate words when used as verbs and as one word when used as nouns or adjectives.

Rule 10. Use a question mark only after a direct question.

"Be assertive," John S. Carroll, the editor of the Los Angeles Times, urged participants in a session he led on ethics. He gave this advice when the discussion turned to a publication's credibility and the copy editor's role in maintaining it. To be assertive in a productive way, Carroll explained, means showing interest in the reasons for practices and policies before calling them into question. And it means being diplomatic. Carroll warned, "You have to build up relationships, so you're not just coming up to a person for the first time and saying 'Your story is terrible.'"

Be a writing coach. McIntyre suggested this in his session, as did Paula LaRocque in hers, which was titled "Secrets of Good Editing"; LaRocque is a former writing coach and assistant managing editor at The Dallas Morning News. Thinking of ourselves as writing coaches and acting accordingly may benefit us and any writers we regularly work with who make the same mistakes again and again. "Otherwise," McIntyre said, "you're just going to be cleaning up after these people forever."

"Don't live in a house of rules; live in a house of guidelines." This advice, too, came from LaRocque. For instance, she advised us to avoid having more than three prepositional phrases in a sentence and, similarly, to avoid having more than three numbers in a sentence. These are not recommendations to be followed for their own sake. LaRocque's point was that sentences with more than three prepositional phrases in them, or more than three numbers, tend to be hard to follow. If you come across one that's clear, then another aphorism of hers applies: "Don't change things that don't need to be changed."

After asking numerous editors from all over the country, I started hearing the same titles being recommended to me...here is the list of books that every aspiring editor should not only have on his/her shelf, but should read, too.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves
The Christian Writer's Manual of Style
Woe is I
Lapsing Into a Comma
100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses

The Chicago Manual of Style
Elements of Style
The Associated Press Stylebook
The Copyeditor's Handbook

Freelance copy editing requires severe attention to detail, ambition, and a knack for the general mechanics of writing. Not to mention that you are working from home...so you better be self-disciplined.

Brian Scott says, "Beyond that, all that it takes to become a successful copy editor is a sensitivity to cumbersome phrasing, grammar, and spelling, as well as a sensitivity to an author's personal style. Many novice copy editors take a far too forceful approach to their work, effectively rewriting a reporter or other writer's article for them in line with style guides and their own ideas about what makes good writing. This isn't the function of a copy editor. Yes, clarity, grammar, and other issues with writing mechanics are all important, but a writer's ego is important as well, and a too-free hand in the editing process can alienate a publication's staff reporters and foster general enmity. "

To finish his wonderful article, follow this link: http://www.writingcareer.com/articles/become_a_freelance_copy_editor.php

His words will help you make the right decision.

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Copy editing is a good, low-stress writing job, enjoyable on its own merits or as practice for other freelance writing goals down the line. You can succeed as a freelance copy editor if you familiarize yourself with style guides, and have a good grasp of grammar, spelling, and style usage.

- side note: editing is a great "day" job for creative writers.

Their or there, which or witch...well, I know the difference and cannot understand how others do not...but that is due to my editing experience. Over time you question how people don't know the English language. Here are the most commonly confused words:

a vs. an
For A:
Rule. Use a when the first letter of the word following has the sound of a consonant. Keep in mind that some vowels sound like consonants when they're sounded out as individual letters.

Examples:
a finger
a hotel

For AN:
Rule. Use an when the first letter of the word following has the sound of a vowel. Remember that some consonants sound like vowels when they're spoken as individual letters.

Examples:
an FBI case (F is pronounced ef here)
an honor (H is silent here)
an NAACP convention (N is pronounced en here)

Accept and Except
accept: to agree; to receive
except: but, with the exception that

All Together and Altogether
all together: refers to a group; all of us or all of them together
altogether: entirely

Amicable and Amiable
amicable: friendly, refers to things
amiable: friendly, refers to people

Amount and Number
amount: used for things not countable
number:used for things that can be counted

Ladder and Latter
ladder:the thing with rungs that you climb
latter: the second of two

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It is expected that you come out of high school knowing MLA, but so many college students have no clue...this makes me sad. Here are the major rules of MLA. Please invest in an MLA Book.

This comes from: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.

Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source material by other writers.

If you are asked to use MLA format, be sure to consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition). Publishing scholars and graduate students should also consult the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (3rd edition). The MLA Handbook is available in most writing centers and reference libraries; it is also widely available in bookstores, libraries, and at the MLA web site. See the Additional Resources section of this handout for a list of helpful books and sites about using MLA style.

General Guidelines

Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.

Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are recognizable one from another. The font size should be 12 pt.

Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).

Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.

Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times.

Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor's guidelines.)

Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.

If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).