Editing for Textbook Publishers
Facilitated by Scarlett Lindsay
How to Break into Educational Publishing
- Ways to get started in freelance editing for educational publishers:
- Most publishers and book packagers work with freelance editors—not in-house editors.
- Join associations like EFA.
- Be active on the email list.
- Create a strong profile in the directory.
- Take classes.
- If there is a chapter in your area, join it.
- Pay attention to and reply to job postings.
- Have a strong LinkedIn profile that emphasizes experience related to educational publishing.
- Follow organizations and publishers on social media.
- Sign up for daily emails from job sites like Indeed.
- Join the Copyedting-L email list or other publishing discussion boards.
- Consider getting an editing certificate.
Publishers vs. Book Packagers
- Many publishing houses farm out their production work to book packagers.
- They often offer lower pay, and they are sometimes more difficult to work with.
- However, they usually have a lot of work, so will offer you repeat business.
- This is a great way to get experience under your belt.
- Once you get experience, you can branch out and look for better-paying work.
- Many packagers pay by the page, not by the hour.
- There are several packagers based out of India.
- Some publishers still hire their own freelancers, but it seems that many of the larger publishers use packagers.
- Many publishers and packagers require you to take an editing test.
- Offer list of packagers and editing services (editing businesses who contract work out to freelancers).
Skills That Are Helpful in Working with Educational Publishers
- Knowledge about the book production process and terminology.
- Basic book production terminology, such as running heads / running feet, folios, recto/verso, front matter, etc.
- Structure and elements common in textbooks, which can have more complex designs than some other books:
- Headings, Key words, marginal glossary, figures and tables, boxes, photos and captions, chapter outlines and objectives, chapter review, other design elements.
- Chicago is a great source for this type of information—the first chapter, “The Parts of a Book.” Also, Bookmaking, by Marshall Lee.
- Thorough knowledge of Chicago and APA style, or whatever style is most common in the subject.
- Creating or adding to style sheets. Chicago and The Copyeditor’s Handbook have good introductions.
- Editing PDFs.
- Many publishers want you to edit tearsheet manuscripts.
- EFA offers a course; you can learn more through blog posts, YouTube tutorials, etc.
- Proofreading. Usually pays less than copyediting, but if you are skilled proofreader, you can get repeat work. You’ll need to know
- traditional proofreading marks—some publishers still send out paper proofs.
- PDF editing.
- layout and typography basics so you know where to look for problems.
- Mark My Words, by Peggy Smith, is a great resource, as is Chicago.
- Typecoding
- Sometimes editors are asked to code the manuscripts, or to check the coding if it’s already in a manuscript. Many publishers use XML coding.
- Each element in the manuscript, such as headings, key words, and tables, cross-references, etc., is identified by a pair of opening and closing tags, which you’ll either need to enter into the manuscript or check to make sure they are correct.
- Chicago, The Copyeditor’s Handbook, and online resources have information.
- Publishers or project editors (PEs) should offer you instructions and help.
- The EFA has a recorded webinar on copyediting within the educational publishing industry on their website.
How to Avoid Pitfalls So You’ll Have a Great Experience and Get Repeat Business
- If you are approached by a publisher or packager you aren’t familiar with, research them to make sure they are a legitimate company. The EFA email list is a great resource for this.
- As with any freelance job, don’t commit to it or give an estimate until you have seen the manuscript—most publishers should send you a sample so you can see what you are getting into.
- Be clear about the schedule before you commit to the job. Find out about how many pages they’ll expect you to edit per week and see if you can reasonably fit it into your schedule.
- Make sure that the pay they are offering is worth it. Try to get work that at least pays within the range of the rates on the EFA website.
- Always ask questions—if you are unsure about anything, reach out to the production editor.
- When you send back a project or a batch, include a note about anything the PE should be aware of.
- Ask PE about invoicing for larger projects.
Best Practices to Maintain Great Relationships
- Be mindful of schedules.
- Always meet your deadline. Publishers usually are not flexible with their schedules.
- At the same time, be willing to be flexible.
- If you are being paid hourly, carefully keep track of your time. Communicate with PE on what is a reasonable number of pages per hour—if it’s a heavier edit than expected let the PE know, because most likely there is a fixed budget for the copyediting.
- Be willing to learn new skills, such as working with online editing platforms, learning XML coding, etc.
- Always ask questions if you are not sure about something.
- Be very prompt with responses.
- Check in with project managers every once in a while to let them know you are available.
- Send a handwritten holiday note (New Year’s cards are great).
- Be enthusiastic, cheerful, and grateful for the work.