Pet Peeve of the Day: "i before e, except after c"

I'm sure you learned it in school. "I before E, except after C!" chirped your perky third-grade spelling teacher.

Even back then (granted, I was a smart-ass kid), I was pointing out how dumb this rule seemed to be. I mean, it practically has more exceptions than not. Naturally, my teachers wished I would just shut up.

But seriously. Here is just a partial listing of words that don't follow the rule: weird, veil, beige, heist, science, deity, weight, height, eight, rein, either, neither, society, feisty, heinous, caffeine, leisure, heir, seize....

I could go on.

Some people would say that you shouldn't count words that have foreign origins. But guess what folks... it's English. If you go back far enough, ALL OF THE WORDS have foreign origins!

So anyway. I just wish they would stop teaching this rule and teach more reliable rules instead. Like... OK, I can't think of any. Let's all just speak Spanish instead. It's such a nice, simple, lovely, orderly language. ¿No?

Glassdoor.com: Employee Reviews of Companies

A while back, I asked whether we need an Angie's List for freelancers and clients.

Some time later, I discovered the web site www.glassdoor.com. It claims to be "a free career community where anyone can find and anonymously share an inside look at jobs and companies."

On Glassdoor, anyone can post a review of a company they have worked for. You can read reviews of companies you are thinking about interviewing with or working for. All reviews are anonymous.

They only let you look around for so long before restricting content and asking you to sign up for an account. But it's free as long as you post one review yourself.

The Pros and Cons

Glassdoor seems fairly new. Some companies have not been reviewed at all, while other companies have dozens of reviews. Check it out and post a review of a place you have worked.

Any web site that lets you post anonymous reviews is going to become a sounding board for disgruntled people to bitch about something they're not happy with. That's to be expected, I suppose. ("Jen's List" would be that way too; I'm leaning toward requiring a username or some other step up from total anonymity.)

I find the positive reviews (and the mixed reviews) on Glassdoor to be a lot more telling than the negative ones. With any online review, you have to take people's stories with a grain of salt, knowing that everyone's experience is different. But when someone is thoughtful and describes the experiences of several departments and/or co-workers, especially over time, then I'm a lot more likely to believe, and to value, that information.

The site's navigation and layout is mediocre -- it's easy to think you are on a page showing reviews, only to discover you are on a page showing job openings -- and you have to visually wade through the advertising.

Overall I think Glassdoor is an interesting site. I'll be visiting it periodically to see how it evolves.

The Different Types of Editing

What is the difference between proofreading and copy editing? Between copy editing and substantive editing?

If you're an editor, you're probably thinking, "Elementary, my dear Watson." And yet, what editors actually do is hardly common knowledge. Even people who work in publishing can be clueless about what different types of editing entail.

Here are my own definitions, based on my professional experience and on the Chicago Manual of Style's definitions. Feel free to comment with your own suggestions and experience.

1. Proofreading
   
   Proofreading is the most basic level of editing. A proofreader whips a document into shape so that it is technically correct English. That means fixing mistakes in spelling, typography, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and syntax.
   
   Proofreaders look for verb tense consistency, misplaced modifiers, one space vs. two spaces after periods, whether reference citations follow the correct format, and stuff like that. They also watch like a hawk for inconsistencies, such as the font changing within a section, or a company president's name being spelled differently on page 3 than on page 1.
   
   Usually, proofreaders will edit text according to a style guide, such as the Chicago Manual of Style or a company's own in-house style guide. In other words, if the company wants the term "health care" to always be two words instead of one, the proofreader will fix deviations to this style.
   
   
2. Copy Editing
   
   Copy editing is a step up from proofreading. Copy editors do everything that proofreaders do, plus more. They are given a bit more authority than proofreaders to make judgments and changes. As a result, tact and discretion are more crucial in copy editing, whereas a proofreader can swing an ax based on hard-and-fast rules.
   
   Copy editing often involves editing for length (e.g. to make a story conform to a particular word count, or to make it fit in a prescribed space on a page in a print publication). This means making judgments about which pieces of information are less important to the whole piece and can therefore be cut.
   
   The copy editor may change a few words to make the text more clear (or longer, or shorter), but only up to a point. More radical changes, such as rephrasing concepts or reorganizing sections, fall under substantive editing (next).
   
   
3. Substantive Editing
   
   Substantive editing is a step up from copy editing. At this level, the editor takes a higher-level view of the text, analyzing how it can be better organized or presented, and making (or suggesting) changes accordingly. The editor asks, "Does this make sense? Is it clear? Could it be rephrased to make it read better?"
   
   From the Chicago Manual: "[Substantive editing] involves rephrasing for smoothness and to eliminate ambiguity, reorganizing or tightening... and other remedial activities." A substantive editor may rephrase a sentence to eliminate wordiness, or move a paragraph to a different spot where it makes more sense.
   
   Because substantive editing can mean significant changes to an author's original work, the edited text is often run by the author again after editing. This gives the author a chance to respond to an editor's queries and accept or reject some changes.
   
   
4. Developmental editing
   
   This is the highest level of editing. It takes a bird's-eye view of a written work, addressing big-picture questions like, "How should this material be presented? Should the style be more formal (or informal)? Should this chapter come before that chapter? Is more documentation needed?", etc. It may involve total rewriting and reorganization of a text.
   

So, there you have it! Everything you ever wanted to know about editing.

If I Were Running the Show

I think the publishing world needs an entire system of pay scales, job titles, and certifications based around these definitions.

Unfortunately, these definitions are not common knowledge. Someone with "Editor" in their job title may be editing at any or all of the levels described above. As a result, pay scales, job titles, and job descriptions vary hugely.

I'll never forget the ad I placed on Craigslist, a few jobs ago, for a contract Curriculum Editor. In the ad, I described in detail the type of editing that the position entailed (mainly copy editing, with specific expert knowledge learned on the job and applied). I also described the specific experience I was looking for. That didn't stop several hundred unqualified people from applying. So you wrote a few articles for your college newspaper? Um, no, that does not make you a copy editor. Sorry. Different skill set, people!

What's Up with These Salaries?

Having spent much of the past two years either unemployed or doing contract work, I'm on a LOT of mailing lists for jobs in the creative fields.

Lately I've seen some job ads that make me scratch my head and go "Hmm" because the salaries they offer are so far off from the norm.

Salaries for writers and editors have always been subject to variability. A lot of variables come into play: whether the company is for-profit or not-for-profit; what other responsibilities the position has (e.g. managing a team), etc. But even so, these are a bit odd.

1. Proofreader: Up to 60K (?!)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Position: Full-time Proofreader
Location: Western Suburbs - Warrenville
Status: Full Time
Estimated Duration: Full-time
Starts: immediate hire
Rate: Up to 60K DOE

Job Description:
Our high-end design firm Client is looking for a meticulous full-time proofreader who has at least 7 years of experience

In this role you have mastery of grammar/syntax rules, command of AP and Chicago Manual of Style guidelines, and flexibility to learn and apply client-specific preferences.

You must be proficient in reviewing editorial, design/formatting, and consistency issues.

Knowledge of layout software a plus.

You will support design staff with projects spanning all types of print and web materials, and held to very high standards.

You will be working in a fast-paced environment and therefore must be self-starter, independent, and have an exceptional eye for detail.

In my entire career, I have never seen a proofreading position that paid $60K annually. Never. Usually they are around $30-$40k, and often far less. (A Craigslist ad posted the day before offers a whopping $11.00 an hour for proofreading, which works out to $22,880 annually.)

Either this company's salaries are extremely high in general, or the actual range for the position is something like $40-$60K and they don't actually start anybody at the upper end of the range; that happens.

OR, the economy is really starting to turn around and proofreaders are finally being paid what they are worth. I dare not hope!

2. Web Coordinator: $27K a Year (?!)

Position: Web Coordinator
Location: Northern Suburbs
Status: Freelance
Estimated Duration: about 3 months
Starts: ASAP
Rate: $13/hour DOE

Job Description:
Our corporate client is seeking a Web Coordinator to join their team for a couple months of freelance work.

The ideal candidate will have a positive, can do attitude, a consumer service mind set, and be willing and able to help in and pitch out where needed.

Will be apart of the customer service email support team.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
o Shared oversight of email boxes to ensure timely and coordinated assignment, management and completion of customer inquiries, responses, issue escalation and satisfactory resolution/closure of customers’ online service needs.

o Ongoing tracking of incoming, escalated and completed inquiries via a standard management report, spreadsheet and/or other graphs, so customer inquiry volumes and issue types can be measured and analyzed.

If you have a creative problem solver and can help troubleshoot with customer service experience, this is a great opportunity for you to get your foot in the door of a growing, world renown client.

At my current job, we have a very similar Web Coordinator position. We hired someone straight out of college; she didn't have much work experience. Even so, I would have been horrified if we had offered her a salary of $13 per hour (which works out to $27,040 annually) like this ad offers. Especially in the expensive city of Chicago.

For goodness sake, $27K is not much higher than my starting salary in my first job out of college -- 14 years ago! I know people try to get entry-level employees on the cheap, but even so, this salary is a bit ridiculous.

* * *

It appears that salaries for editors seem to be varying even more widely now than they have in the past. Chalk it up the shaky economy, I suppose. Remember many years ago when people jokingly blamed all strange weather on El Niño? We'll call this the El Niño Economy: it's gonna be weird for a while.

Chicago: Northside Freelance Network

Greetings! Sorry to have been absent for a week and a half (or, in Internet terms, an eternity). I started a new full-time job two Mondays ago and have been very busy! I'll be back with more soon.

In the meantime, Chicago-area freelancers, check out this new organization: the Northside Freelance Network. Here is the blurb from my alderman's newsletter, with link goodness at the bottom:

CoOffice Connect is pleased to announce the launch of the Northside Freelance Network -- a collaborative effort by CoOffice Connect and a few members in the Rogers Park freelance community. The brain-child of freelancer Josh Frank -- who translated the concept of the group into the site and was the designer and developer -- the Network is intended to provide support and resources; promote discussion, and above all, build community. It is brand new with a small amount of content, but, ready for more content from our users. It is open to freelancers and other independent workers on the far north side of the city to sign up for membership and start connecting to this easy-to-use social network. Check it out:

Web: http://northsidefreelancers.net

Twitter: http://twitter.com/nsfreelancers

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Northside-Freelance-Network/120083758063000 (help us hit 30 on Facebook so we can secure our Facebook URL!)