Monday, March 12, 2007

Looking for a copy editor

I know this isn't the want ads but, hey, I'm still trying to figure out exactly what a blog is ...
We are looking for a copy editor.
This is the first cut: If you don't know what a copy editor is, you probably are not qualified.
I'm really not being mean or a smart aleck ... that's just the case.
You have to be able to edit copy, write headlines and paginate pages.
Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to have all of you extremely intelligent people who read anything and everything you can get your hands on working here.
But the fact of the matter is: It's not just about finding errors in copy. Doing pagination has become a tremendous part of the job.
If you are interested, please let me know. We don't pay a lot. We work hard. But it is a great profession and we have a lot of fun (most days).

So, I can't just hang up without telling you a story, a true story ...
I got an e-mail last week from a recent college graduate. She was looking for a job as a reporter.
I wrote back, telling her that I don't expect to have a reporter opening anytime soon; in fact, I was not even allowed to replace the last reporter who left.
However, I told the recent grad, I do have a copy editor job opening. Would you be interested?
"Oh, yes!" she told me. "I would be very interested.
"In fact, I just took a copy editing coarse ... "
Ah, so close and yet so far. She got the "copy editing" right, it was the COURSE she had trouble with.
Too bad only game show hosts get to have buzzers.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to ask....what the heck is pagination???

Patti Ewald said...

Pagination is laying out pages on a computer. We use Quark to do it.