métier

Métier (or, "Career Opportunities")

After a demurral for several months, the search for editing and writing-oriented work has resumed. With the editing for Falling From the Sky complete, my résumé has been reworked and updated to reflect my new status as an "editor." The editorial work for the book was a joy, a highly-involved learning process, and a great deal of hard work and focus.

Now the focus shifts from the anthology to work in the professional field of editing, copywriting, or research - often it's an amalgam of all three. At the risk of seeming brazen (who, me? Never!), I am adept at all three of those functions.

Here's an example of work for which I would qualify: "If you’re a fast, meticulous editor who can consistently meet tight deadlines and handle lots of copy, you’re halfway there. If you have experience editing, command of Associated Press style, a flare for headline writing and fine-tuning copy, contact us. Responsibilities: • Copy edit for clarity, grammar, spelling and Associated Press style • Handle numerous 100 to 1,000-word articles each day • Fact-check using the Internet, other reference materials and by contacting writers • Write headlines and rework copy when needed..."

Yep. That has me (bad pun ahead) "written" all over it.

So, I will see what is listed in the classifieds (The New York Times, mediabistro.com, hotjobs, etc.) and what leads I can find through my scattered contacts. I'm sure the industry eagerly awaits a clever, capable, and competent word slinger like me - the rebel writer/editor with a professional focus and a cause.

Of course, another anthology awaits in the near-future, but that's on my own time (just like Falling From the Sky). There is also work on my own writing, such as edits for my novel "Ache."

Meanwhile, we've entered the final stage of copyediting the forty-seven stories for layout. We have to ensure that all punctuation is correct, that there are no "hanging words" (a huge waste of page space), and as a method to double-check my original edits. I am preparing my editor's introduction to the collection. That goes in, we secure an ISBN number from the Library of Congress, off to the printer we go.

And then this spectacular volume of stories will be in your hungry little hands. Well, after you order it, that is. At 340 to 350 pages, it's thick, but you can handle it.

So support Another Sky Press and support your occasionally humble editor™. Thank you.