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Copy Editing Writing jobs how to find them the easy way

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By Research Analyst


Find out how you can make extra money with a Copyeditor writing job?

You are probably wondering if it is possible for you to work as a copy editor, maybe you like to write or you have started blogging and want to find new avenues to earning money online. Lets first discuss what copy editing is and how to find copyediting jobs.

One thing that you will learn is that when it comes to freelance writing jobs there is a huge amount of specialty fields to get involved in . See you can diversify your portfolio with samples of well written articles showcasing all types of writing styles. See copy editors who work for publishing houses, prepare manuscripts for the typesetter, proofread for typos and key design elements. As you may notice copy editors jobs work is similar to proofreaders. Other duties of a copyediter include styling the manuscript, making sure that its spelling, punctuation, usage, and fonts are internally consistent and checking for faulty grammar.

During a bad economy many people find themselves looking at what options will help them pay the bills, get out of debt, save for a college education and most of all have a comfortable retirement. The internet has made that transition a lot easier by offering people opportunities to work as a freelancer. You are part of that group, now you have the knowledge to make the changes you have been looking to make in your life.

Who needs copyeditors

When starting out building a career as a editor one will need to have a way to find work, jobs, assignments and projects. Those who use copyeditors are working for corporations, writers of trade newsletters, and journal publishers. As a editor you may also want to know How-to-find-freelance-copywriting-jobs-the-easy-way.

What you will find is that you will be editing marketing materials, employee newsletters and academic papers. Not all jobs wil be advertised or posted on job boards.So you can take this for knowledge into your job search, "who needs copyeditors" once you are able to answer this question you will find that finding work as a copyeditor just got easier.

What is a Copy Editor?

www.wisegeek.com
www.wisegeek.com

How to use resource and informational sites in your job search

One key thing to getting the job you want is to understand what type of worker a potential employee is seeking. When a person goes on a job interview one of the things that a potential employer wants to know is if you have done prior research about their company. What do you know about employers who hire copyeditors? you get the idea.

So this tutorial will help you get the information you need to be prepared for a job as a copyeditor as well as where to look to find copyediting jobs. First we will take a look at wisegeek.com here they talk about what makes a good copyeditor and what the job entails. Some tips mentioned are that magazines and newspapers use copyeditors who are proficient in english grammar, can spot errors and mispellings and this is important to reporters and writers who use editors to make sure that their work is readable and understandable. Some editors write headlines so they must be familiar with the content as well.

Most newspapers who hire copy editors want them to have a degree in journalism already because they believe that someone who has experience as a reporter can edit stories. this is not always the case. One will need to know AP styles and the most mispelled words to pass the test they receive from job applications. (key point: make sure your resume and cover letter is written in proper grammer and english, because this is your first impression)

How to find editor jobs online

results of search "editor wanted" + telecommute
results of search "editor wanted" + telecommute

Now you probably are aware of what it takes to be a copy editor

So now that you have that knowledge, you can improve your web search by using such terms as "english grammar" "Spelling errors" "Format errors" "Content errors". Lets try it out. Lets type in good copyeditors wanted, this time we will do it without the quotes. Here is the results we found: publisherhelp.com a site that lists classified ads of clients looking for editors. What you will find is a monthly publication that will help you achieve and stay at your professional best. It is intended for editors of magazines, newspapers, e-zines, newsletters, and other publications. Another helpful resource for you to use in your search for editing jobs is a site that has Book Editing Associates they explain that they are a network of professional writers and editors. They chose and retain those who pass a rigorous process of screening, testing, and monitoring.

The freelance editors and writers who apply to join must have over five years of experience and a track record of editing traditionally published books (as opposed to vanity or self-publishing). Applicants take several editing and writing tests. 

More useful search terms when looking for editing jobs online

Now up to this point you have had the chance to learn what it takes to be a copy editor, what employers will be looking for when it come to your prior experience and skills and then we covered how to find copy editing jobs. Now lets discuss other search terms that you can use to make your search easy and simple.

Okay here it is type in "editors wanted" + telecommute. This will bring up all the sites that have editing positions you can do from home. As the screen print shows above some of the results show: telecommute-jobs.com, telecommutejoblist.com, seeker.dice.com, flexjobs.com, blogtoplist.com, telecommutingjournal.com and cws-onlinejobs. As you can see from this list they are all on the first page of Google, so imagine how much more results and jobs you will find from digging further. These tips will help you get started.


What to expect, from copyediting tests

One will be for you to become familiar with common misspelled words. It has been recorded that only 2 percent of applicants pass this test, so it will do you some benefit to familiarize yourself with these words:

The first place you can look is at yourdictionary.com, here they list them in alphabetical order. it includes a list of 100 misspelled english words

The next place is esldesk.com here they also provide a spelling quiz that you can take, and another is askoxford.com.

If you still would like to find more lists of words try searching for the following terms in the search engine: commonly misused words, commonly confused words, spelling rules.

As you can see from what has been covered so far that finding the right copyediting job takes preparation. Once you find the job, send your resume or writing samples and start doing the work you can feel good knowing that you can build a career as a freelance writer from home.

The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation
Price: $5.00
List Price: $9.95

SEO Copy Editing - Jill Whalen

 Educational and Training Tools for editors

Now I did want to cover the subject of the AP stylebook, mentioned earlier, you were probably wondering what it is, well it is a style and usage guide used on newspapers and in journalism classes in the United States. and according to my favorite resource site Wikepedia: the stylebook covers

"Grammar, punctuation and spelling. For example, AP style does not use a serial comma before the last item in a list — that is, AP writes "red, white and blue," not "red, white, and blue." AP style on a variety of questions, such as whether to convert foreign times to local times in an article, and when to put "Dr." in front of the name of a person with a doctoral degree (only for certain medical titles; optional if the subject matter is relevant to the article).

Quick background information on a wide variety of topics, such as the Public Broadcasting Service ("not a network, but an association of public television stations organized to buy and distribute programs selected by a vote of the members") and the state of Hawaii ("comprises 132 islands about 2,400 miles southwest of San Francisco.")

A sports section that includes terminology and guidelines for printing league standings. A business section. A briefing on American media law. Information specific to working with the Associated Press, such as instructions for filing photo captions."

The other thing to cover in this tutorial is ---what the most common misspelled words are:

Comments

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Ron Ruf  says:
8 months ago

I have read your article about copyediting. My question is, why did you not use a copyeditor yourself on your article? There are several errors that need to be corrected to have a truly professional looking article. Unfortunately, I see many articles with glaring errors even in nationally syndicated print media. It would appear that I could make a fortune if people would recognize their editing process is not up to standard...

barryrutherford profile image

barryrutherford  says:
4 months ago

A lot of very useful detail thanks !

Research Analyst profile image

Research Analyst  says:
4 months ago

Yes I agree copyediting is a great job for those who have an eye for detail.

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