Only drawback here is that *most* book publishing jobs are in NYC. Some in LA, some in Boston, a few in other cities (such as the one I mean to mention to P-C below), but most are in New York. And I don't know where you are.
I'm in San Diego, but discovering that I'm not as
married
to it as I once thought I was. I spoke briefly to an editor from Bantam at the ComicCon, but she was far from helpful, like seriously, zero info, (but hey, not there to recruit new copyeditors or whatever, can't blame her). Like I said, even your questions are helpful. Thanks.
Epic, I started getting all long-winded. Shockingly. So I deleted and summed up:
Being a book editor is unlikely here. There are no jobs in town. Harcourt was the only publishing house, with only one division left here.
*But* there are tons and tons of other interesting things you can branch into with what you are describing. Corporate communications for a smaller company springs to mind. Something with frequent newsletters.
I need to pay a little attention to work for the rest of the afternoon but want to play email tag or grab coffee sometime?
I need to pay a little attention to work for the rest of the afternoon but want to play email tag or grab coffee sometime?
Oh yes, please! I've been meaning to suggest getting together anyway (pesky life just keeps getting in the way), getting to pick your spicy brains, too? Bonus!
P-C, I haven't followed the job search closely, due to meatspace distractions, but have you considered not just medical writing, but medical *publishing*? There are lots of medical magazines out there, as well as publishers such as Rodale, which is in Pennsylvania, that feature a huge number of medical/health-related books. I've seen lots of ads for editors that require medical or scientific background for those kinds of jobs. Just a thought.
I haven't given a lot of serious thought to it, either because I think there's less money in it or I'd still like to feel like part of the community of people actually involved in drug development. But it is a thought.
{{{beth}}}
{{P-C}}
{{beth}}
Y'all are both having bad weeks and need much punctuation.
Life *is* pesky that way.
My brains are mostly just soft-boiled today as we still don't have A/C working here. But I can dab some Cholula behind my occipital lobe and spice things up a bit.
My brains are mostly just soft-boiled today as we still don't have A/C working here. But I can dab some Cholula behind my occipital lobe and spice things up a bit.
Or go for ice cream (guess about where I'm caught up to in Natter?), to chill 'em back out.
I'm really wanting to try to transition more in this direction career-wise. Any advice for someone with a degree in Liberal Arts (and zero urge to acquire one in English) looking to aim in a more edit-y/proof-y direction? (ie software I need to learn beyond being excellent in Word already, resources, etc.)?
It sounds like you already have some decent experience, between actual job duties and helping your friend with a newsletter, which is good. My advice would be to check out journalismjobs.com and idealist.org -- they've given me every job I've ever had. Taking one-day classes in HTML (and other web stuff -- I don't know it myself, but job listings would tell you what's in demand), Quark, PhotoShop and Adobe InDesign/PageMaker wouldn't hurt, but a lot of the software stuff can be learned on the job if necessary.
Good luck!
