There are hundreds of details that a copy editor must pay attention to when proofreading a piece of content in a magazine, newspaper, book or online. Deadlines are tight, leaving the copy editor working late. And because the copy editor is usually the last to look at the content, it is fully his or her responsibility to catch all mistakes. It can be a rewarding career, because you get the satisfaction of knowing you've made the piece of work as perfect as it can get while learning new things from the material you've read.
What Does a Copy Editor do?
Copy editors proof magazine and newspaper articles, books and online publication. Their main responsibility is to correct punctuation, grammar and spelling. Additionally, they make sure the work is complete, consistent, and adheres to the publishing houses standards. Each publishing house follows different formats such as MLA (Modern Language Association). The copy editor makes sure that the entire work follows whatever format has been chosen by the organization. Formatting styles, such as headlines in bold, are checked for consistency as well.
Places of Employment
Copy editors can find employment at newspapers, hard copy magazines, online publications, publishing houses, universities, government agencies and other businesses. Copy editors can either work a steady job or work on a freelance basis, taking on as much or as little work as they would like.
Salary
The Editorial Freelancers Association notes that copy editors working full time can earn between $28,000 to $45,000 a year depending on their experience, geographic location and place of employment. Freelancers earning an hourly rate can obtain between $20 to $35 an hour.
Education and Training
A Bachelor's degree in Journalism or English is often required to become a copy editor. A strong command of the English language, along with sharp spelling skills, is necessary. Computer skills are a must. College students interested in this field should take journalism courses and consider working for the school paper to gain experience. Once an individual has obtained a job as a copy editor, he should read vigorously to obtain a stronger knowledge of the language and should continue improving his skills on the job.
Useful Tools for Copy Editors
Copy editors excel when provided with the right tools. These include a dictionary, a thesaurus, a red pen, a computer and a software program that allows edits to be made and tracked, and comments to be written to the writer. This can be done by using the New Comments feature in MS Word or Comment and Markup in Adobe Acrobat Professional.
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