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| Posted By : Jaqhama - 5/10/2008 1:49 PM | | I've been wondering about this for a while now and as most of you have probably realised I'm not afraid to voice my questions in the public forum.
My question is this...
How many of the editors of magazines and webzines here have any kind of certificate, diploma or paperwork from a university, tech college, or privatly run editing company that states they have studied and achived a reconisable level of competency in the field of editing and editor?
My partner Lin did an editing course ten years ago. She is the first to admit that her editing skills need a lot of polishing because she never used those skills after she completed the course.
It got me wondering how many editors here have actually completed a verifiable course themselves?
You can read some of my stories here:
Swamp Story. Down South. Florida Haze.Wild Justice...
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| Posted By : Nicholas - 5/10/2008 5:11 PM | | Does an M.A. in English count?
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| Posted By : crystalwizard - 5/10/2008 6:10 PM | Jaqhama said...
How many of the editors of magazines and webzines here have any kind of certificate, diploma or paperwork from a university, tech college, or privatly run editing company that states they have studied and achived a reconisable level of competency in the field of editing and editor?
Not guilty. I have none of those. Nor do I want them. I'll let my product by my certification. |
| Posted By : Jaqhama - 5/10/2008 8:18 PM | I'm not familiar with the abbreviations that are frequently used by those with degrees.
What's MA and MD translate into?
You can read some of my stories here:
Swamp Story. Down South. Florida Haze.Wild Justice...
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| Posted By : Bill Ward - 5/10/2008 8:36 PM | Masters of Arts (graduate degree)
what Lyn is saying is Masters of Divinity (also a graduate degree)
plain 'MD' would be Medical Doctor
And if it comes up, BA and BS are Bachelor of Arts, Sciences (undergraduate, ie. 'college' degree)
billwardwriter.com |
| Posted By : Lyn - 5/10/2008 10:17 PM | Sorry, Jaq, forgot you're from down under, lol.
Bill is correct, MDiv is Masters of Divinity - a graduate degree (seminary) typically awarded to those going into some sort of church (pastoral or missional) or institutional (eg Chaplaincy) ministry. Gave me a great foundation in biblical studies, but doesn't qualify me to edit a zine. I do that just because. lol
Lyn from ResAliens
Reviewing Zines at The Fix
Reviewing Short Stories at My Blog
And Promoting Strange Worlds of Lunacy |
| Posted By : Bill Ward - 5/11/2008 1:02 AM | The thing is 'editing' means a lot of different things in different contexts. Editing for short fiction mags is more about having an eye for talent, story, and the overall vision of what you are trying to put together -- in which case the only education you need is immersion in the genre you're reading for. It's about reading and understanding stories.
Not that formal training in manuscript editing wouldn't be a plus, but it wouldn't teach the most important skills for those kinds of editors.
If I had a short fiction magazine and wanted to staff it the first question wouldn't be 'do you have formal training as an editor,' it would be 'what, and how much, do you read?'
billwardwriter.com |
| Posted By : von Darkmoor - 5/11/2008 3:50 AM | And so you've caught me out, Jaq 
Though I have already readily admitted I am not a classically trained editor. I will not catch all those funky idiosyncracies of the English language and grammar because I've forgotten them. I am not the guy you should send your finished manuscript to and pay $1/page or better to edit for submission.
I'm the guy Bill's talking about. I'm an acquisitions editor who gets to put things out the way I see as best based upon what I think is best. Or reads best. Could RotS have been a better-edited book? I'm sure it could have; I'm positive it could have. But is it an eminently readable book as is? You bet!
In the beginning I didn't cotton to being called an 'editor' - now I think I've somewhat filled the shoes I'm wearing and thus have somewhat of a claim to that word. Only time and sales will tell if I'm correct in doing so.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Managing Editor, Flashing Swords Press (site soon to come)
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| Posted By : darkbow - 5/11/2008 4:17 AM | The title "editor" is a bit of a misnomer. I am a college-educated and professional editor (for 16 years), but lots of editors do things besides actually edit copy. I have to edit and design quite often in my day job, but that's not always been the case, and many editors spend their work time doing things like managing staff, coming up with story ideas, working with writers on improving their craft, going to meetings, etc. etc.
An editor of a fiction publication doesn't necessarily have to be good at spelling and grammar and punctuation, but it could definitely help, and I'd recommend they have someone on staff who knows that stuff. Besides, most people who read a lot are going to pick up some of those skills naturally. Even if they might not be able to tell you the difference between an adverb and an adjective, they still "know" in their head.
"Beneath a Persian Sun" upcoming in Carnivah House's "Infinity Swords" anthology
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| Posted By : crystalwizard - 5/11/2008 7:26 PM | I can't 'conjugate' sentences. I was terminally bored during that part of high school english and read Tolkien instead. I have something better than a degree. I've got Google and the ability to go search on how to deal with sentence structure if I don't know it. I have people to go to as well. People who know when to use a semi-colon and why. I read. A lot. And know how to make my computer read text outloud so I can hear where the problems are that I don't see. All the degrees in the world don't make up for hands-on experience.
Jason: You're doing the editor's job, that makes you an editor. It doesn't make you a famous editor, but it DOES make you an editor.
Never meddle in the affairs of a wizard unless you are soggy and hard to light!
Managing Editor of Flashing Swords
Visit my art gallery on art wanted
All my books in print |
| Posted By : von Darkmoor - 5/11/2008 9:32 PM | Damn! Now you tell me 
~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Managing Editor, Flashing Swords Press (site soon to come)
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| Posted By : darkbow - 5/12/2008 1:05 AM | Hey, I've been telling you that for months!
"Beneath a Persian Sun" upcoming in Carnivah House's "Infinity Swords" anthology
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| Posted By : von Darkmoor - 5/12/2008 1:23 AM | True, you have, and I've greatly appreciated it. <what's that now, another $50?>
~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Managing Editor, Flashing Swords Press (site soon to come)
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| Posted By : Jaqhama - 5/13/2008 2:05 AM |
crystalwizard said...I can't 'conjugate' sentences. I was terminally bored during that part of high school english and read Tolkien instead. I have something better than a degree. I've got Google and the ability to go search on how to deal with sentence structure if I don't know it. I have people to go to as well. People who know when to use a semi-colon and why. I read. A lot. And know how to make my computer read text outloud so I can hear where the problems are that I don't see. All the degrees in the world don't make up for hands-on experience. Jason: You're doing the editor's job, that makes you an editor. It doesn't make you a famous editor, but it DOES make you an editor.
So your computer talks to you huh?
Listen I know a specialist...I'm sure he can help. 
I appreciate all the honest answers to my question.
I'm not judging anyone here on their abilities as an editor. I was just curious who had actually done an editing course is all.
I don't want to split infinitives or anything. 
You can read some of my stories here: Swamp Story. Down South. Florida Haze.Wild Justice...
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| Posted By : crystalwizard - 5/13/2008 10:25 AM | Jaqhama said...So your computer talks to you huh? Listen I know a specialist...I'm sure he can help. VIEW IMAGE
*whap! Kevin*  |
| Posted By : Edward Knight - 5/13/2008 3:18 PM | I have a BS in Secondary Education. My emphasis is in Technical Education. I have a Minor in English.
I never had a desire to acquire a higher degree.
BS
More S...
Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD)
There is a big difference between being the editor that selects the stories and the copy editor. When I edited AJM and our anthologies I felt it was my job to tell writers how to enhance the stories I picked and to catch the grammar SNAFUs that I could. But before we went to press I either hired someone or arranged for David Fitzpatrick (he's very good) to do a hard edit. I learned long ago not to trust any publication to just one copy edit.
Edward Knight
Editor
Journey Books Publishing
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| Posted By : MysticWino - 5/13/2008 4:12 PM | Well, since you asked . . .
2003 Bachelor of Arts in English
2006 Master of Arts in English (specializing in poetry & poetics)
2004-2006 Writing Tutor: Learning Center, University of Illinois at Springfield
1997-Present founding editor of [on hiatus due to cashlow] Prism Quarterly
2000-Present [skipping 2005] President: Poets & Writers Literary Forum of Springfield, Illinois
2006-Present Editor: Illinois State Museum
2004-2006 Publisher, Copyeditor, etc. of Pitch-Black LLC [defunct]
Author of four novels and five in-progress
Associate Copyeditor: Flashing Swords
Author of hundreds of poems, dozens of stories, articles, essays, etc.
Also author of "Fatefist at Torkas Nahl" in RotS
All that aside, I agree with the above opinions that experience trumps education, especially for those who find themselves with a diploma and realize that they did not experience their own education because they were misled into setting goals related to GPAs and other such rubbish instead of gaining true understanding, skills, and experience (this is a pet grudge I have against our commercialized institutes of higher learning and in no way intended to disparage any individual's education or experience of said system).
"The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." --Joseph Campbell |
| Posted By : crystalwizard - 5/13/2008 11:44 PM | Edward Knight said...
I learned long ago not to trust any publication to just one copy edit.
And that is why I brib... err well, that is why Dave Pitchford is on the FS team as assistant copyeditor. He's very good, very professional, extremely detail oriented and I want/need a set of experienced eyes looking over everything I've edited before it goes to press. |
| Posted By : Jaqhama - 5/17/2008 12:33 PM | Thanks for all the honest replies.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers: Jaq.
You can read some of my stories here:
Swamp Story. Down South. Florida Haze.Wild Justice...
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| Posted By : kaolin fire - 6/26/2008 12:07 AM | darkbow said...
An editor of a fiction publication doesn't necessarily have to be good at spelling and grammar and punctuation, but it could definitely help, and I'd recommend they have someone on staff who knows that stuff. Besides, most people who read a lot are going to pick up some of those skills naturally. Even if they might not be able to tell you the difference between an adverb and an adjective, they still "know" in their head.
Quite. :) GUD's editors are all well-immersed, and I'd like to think we're all pretty good at putting words together properly and compellingly (a few of us do get published here and there, ourselves); but we've got two crazy-awesome copyeditors who are the folks that really make our acquisitions shine to their full ability. :)
I've got a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. ;)
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