KOK Edit: Your favorite copyeditor since 1984(SM)
KOK Edit: your favorite copyeditor since 1984(SM) KOK Edit: your favorite copyeditor since 1984(SM) Katharine O'Moore Klopf
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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Journals in Which My ESL Authors Get Published

I like lists; I keep them for many different subjects. They're good for organizing how we work and how we think. In looking at lists I made in 2009, I came across this one, a list of the medical journals in which my ESL (English as a second language) authors went on to have their research articles published after getting some language help from me:

  • Anesthesia and Analgesia


  • Anesthesia and Analgesia


  • Archives of Medical Research


  • Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery


  • Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications


  • Biophysical Journal


  • Biotechnology Letters


  • Chinese Medical Journal


  • Cleft Palate–Craniofacial Journal


  • Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research


  • Injury


  • Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science


  • Journal of Arthroplasty


  • Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery


  • Journal of Bone and Mineral Research


  • Journal of Clinical Anesthesia


  • Journal of Comparative Human Biology


  • Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics


  • Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery


  • Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care


  • Molecular Vision


  • Oncology Reports


  • Orthopedics


  • The Permanente Journal


  • Protein Expression and Purification


  • Radiology


  • Spine


I am grateful to all of the authors who trust me to handle their writing with care while helping them to describe their research as clearly and succinctly as possible.


publishing

Thursday, December 10, 2009

How to Find Clients Who Need ESL Editing

I work with a lot of ESL (English as a second language) authors, physicians from outside the United States who have written articles that they want to submit to U.S. medical journals for publication. This is a rewarding, mentally stimulating niche to work in. How can editors find ESL authors? There's no straightforward way to find them individually in order to offer editorial services.

But there are roundabout ways:

Make it known that you specialize in ESL editing. Do this on your business web site, in your resume, in your entries in online directories of professional editors, in your LinkedIn profile, and everywhere else online where you have a presence, and explain what ESL editing is and what your work process is. You might even consider adding a line about ESL editing to your signature for posts to profession-related e-mail lists. Listmates have been known to refer potential clients to one another.

Do a version of hanging out where these authors are likely to be. For example, if you like working with university students who need ESL editing, contact various university department heads and let them know that your services are available and that you will abide by university regulations about students hiring editors. Contact various universities' international student organizations and ask if they'd post your contact info and a description of your services on their web site or their page of the university web site. If you want to work with researchers who need ESL editing to get their journal articles published, contact professional organizations that deal with subject matters you like to edit (engineering, psychology, physical therapy, economics, linguistics, education, business management, etc.) and ask to make your contact info and services description available to their members.

One of my versions of hanging out where these authors are involves contacting the editors-in-chief of journals whose subject matter I feel comfortable working with and letting them know that I know that there is great research being done by ESL authors but that because of budget and schedule limitations, the journals' staff members likely can't spend the necessary time to heavily edit these authors' manuscripts. I add that I can solve that problem for them by working directly with authors (i.e., the authors—not the journals—pay for my services, as an investment in their careers) and that I would be pleased if they (the editors) would consider referring promising ESL authors to me. I don't ask for exclusivity for such referrals; if the journals already have a list of freelance ESL copyeditors to whom they refer authors, I'm happy to be added to the list.

Seek referrals and cultivate continuing relationships with current ESL clients. As you gain ESL clients, those who are pleased with your work will be happy to tell others about your services. Make it clear in your communications, especially written ones, that you'll gladly accept referrals. You can even put a note to that effect at the bottom of your invoices or your payment receipts, if you provide these for individual authors, as I do. When you finish a project for an ESL client, be sure to mention that you'll be available for editing additional materials that the person writes in the future. E-mail these clients periodically to say hello and remind them that you enjoyed working with them and would like to work with them again.


publishing

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Internship for a Budding Copyeditor?

I know an English major looking for a spring 2010 internship with a freelance copyeditor. She hopes to eventually go freelance full time. If you're willing to work with her for about 200 hours, e-mail me at editor at kokedit dot com and I'll put you in touch with her. Her name is Luann, and here's what she has to say about herself and what she can do for you:

I am in college right now working on an English degree. My goal is to work as a freelance copyeditor when I graduate. Before I returned to school in January 2008, I studied a lot about copyediting. Since I returned to school, my professors have been very pleased with the quality of my work, and this last semester I worked as a tutor in my school's writing center.

I am going to take the spring semester off school with a new baby, and I would like to use this time to complete a copyediting internship with an experienced freelance copyeditor. This will count as a class toward my degree. I will need to work at least 200 hours between now and mid-April.

Through this internship, I hope to gain more editing skills and confidence in my editing abilities. I also want to network more with other copyeditors and publishing companies and gain experience to add to my résumé.

The person I intern with will need to ensure that I have learning opportunities, supervise my work, and provide an evaluation at the end. My work should save my supervisor a lot of time, though certainly not 200 hours. I do not expect to work as quickly as a more experienced copyeditor, and my supervisor will need to review at least some of my work and answer questions.



publishing

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Is It Copyeditor Appreciation Week?

This must be unofficial Copyeditor Appreciation Week.

Check out "Ode to a Copy Editor." You'll also like "Hail to the Copy Editor."

I could so easily get used to hearing praise for my profession.


publishing

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Being Thanked in Print

I have the nicest clients!

One of my ESL (English as a second language) clients from China just sent me a PDF of his article, which I edited and which has just been published in the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. He and his coauthors thanked me in the note at the end of the article. I'm in JBJS, at the top of page 2885 of volume 91, issue 12 (the issue for December 1, 2009)!


publishing
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