Responsibilities

  • Correcting spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
  • Sub-editing text written by a number of authors to ensure consistent house style.
  • Working with IT-based publishing systems and databases, as well as via the internet, CD-ROMs or from paper manuscripts.
  • Liaising regularly with authors and publishers by phone and email.
  • Checking that authors have provided all the required materials and paperwork.
  • Resolving queries directly with the author, e.g. style and text inconsistencies.
  • Coding manuscripts for design features, such as hierarchy of headings, to instruct the production team.
  • Creating artwork briefs to detail the content of illustrations.
  • Ensuring that illustrations are correctly captioned and referred to in the text.
  • Producing or working to a style checklist to ensure consistency in hyphenation, capitalisation, formatting of references etc.
  • Maintaining awareness of new words or phrases coming into popular usage with a view to ensuring they're appropriate for the readership.
  • Discussing and resolving any potentially libelous sections with the commissioning editor and author.
  • Retrieving articles from archives and rearranging within publications.
  • Preparing preliminary pages for the title, contents and preface of a publication.
  • Overseeing the work of indexers, typesetters and designers.
  • Typesetting and designing layout (increasingly for freelancers).
  • Ensuring that publications are prepared on budget and to schedule.
  • Managing marketing and business activities (for those who are self-employed).
Requirements
  • A thorough knowledge of English language (or the language the publication is written in)
  • A methodical working style
  • Concentration, accuracy and great attention to detail
  • The ability to multitask
  • Tact and diplomacy for negotiating changes with authors
  • The ability to work to tight deadlines
  • Self-motivation
  • IT skills

Publishing Copy Editor Proofreader Recruitment Agency in London, Publishing Recruitment Agency in London