How do you get to become a reader?

[Zebra 10]

Quite literally (haha) how do you get to become a reader for publishers?

[Strix 11]

Oh, a proof reader?!!

 

I thought you meant in church (or something)

[d1zzyw1zzy 10]

Zebra - do you mean a proofreader? Get in touch with local publishers. If they have vacancies, they may arrange for you to sit a test to see how many spelling/grammar mistakes you note in a given passage.

 

Or do you mean a reader as in someone who is sent manuscripts for comment? In academic publishing, these are usually people with PhDs in a particular field. In other types of publishing, editors tend to be well established figures within a particular company who have been there for several years. Just to get in at the lowest level of these companies, you may need to do a few months of unpaid work.

 

Or do you mean a reader as in an academic (as in Reader in Medieval History, Cambridge University)? You'll need a PhD in the relevant field, a great publications record, some teaching experience at undergraduate level... and a lot of luck!

 

Sorry if this is discouraging - I don't mean it to be!

Love d1zzy, who wishes she could find an academic job.

[NatalieSheff 10]

dont you have to learn lots of funny symbols rather than underlining in red ink? i did a course a few years ago, where you have to learn about squiggles and things. im always finding errors in books, but then again im a bit sad!

[d1zzyw1zzy 10]

It's pretty easy to learn the symbols on the job I think - it's nothing like as complicated as shorthand or anything. My friend did it for a while as a postgrad.... he said it was pretty boring though!

[Zebra 10]

I was thinking about a publishers/agents reader but one that doesn't do corrections. That can all be done on pc now since most writers send work on disc.

I mean a reader who says 'WOW - gotta have this on Mrs Publishers desk ASAP it's so good' and ' I think you don't have time to read this one Mr Publisher chap - it's cr*p'.

I don't want to mark someone elses work, I've done teaching and it's one of the low points of the job

[d1zzyw1zzy 10]

From what I gather from friends and colleagues in the business, this is a fairly average career path in this area publishing:

 

 

1. To get a firm job the area, you'll probably need to do unpaid work experience for one or two companies a few months. Publishing is a notoriously competitive business, and there are lots of graduates from top universities with this experience chasing a paying position.

2. You may then be lucky enough to secure a job as an Editorial Assistant - this will involve a lot of boring proofreading, general administrative duties, etc. You may be given a chance to do some reading, summarizing and recommending material at this level, but it isn't a guaranteed part of the job, and you might need to get a couple of years of experience before you're given it. You certainly won't be spending the whole day reading though!!

3. After a couple of years, you might work your way up to Desk Editor. This is like a senior version of the Editorial Assitant job, with a bit more responsibility.

4. After several more years, if you have a really good record, you might make it to Commissioning Editor - in this position, the company will just be beginning to trust your judgment about what to publish.

 

However, there are other routes in if you're a specialist in a particular area - for example, if you have a PhD in biochemistry, you could send your CV off to a publisher who specializes in that area, and see what they say. However, academic readers are often very well established figures in a particular field.

 

Hope this helps!

[MovingOn 10]

I used to work for a Media company in East Yorkshire. The job I did involved writing the blurb of crap for the television programmes, and I moved on to proofreading/editing. I haven't pursued this any further though - been a full time mum for 3 years.

 

They used to have offices in Leeds and Wetherby, but they've all migrated out to East Yorks now.

[Tracie 10]

Originally posted by d1zzyw1zzy

Or do you mean a reader as in an academic (as in Reader in Medieval History, Cambridge University)? You'll need a PhD in the relevant field, a great publications record, some teaching experience at undergraduate level... and a lot of luck!

 

Sorry if this is discouraging - I don't mean it to be!

Love d1zzy, who wishes she could find an academic job.

 

I thought you meant an academic too

 

(PS. Good luck with the job search d1zzy )

[Nik Nak 10]

Apparently a good way to get into proofreading or editing these days is online. Despite what everyone says about proofreading being boring it would actually be my ideal job. I have a reading speed that is second to none (that I know of), think the whole Lord of The Rings Trilogy and the Hobbit within a week and The Silmarillion (now that one is hard work) within 2 days. I'm also OCD enough that if there's an error of any kind, be it spelling, grammar or whatever I've found it in around 10 seconds. Lol. I'd love to try my hand at writing too but I don't have the patience to sit and write my own novel, I do however have a few good ideas for children's books but I wouldn't have the first idea as to how to get them published should I ever write them down...