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By Dilane Mitchell Editing is a satisfying job. But sometimes even dedicated word nerds want—or need—to do something different. If you’re considering a career change, here are a few ways to position your editing skills as valuable assets. Most editors have extremely advanced communication skills, as well as the desire and the ability to notice…

By Avi Staiman and Dr. Tami Blumenfield To succeed in today’s globalized academy, many scholars are forced to publish their research in a language that’s not their own—and often, that’s English. For those who don’t write English at a native level, this lack of linguistic proficiency can be a serious detriment. Such scholars often face…

By Dilane Mitchell ACES 2019 included a group of sessions that addressed several aspects of diversity and inclusion in our workplaces. A pattern emerged among the feedback. Several attendees asked presenters: “Where can we go to ask these questions in the future?” During the “Hey Guys” session on Saturday morning, Laura Browning of The A.V.…

By Cindy Howle Getting your first freelance job from a production editor at a trade book publisher can be difficult. But it does happen! If you do get that break, here’s how you can impress the author, the editor, and the production editor on your first job and ensure that you’ll be considered for more…

By Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo The sign of a great translation is one that does not appear to be a translation—it reads as though it were originally written in the reader’s primary language. This is why, although many stellar translators can translate into their non-native language, the industry standard tends to be that professional translators translate…

By ​Tamira K. Butler-Likely Science editing is one of those “alternative” careers that isn’t really advertised to science PhDs. When I was a graduate student, I just knew that I would spend the rest of my days in a lab doing research. But after 15 years of working in the lab, I decided to change…

By Andy Hollandbeck The verbs career and careen are easily confused — and they have been often enough that their meanings may merge sometime in the near future. But for now, they mean different things. Career Career comes from a Latin word meaning “road or path.” As a noun, the career we use most is…

By Jevon Bolden For many of us, writing has been a part of almost everything we do. Just like you, my time in school and work has been consumed with writing. I’ve been editing books for more than 15 years, but I’ve also written books, articles, marketing pieces, blog posts, essays, research papers, and the…

By the writers at CommunicateHealth How do you know whether to describe people as Latino or Hispanic? The short answer: Both terms work, and neither is best. First, let’s clarify what each term means. (Special thanks to @terryblas and his comic You Say Latino for breaking this down for us.) Hispanic refers to language. It…

By Helen Eby I generally translate documents from English into Spanish for use in the United States. The original document is usually in English, and I am expected to write an equivalent document that meets the client’s needs in Spanish. Since I’m also an editor, I often ask if I can insert minor customizations for…