No, I'm not giving up teaching. Or blogging, though really that's volunteer work. No, I have a new part-time job. For almost 18 years I taught full-time and worked in retail part-time. Then the store I worked in closed and I was laid off. I found that I didn't really miss it all that much, though my bank account did. I did notice that my health problems improved and so did my doctors (and my co-workers at school), so I held off actively looking for a new part-time job.
Not working 50-60 hours a week gave me time to start the blog and start reviewing. As regular readers know, one of my pet peeves in books is the quality of the proof reading and copy editing. A few errors are to be expected; no matter how many eyes look it over, something is bound to slip through. But more than a few and I start getting cranky - the wrong word used (don't even get me started on the recent trend in using "imaged" for "imagined" Grrrrr), a word left out, typos, misspellings, lack of punctuation, etc. The more of that junk there is, the more it takes me out of the story. I note in my reviews when the typos, etc go over my tolerance threshold. There have been several books that were so badly done that I swore they had been edited by a blind, drunk monkey.
Recently, I received an email from the publisher of one of those blind, drunk monkey books. She apologized for the quality of the book, commented on my detailing of the errors, and offered me a job as a copy editor. I thought about it, made a few inquiries, and said if she had an opening for a part-timer, I was interested. She was agreeable and sent out a contract. The contract has been signed and returned, and I am now a freelance part-time copy editor. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
I am excited and nervous and annoyingly hyper. Several of my tweeps and my co-workers at school were very supportive and encouraging as I contemplated this new venture and I am very appreciative. I <3 you guys.
So, now I'm just waiting for my first assignment, and hoping that I'm as good at this as I think I am. :)
(Dear deity, how many errors in my post did I fail to catch despite proofing it four times? Do I even want to know? :P) (ETA: Ha! I found one and fixed it. :D)
Not working 50-60 hours a week gave me time to start the blog and start reviewing. As regular readers know, one of my pet peeves in books is the quality of the proof reading and copy editing. A few errors are to be expected; no matter how many eyes look it over, something is bound to slip through. But more than a few and I start getting cranky - the wrong word used (don't even get me started on the recent trend in using "imaged" for "imagined" Grrrrr), a word left out, typos, misspellings, lack of punctuation, etc. The more of that junk there is, the more it takes me out of the story. I note in my reviews when the typos, etc go over my tolerance threshold. There have been several books that were so badly done that I swore they had been edited by a blind, drunk monkey.
Recently, I received an email from the publisher of one of those blind, drunk monkey books. She apologized for the quality of the book, commented on my detailing of the errors, and offered me a job as a copy editor. I thought about it, made a few inquiries, and said if she had an opening for a part-timer, I was interested. She was agreeable and sent out a contract. The contract has been signed and returned, and I am now a freelance part-time copy editor. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
I am excited and nervous and annoyingly hyper. Several of my tweeps and my co-workers at school were very supportive and encouraging as I contemplated this new venture and I am very appreciative. I <3 you guys.
So, now I'm just waiting for my first assignment, and hoping that I'm as good at this as I think I am. :)
(Dear deity, how many errors in my post did I fail to catch despite proofing it four times? Do I even want to know? :P) (ETA: Ha! I found one and fixed it. :D)
Excellent News! So excited for you! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteFantastic news, time to put your money where your mouth is eh? ;) lolz! GO EDIT WIN!!!! :) *does nerdy dance move*
ReplyDeleteThanks Angie!
ReplyDeleteTammy, I'm waiting to receive my first assignment. In the meantime, I still have book reviews. :)
Congrats! You must be really excited :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know how you handled another job on top of teaching. I teach in the UK and must easily work 60 hrs with all the planning & prep, I would die of exhaustion if I did anything else!
Sam, I teach preschool and I'm part of a teaching team. I float in several rooms so I have less planning and curriculum to deal with.
ReplyDeleteEven so, it was exhausting working the two jobs and my health definitely suffered. I'm hoping that doing this type of work will be better for my health.
Just remember to have fun with it Bea, if you stop having fun, its time to make the jump.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on getting something that I think you'll love.
Which publisher?
ReplyDeleteTez, it's Astraea Press. They put out genre fiction.
ReplyDeleteGareth, that's my plan. :)
This is so exciting! You're going to be great.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jax. I'm very excited. :)
ReplyDelete