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A Writer’s Best Friend: The Job of an Editor (editing) Are you irritated by typos and spelling errors in professional documents? Are you able to help your friends make their writing error free? You may be a good candidate for editing. The world is incredibly dependent on writers and the craft of writing. It is how people communicate with each other most often. As the internet writing forms do not require people to hold to correct grammar, spelling or professional style, most writers are losing their capabilities to complete a professional document or book without help. Writers have always needed the help of editors. Even when there was strict attention to correct writing, editors could come and catch missed errors as well as mistakes in content. Editors are still needed today. Read on to find out more about what can be involved in a life of editing. Who are the Editors? Editors are those people with the ability to read a document and guide a writer to make it the best piece of writing that it can be. Editors work in newspapers, and magazines. They also work for publishing companies and in student resource centers. Editors generally have some education that leads them to the ability to help writers. They probably have a degree in language as well as training with style manuals. What is the Job? An editing job involves taking a piece of writing and conforming it to some particular set of standards. Style manuals are often the standard used. Different publications will choose a style and then ask the editors to make all of the writing that comes out to be consistent to that style. Editing is not only concerned with objective corrections like spelling and grammar though. An editor must also read for clarity, consistency and voice. If a writer claims one thing in one point of their piece and seems to contradict that point in another part, it is the editor’s job to catch the mistake and work with the writer to fix the inconsistency. If the writer is speaking authoritatively in the beginning of a piece and then becomes apologetic later, it is the editor’s job to make the tone match. Editors help with sentence construction, word choice and content order. How to Find Editing Jobs If any of the above job description sounds interesting and even exciting to you, you just may have found your ideal job calling. Before you start looking for editing jobs, you should test your skills. There are editing tests online. Feel free to use a style manual as well as your intuition as you correct the sentences and word choice in the different test questions. If you do not pass the test, you should probably spend a little more time reading a style manual and a basic grammar guide. Once you can ace an editing test, it’s time to look for a job. Be sure to include any experience you may have had. Include any editing of any kind you have ever done. Peer editing in school is appropriate experience to mention. Also be sure to list any style you are able to edit to. Examples are AP, Chicago, MLA, and so on. If you get an interview, be prepared to take another editing test, with the help of your manual. The test will likely be timed. Editing is a rewarding career. It involves helping writers to do their very best writing geared to their particular audience. While it can be stressful because of deadlines and workload, at the end of the day you will know that you have made the world of the written word a little cleaner and much more effective. Editors are an essential part of making the written word what it is today.

Non copyright music downloads Non Copyright Music Downloads Offer Growing Options for Music Collections Non copyright music downloads are growing in popularity and providing much needed exposure to many 'starving artists'. The truth of the matter is that many artists are turning to open source applications or creative commons licensing which allows them to provide their music to others while still retaining their ownership. It's a great idea that has actually worked quite well within the software community and is just now taking hold within the music industry. The idea of services such as this that offer non copyright music downloads to consumers for their listening pleasure is a relatively new concept that is beginning to take hold throughout the online music community. It is important to remember that while there are a few names that are recognizable and reputable in this particular industry there are also those that have less scruples than others and are more than willing to take advantage of music lovers for the fees they will pay and/or a credit card number and personal information. It is always wise to be aware of the information you are sharing online and to take great pains not to give information to companies that aren't absolutely secure and reputable. There are so many 'back room' websites that offer you unlimited music downloads for a yearly or lifetime subscription fee that sounds to good to be true. The problem is that many of these have a very limited selection of non copyright music downloads or quality music and only offer substandard and non mainstream music that no one has ever heard of or they offer music sharing that is not at all legal and puts you in a precarious legal position. The law holds you accountable for what you do rather than what you understand you are doing more often than not. Thinking you have non copyright music downloads is not the same as actually having them. So don't believe everything you see when it comes to defining legal and illegal music downloads. Find companies that have good reputations and don't go with cheaper services that are suspect and vague in their description of services. Non copyright music downloads or open source music is still relatively new. There are a lot of questions that leave a lot of room for misunderstandings, confusion, and consumers being taken advantage of. Educate yourself before subscribing to any of these services. Check out several do searches online to see if there is any negative feedback about these companies, read the feedback and see what people have to say. You can't believe all the negative you read but if many people complain about selection or quality it's quite likely that they don't have a good selection or great quality. Know what you want and find a service that will give it to you in non copyright music downloads. Another thing to know about non copyright music downloads is that many of these services are not offered free. There are expenses involved for the company, the hosting, website advertising, the fees they pay the artist, and any other number of fees-also keep in mind that this is a very time consuming business for them and they have overhead costs in addition to wanting to get paid as well. Remember this is a business for them. You should not expect less of open source music than you expect from other music that you pay a subscription in order to download. Non copyright music downloads are definitely the wave of the future and the technology had better be able to keep up with the demands of consumers.

To Enter or Not to Enter Writing Contests (writing contests) If you are a freelance writer, it is because you love to write. Why not put those abilities to use and enter a writing contest? You have nothing to loose and a lot to gain. You can find writing contests by simply searching the Internet. Writing groups and message boards may also have listing for these contests. No matter what you writing genre maybe poetry, fiction, non fiction, there is a contest out there for you. Read about them and choose which ones are right for you. It is not necessarily about winning or loosing but about the experience and knowledge that you gain to get there. Whether you win or not there are still valuable things that can be learned or gained by entering into contests. Entering writing contests will help you hone the skills that you have. Try something new, you may choose to write in a niche that you normally wouldn’t. You get constructive criticism from someone new. Someone that doesn’t have to worry about hurting your feelings and that is unbiased can be a wonderful asset to your career. The feedback you receive can be invaluable to you. It will get your name out there and give you a place to showcase your work. Depending on how good your story, if you make it to the next round your writings could be in front of editors and agents. This feedback and criticism is even more important than the first. Do not your eggs all in one basket. Enter a couple contests to get multiple feedback sources. Not every editor or agent is going to agree. By entering multiple contests and find common points about your writing that need perfecting you will be able to concentrate on a general consensus about your abilities. There are some downsides to entering writing contests, too. Chances are that a simple contest is not going to launch your career into star status. Do your research just as if you were going to write an article about contests. For many contests you give up your rights to your entry whether it wins or not. You need to decide whether or not you are willing to give up all rights to your story. If you win it is not a big deal, but if you loose your giving your work away. Are you willing to do this? Research the contest. You can search the Internet for reports or opinions on contests run by the company. You can find valuable information on if the contest is legitimate, if entering has had any effect of previous entrant’s careers, and if it is really worth it in the long run. The bigger and well-established companies will give credibility to your work if you win. But the bigger and more well know the companies are will also bring in tougher competition with well know authors. Some companies offer contests as a disguise. Yes they will give away prizes and declare winners but their main goal with the contest is advertising. It can be in the form of offering you to buy obscure book featuring your contest submission. Sometimes it is an editing company that offers a discount for its services or a company that will offer you discounts on writing classes. A writing contest is just a possible stepping stone. Whether it helps you or not is the unknown, but it definitely won’t hurt you. It may help you reach the next level of your career. You and only you will be able to make the decision on whether or not writing contests are a good move for your career.