April Program:
A Day in the Life of a Chicago Editor
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This program not only gave terrific insight into the varying lives and tasks of Chicago editors, but it also allowed the audience to compare the similarities and differences within editing in today’s ever-changing publishing industry. That knowledge was extremely useful to a recent college grad like myself, who is always dying for a window into the editing world! The speakers were all very distinguished in their fields, and they were quite helpful in discussing their jobs, difficulties, motivations, etc. Laura Allen-Simpson represented the field of scholarly publishing with McDougal Littell, Inc., Mary Ann Branagan represented the medical publishing industry, Betty Hintch represented trade publishing with her two publications Compliance Magazine and Human Capital magazine, and Patricia Widder represented the fast-paced newspaper industry with her position at the Chicago Tribune. All of these talented women gave rundowns of their busy daily routines as well as what skills and sources they needed to make their days run smoothly.
These editing jobs require an enormous amount of multitasking, and all the speakers agreed that filtering their priorities throughout their day is essential in finishing the most important tasks on time. Many of their projects are “never-ending,” so they have learned to move forward with new work while maintaining quality in older projects that are still being completed. Mary Ann Branagan and Laura Allen-Simpson both feel the weight of this ongoing cycle of projects in their positions, so they wear many hats in order to keep on schedule. All of the women stressed the importance of working closely with their copy editors, authors, reviewers, etc., to complete their missions with efficiency and excellence.
It was also very interesting to learn how each of these editors’ stages of work differs based on their production schedules. Each woman’s production schedule covered all time frames from hourly deadlines to yearly ones; yet, they have all taken their past experience in the publishing world and created systems that created impressive work for their publications and satisfaction for themselves. Still, many of the audience members, including myself, wondered how they handled that responsibility and stay sane from week to week!
So, the ladies let us in on their secrets to keep sane in any busy job. Patricia Widder and Laura Allen-Simpson both use daily workouts to “free the brain” and to take a break from the stressful atmosphere that a busy office can create. This allows them to destress, and they find that their best ideas emerge when they have stopped focusing on that immediate task at hand. Everyone feels that keeping things light and comfortable with their peers is also imperative to a successful team and product. Laura keeps things funny with inside office jokes, and Patricia has weekly lunches with her editorial board.
Why do they love these difficult jobs so much? Each editor is motivated by her job, whether it’s staying current in worldly events, having fun with colleagues, saving lives, or indulging in creativity. Stresses and difficulties are inevitable in their demanding positions, but these powerful women showed us how great a day in the life of a Chicago editor truly is. Meredith Katz is a recent graduate of Denison University, and is currently nannying for two children in Lincoln Park. She hopes to attend the University of Chicago for their editing certificate program in the near future and to obtain internships in Chicago publishing. She can be reached at mkatz7983@sbcglobal.net. |
