CIEP Member: Katherine Kirk
Why did you choose an editorial career, and how did you get into it?
I’ve always been a bookworm, and my childhood dream was to be an author or publisher. I did my high school work experience at one of the Big Five’s offices in Johannesburg, and it was really fun! I got to see how my own textbooks were made and gained a new appreciation for the different stages of the publishing process. I obtained a Bachelors in English Literature and Philosophy, and then I took a little detour into teaching internationally for about a decade. Around the start of 2020, I came to the realisation that while I liked teaching, I wasn’t passionate about it the way I am about books. And no publisher was just going to walk into my classroom and hire me out of the blue. So I took a deep breath, joined the CIEP, made a website, did some training, and took on my first client. And I haven’t looked back.
What training have you done to get your editorial career up and running?
I took the PTC Basic Proofreading course by correspondence back in 2011 and refreshed it by working my way through the CIEP’s Proofreading suite (2019–2020). I’ve developed a mild CPD addiction, and have since completed several courses, webinars and workshops through the CIEP, EFA, ACES and our very own Louise Harnby. They’ve helped me to improve my business skills, branding, querying, and streamline my work processes. They’ve also helped me to find exactly which kind of editing is the best fit for me: fiction. Now I’m a bit more experienced, my CPD is shifting a little towards the teaching side, as I am starting to present at conferences, and create other resources. But I still take any opportunity I can to learn.
What work are you most proud of?
This year I was asked by a friend to help with a project she was putting together. I live in Rabat, which has over 100 embassies, and my friend had managed to get ambassadors from many of them to send in their favorite recipes for a cookbook that promotes cultural diplomacy. It’s called Dining with Diplomats. It’s bilingual, so I roped another CIEP member into helping to proofread the French parts while I did the English parts. The most fun part of the project was that we had a big launch party for it at the British Ambassador’s residence, and we got to taste canapé versions of the recipes we’d edited. But the thing that makes me proud of it was the reason behind it. Last year, there was a big earthquake here in Morocco, and it severely damaged residences at the school run by the Education For All program, which helps girls from rural communities complete their education to a tertiary level. The book we worked on included stories from three of the girls who completed the program, and we got to meet them at the party as well. And all the proceeds from the sale of the book are being donated to rebuild their facilities.
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What do you do if you're struggling on a job?
If I can’t find the answer in the style guide or dictionary, I’ll ask my accountability group or the helpful mob over on the CIEP forums. There’s a lot of bad advice floating around on social media, so it’s such a relief to have access to a community of likeminded and well-trained professionals at my fingertips.
What does being a member of the CIEP mean to you?
There’s a sense of prestige that comes from being a member of the CIEP. It means I hold myself to a higher standard and make an extra effort to be a good representative of the editing community. The pressure to work my way up through the membership levels also pushes me to continue my CPD, and to be diligent in my records-keeping. Doing this over time, consistently, has instilled good habits in me and my business is stronger overall as a result. Finally, the collegiality of the community spills over into how I interact with other editors beyond the CIEP. I think that instantly recognizable CIEP warmth and kindness is something that is needed in this world.
Which editorial tasks do you enjoy the most and why?
I love running my preflight macros (thanks, Paul Beverly!). Having my computer whirring away and doing the analytics is like the warm-up before a good workout, and it means that I can quickly set up my style sheet, and when I get into the nitty-gritty of line-by-line editing, I know what I’m in for.
Do you have any editorial pet hates?
I get annoyed with people who nitpick typos on social media. I think being pedantic about typos in informal conversation is a waste of time and a bad look, and if the meaning is clear, then it’s best to leave it alone. After all, no one is paying you to make someone else feel self-conscious about informal communication. So why do it?
What has most surprised you about your editorial career?
I didn’t expect the community of editors online to be so close-knit and supportive. I went into this thinking I would be on my own, struggling along, but it’s been the opposite. I’ve made so many editor friends and I learn something new from them every day. Other industries can be a bit cutthroat, with a race to the bottom or people pushing each other down to raise themselves up, but the editing community has never felt that way to me. We all lift each other up.
What's the best career advice you've received?
Janet MacMillan has taught me so much since we met through Cloud Club, but I think her best advice is to be kind. I apply it to how I query, how I talk about my work in public spaces, and how I interact with other professionals.
What advice do you have for people starting out on an editorial career?
Everyone is at a different place in their journey, and we all move at different speeds. Learn from those who are further along in their career, and teach the ones who come after you. It’s not a competition, and collaboration helps us all.
Do you ever stop editing?
I am quite good at turning off my editor brain when I’m reading for pleasure, though sometimes I’ll shout “Stop infodumping!” at the TV. I just remind myself that I’m coin-operated. Sometimes, if it’s really bad, I might switch to the audiobook version of a novel. But sometimes I can hear the typos too.
Finally, tell us one thing about you not related to editing
I love travel, and wherever I go, I try to make the effort to learn a bit of the local language. This means now I can speak conversational French, Mandarin, Spanish, Korean, and Darija (Moroccan Arabic). As Nelson Mandela said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”
Everyone is at a different place in their journey, and we all move at different speeds. Learn from those who are further along in their career, and teach the ones who come after you. It’s not a competition, and collaboration helps us all.