(Untitled)

[alg]

What happened earlier with my mail made me think of two things:

(1) We need interns for the fall (Sept. - Dec.) and spring (Jan. - June). People who want to be interns should go look here. You must be receiving school credit in order to intern with us. Yes, it sucks. No, we can't waive that rule for you. Sorry

Comments

[alg]

first readers were invariably illiterate, underpaid students who didn't have the first clue about writing.

Maybe that is how it works in Britain?

[livingarmchair]

"Maybe that is how it works in Britain?"

This wouldn't surprise me. British Universities are having to teach basic English (And maths) to undergraduates. Most of my colleagues are educated to degree level, yet cannot produce reports that make sense. Our customers produce technical documents that are so badly written I can't actually understand them. When I comment on grammatical errors making it hard to read, they just get the hump about it. With some of the stuff we do, it the specification isn't absolutely clear, then the software we produce isn't going to work.

I once refused to go into a shop called "Sweet Memory's" due to the abuse of the apostrophe.

[alg]

I carry around a red pen with me to mark up menus, so I feel your apostrophe pain. :)

We have the same problem in the States -- a lot of people don't have the basic grasp on the English language. However, we do not have that problem with our first readers, nor do we tend to have that problem with our interns, so I am not really worried. *g*

[tharain]

Re: readers. I do this for a small publishing house. I write ten page dissertations on the MS though.

Clearly, I have the wrong idea about what I'm supposed to be doing.

[alg]

Well, have you heard any complaints?

A lot of it depends on the book. When I send out a fantasy novel to a reader, I almost always get two to three pages back.

[tharain]

No, no complaints. The publisher likes it. I'm not sure what the authors think, considering that everything I've sent back has been a rejection, with very, very specific explanations about what wasn't working for me, as well as what was. One of them actually engaged me in correspondence about it until he found out my favorite authors were Austen, Alice Hoffman, Proulx, Benson, Wodehouse, Cherryh, and Hambly, and not Steven King etc. He stopped writing immediately.

[alg]

Well, if the publisher likes what you're delivering, I doubt you're doing it wrong. :)

[kay_derwydd]

It's nice to know stuff like this. I can easily see how readers are invaluable to an editor.

[b_fallenstein]

Oh my goodness, Tor has an internship web page

[hkneale]

(the way that my university works, I think I *might* be able to get a credit for an internship at Tor, but since I can't hide the fact that I'm enrolled for math, I don't think you guys would be psyched)

You'd be surprised at how much mathematics is employed in the publishing industry.

Even if you're a math major, don't you still have General Ed requirements to fulfill, as well as your various electives?

[belmanoir]

OMG icon love!

[tcastleb]

For the internship, if we're working on a Master's, is that an automatic no? Is it undergrads only?

[alg]

If you can get your uni to credit you for the internship, we don't care what kind of degree you're getting. :)