Copy Editor

The Hedgehog Review

Job Description—Copyeditor

The Hedgehog Review (THR), now in its twenty-fifth year of publication, is an award-winning, interdisciplinary journal of cultural commentary that comes out three times a year (Spring/March 1; Summer/July 1; Fall/November 1). Our staff of five—three editors, one managing editor, one circulation manager, and our publisher—rely on the assistance of a flexible and collegial copyeditor to assist in preparation of our articles for print publication.

Objective: To copy edit short- and long-form essays, book reviews, and other content for issues of The Hedgehog Review, ensuring grammatical and punctuation correctness, style consistency, appropriate word choice, and overall error detection. A willingness to perform periodic fact-checking is also necessary.

Prose Style: THR prides itself on prose that is well-crafted, easy to read, and generally jargon-free. Our essays are of interest to academics as well as interested readers from a variety of backgrounds. Suggestions for improving sense and flow are welcome as are comments regarding awkward construction, unclear meaning, redundancies, and omissions that impair comprehension. THR tries to avoid colloquialisms or trendy words and phrases.

Scope of Work: Any one issue of THR may consist of up to 50,000 words. Typically, this might include four to six 5,000-word thematic essays, three to four 4,000-word nonthematic essays, five 1,000-word book reviews, a 1,000-word editor’s note, 1,200 words Signifiers essay, and a 5,000-word section on Notes & Comments (the latter consisting of three short essays). Many but not all articles may include endnotes which should be reviewed for style consistency and accuracy.

Process: THR managing editor emails each article as a Word document. This document has already been carefully edited in collaboration with the essay author and other in-house editors. THR managing editor will prepare the Word document in a consistent format with a clear file name to indicate issue, author, title. Articles are emailed to the copyeditor on this approximate schedule: December 1 for the spring issue; April 1 for the summer issue; August 1 for the fall issue. Articles are emailed to the copyeditor on a rolling basis; the copyeditor may work on the articles in the order received, unless otherwise requested.

Delivery of Copyedited Material: The work should be completed within two weeks of the delivery of each article and returned to the managing editor as a Word document, clearly renamed.

Requirements:

· The copyeditor will use Word’s Track Changes and Comments functions to indicate edits and questions.

· Style guides are THR’s in-house guide and Chicago Manual of Style. Dictionary reference is American Heritage Dictionary.

· The copyeditor will revise incorrect grammar/syntax, punctuation, and spelling.

· The copyeditor checks proper names, dates, book titles, and publication dates against reliable sources (not Wikipedia) and alerts THR to any incorrect or questionable facts. The copyeditor will correct any erroneous facts or note questions.

· The copyeditor flags possible or suspected inaccuracies for further examination by a THR editor.

· The copyeditor will also review endnotes, titles, author biographies, and any other associated text as provided.

· The copyeditor should be willing to perform any necessary fact-checking.

Fee: THR typically pays one flat fee for each issue. This a contractor position. The job commences with our Fall 2024 issue (publishes November 1, 2024; materials to the new copyeditor by August 1, 2024).

Please submit a résumé or CV and three writing samples by May 31, 2024, to:

Leann Davis Alspaugh

Managing Editor

The Hedgehog Review

P.O. Box 400816

Charlottesville, Virginia

Email: lda7b@virginia.edu [please note first letter is lower case L not cap I]

Phone: 434.243.5511

Fax: 434.924.7713

Job Type: Contract

Pay: From $7,500.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance

Schedule:

• Day shift
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: Remote