Sandra Spicher
Editor
Texas OnCourse
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
Didn't go to college right out of high school. Worked in an office instead.
Decided to attend local university and study chemistry.
Dropped out of college to travel.
Lived in Costa Rica, married and had a child.
Moved back to the States, built a house, divorced, worked at a restaurant.
Went back to school: community college, then university, then won a fellowship for graduate school. Moved across the country.
Worked as an editor at a university, freelancing for a university press using the Spanish I learned in Costa Rica and in my undergrad and graduate programs. Then my office lost funding!
I did an editorial fellowship at the university press and started my freelance business. Then I got a part-time job as an editor at the university. Best of both worlds!
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Juneau-Douglas High School
Juneau-Douglas High School
Career
Editor
I edit books, articles, games, blogs, reports, and much more. I also create indexes for books.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Writing
Journalism
Communicating / Sharing Stories
Day to Day
I freelance from my home office treadmill desk when I can, walking slowly. The first thing I do is write. I typically have two or three projects going at the same time, so I check my editorial calendar and email. Then I use an indexing program and macros to index books or Microsoft Word and macros to edit books. At my job, I start by checking email, then I might check a game for errors by playing it, or make suggestions on a training module or report. Whatever the office needs!
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for high school students
Read The Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook. If you find yourself getting bored, you probably won't want to get into this line of work. You've just saved yourself a lot of time! But if you find you have a strong preference for style choices in one or the other, you're born to edit. If Chicago is your favorite, lean toward editing books. If you prefer AP, news is your thing.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"If you get an English degree, you'll have to be a teacher."
Challenges I Overcame
Financial
