The Editor’s Guild is an online program hosted at Audertist Originals with the purpose of providing its users a space for streamlined editing exchanges. The process of exchanging, reviewing, correcting, and creating content generates further monetization for the site, and therefore more income for its userbase. Aside from this practical design, the Editor’s Guild shall encourage Audertist Authors to produce content of higher quality, as well as hone their writing and social skills; it shall allow readers to have a greater appreciation and understanding of the writer’s effort and process; finally, it shall help in promoting unity within the Audertist community as long-time users get used to conducting themselves appropriately online.
The Editor’s Guild offers four main roles that may overlap each other: Writer, Editor, Proofreader, and Ghostwriter. All four roles have prerequisites, including the ownership and consistent usage of an Audertist account. After completing the prerequisites, an approval process shall take place before the user is able to access the Editor’s Guild, in which the user’s account is reviewed based on activity, behavior, and prior submitted content if any. Before taking the examination, the user will be provided with a statement of use and responsibility that they may refer to at any time.
Entering the Editor’s Guild
The basic examination process that all users entering the Editor’s Guild will experience are listed below:
1) Basic grammar
2) Online etiquette
3) Literary comprehension
Certain roles require certification to be officially acknowledged by the site. These certifications include but are not limited to college degrees, online certificates, and acknowledgements made by past employers. They must be used to prove that the user is capable of (one of) the following:
1) Written language proficiency
2) Effective research tactics
3) Multilingual expertise
4) Empathy and negotiation
There are also a few general surveys that are offered to enhance one’s online portfolio and help showcase one’s capabilities. These are not mandatory to enter the space of editing but may help make one’s profile more appropriate for certain works.
1) Cultural background
2) Exceptional experiences (unique lifestyles due to circumstances or diagnosis)
3) Past work experience
4) Work and communication preferences
Some exams may require a user to prove their identity, but this information should be used for site purposes only. It is the site itself that guarantees the user’s integrity to other users without the user having to expose themselves to the online world.
After submitting the required items, the account is immediately activated as a part of the Editor’s Guild. If any certifications were uploaded, they will be marked privately as pending for human review.
Roles
After joining the Editor’s Guild, the user may accept one main role that they are certain to fulfill within the Editor’s Guild:
(*Requires additional certification)
1) Editor*
– Edits, reviews, and comments technicalities on submitted works.
– Reformats work to make it more readable on a website/physical copy.
*Requires high-scoring correctional grammar assessment or a related certificate.
2) Proofreader
– Reads and comments on the story and/or writing style.
– Serves as a writer’s first second opinion.
3) Ghostwriter
– Creates new original content based on submitted requests, but without leaving a trail on them as a writer/person.
– Writes a segment as requested to be inserted into a greater work.
Whole works are uploaded under a main ghost account. All revenue goes to the site unless a charity is specified. Derivative works do not have a royalty tax if based off a ghosted work.
4) Researcher*
– Researches a specific topic assigned by the writer and provides a compact series of notes and sources.
– May help make direct references to story elements suggested by the writer.
*Requires basic backlog of research sources or a related certificate.
5) Fact-Checker
– Reviews a work and determines whether the source material was used effectively.
– Suggests alternative source material or adjustments to the story to make it more sound.
6) Translator*
– Translates whole works and leaves cultural/anecdotal notes on translation.
– Checks sections written in different languages for accuracy.
– May also serve as a cultural advisor.
*Requires certificate of bilingualism/multilingualism
Can upload translated works voluntarily and later be claimed as the official translation by the author’s request.
7) Voice Artist
– Records and uploads voiceovers to entire works or parts of dialogue.
– Mixes multiple voice files of several different users for an immersive listening experience.
Can upload works voluntarily and later be mixed/advertised as the official voiceover by the author’s request.
8) Digital Artist
– Makes digital art for author use.
9) Manager*
– Guides writers on how to effectively use resources and makes sure that they can commit to a writing schedule/draw a personal writing deadline for them.
– Coordinate contracts and commissions within EG for writer’s benefit.
*Requires HR related certification.
10) Reviewer
– Reviews all forms of works (from original to derivative/accessible expansion) to ensure that the final uploaded work is true to intention.
One reply on “Editor’s Guild Forum/Program Ideas Part 1”
This is pretty much the current state of the concept of the “Editor’s Guild” (name pending). It was at once difficult and fulfilling to figure out what basic roles are needed in the production of a story in writing alone and how we could get nonprofessional people to qualify for them. The Editor’s Guild is a community-based program, after all, and a community should not be limited if it wants to grow. Certainly, those with the corresponding credentials may be more accustomed to the editing process, but sometimes we humans have tools far beyond credentials that we are not able to showcase. Whether they are students in progress or dropouts out of luck, there are people out there who will not be given the opportunity to perform by the traditional standards despite having the ability or the desire to.
Roles with asterisks* have prerequisites still reminiscent of the traditional standard because that is the only method of accurate processing that we can manage at this time. We will have to research and make our own effective exams and check-ins to make sure that people who take up roles in the Editor’s Guild effectively perform and grow within them, which is currently a little outside of our means. First, it’d be good to set a foundation before analyzing what we can do as a site based off of this foundation and implementing the full method later on. Everything is a process, and we do need some data before we can learn anything.
Though I will say that right now I am working on floater roles that anyone who feels they are suitable could apply for. I just have to figure out how to present them in a way that writers won’t be inclined to ignore them.