Interview with an Editorial Coordinator

Hi friend!

It's interview time, where I talk to real-life people working in the publishing industry. This week, I sat down with my colleague Ramaredi Koikanyang, who recently joined Van Schaik Publishers as an Editorial Coordinator.

Let's get amongst it!

Who is Ramaredi? What roads did your life take to get you to Van Schaik Publishers?

I am an editorial coordinator at Van Schaik Publishers, which is an academic publishing house based in Pretoria. ?I studied at the University of Pretoria and finished with an honours degree in Publishing and English. During my undergrad, I was fortunate to apply for and receive a bursary from Van Schaik Publishers. That was the beginning of my journey with Van Schaik, since the bursary came with an internship. From publishing intern, I then became a publishing assistant before moving to South Korea. With the experience I had in the publishing industry, I knew that upon coming back to South Africa, I wanted to use my project management and language skills. This naturally led me to editorial.

To briefly explain, an editorial coordinator is a professional who plays a crucial role in the editorial department of a publication, such as a magazine, newspaper, website, or book publisher. Our primary responsibilities involve ensuring that the editorial process runs smoothly and efficiently. The specific tasks of an editorial coordinator can vary depending on the organisation, but here are some common duties associated with this role:

• Project management: editorial coordinators are responsible for managing the editorial calendar and project schedules. We ensure that deadlines are met and that all content is produced and published on time.
• Coordination of freelancers: we help manage relationships with authors, freelancers (language experts), photographers, and illustrators, including assigning tasks and ensuring timely delivery of work.
• Communication: we act as a liaison between various teams within the organisation, such as authors, editors, designers, and production staff.
• Content organisation: editorial coordinators help organise and categorise content. We assist in content planning, sorting, and tagging articles, photos, and other assets for easy retrieval and publication.
• Proofreading and editing: while not typically responsible for extensive editing, ?we review content for basic grammatical errors, consistency, and adherence to style guidelines.
• Research and fact-checking: we assist in fact-checking content to ensure accuracy and credibility, particularly in non-fiction publications.
• Problem-solving: we often deal with unexpected issues that arise during the production process, and we work to find solutions to keep projects on track.

You spent some time in South Korea as a teacher. What parallels are there between teaching and working as an editorial coordinator? Which lessons can you transfer from your time in South Korea to your new role?

Teaching is quite different from being a coordinator. However, the main parallels are communication and time management. In both jobs, I’ve had to convey information in a way that is easy to understand and process. In terms of time management, in both roles, there were and are many elements to juggle. As a teacher, I had to prepare lessons for multiple grades and on various topics. As an editorial coordinator, I work with several projects at the same time and must adhere to the strict deadlines.

A skill I’m grateful to have learnt from teaching is how to produce teaching material in a way that is user-friendly and beneficial to both educators and students. Having been on the user side of educational material, I know what makes a good textbook and what support material works best.

What does a typical work day look like for you? What’s your favourite part of your job??

My job centres around working through manuscripts that are at different stages in the editorial process, and liaising with lecturers (our authors) and freelancers (language experts). As I mentioned, ?being an editorial coordinator is primarily about project management and quality control. I have to make sure that our books go through the relevant steps that will ensure a quality product is sold into the market.

My favourite part of my job is the feeling of pride when the book is complete and printed. I know the difficulties that sometimes come with certain projects; therefore, it feels good to have a book I can proudly put my name on at the end.

What advice do you have for people looking to enter a career in editorial?

You don’t necessarily need a degree or qualification in Publishing. You just have to be able to prove that your skill set is applicable to the job. It’s a good idea to research and become familiar with the editorial process.

Bonus question: what are you currently reading, and why?

I’m re-reading Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga. It’s my favourite book. When I first read it in first year, it was the first time I felt represented in a book. I could understand Tambu and her story felt familiar.

That's a wrap! Thank you Ramaredi for your insights, and thank you reader for, you know, reading.

Happy Hunger Games

Marius