Name: Erin Riojas
Title: Editor
Website/Blog: erinriojas.com
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Tell us about your educational/professional background.
Okay. I graduated from MSU in 2006 with a B.A. in Professional Writing. During my junior and senior years I worked/interned at the MSU Press as the Acquisitions Assistant, reading manuscripts, corresponding with authors, and making copies of things. I was also Fiction Editor of the student-run lit journal, The Offbeat.
Tell us about your current job.
Certainly. I work as an editor for a medical office supply company called Medical Arts Press, which is owned by Quill, which is owned by Staples. Ya dig? It’s sort of like The Office only less funny. I edit every type of media that goes out, including catalogues, emails, web ads, newsletters, and blog entries.
I also write a lot of articles for our newsletter, and for Quill’s two customer newsletters. My favorite thing to do lately is write the cartoons for our newsletter, which is brand new for both me and the newsletter. A lot of my joke ideas get rejected by the higher-ups. I’m too cutting edge for medical offices.
Sometimes they let me do a little design work, too, like build web ads and other random projects.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I arrive at 7 a.m. before the sun is up and delete about 98% of my emails. I usually know when I sit down at my desk in the morning what I’ll be doing all day. I’ll go through my pile of pages to edit and decide what is the most “hot,” go through my emails and web ads to edit, sometimes do some writing if it’s the day before the deadline. Occasionally I’ll have meetings – general team meetings, newsletter meetings, random project meetings. I’m at my computer most of the time.
What kinds of documents do you produce?
I help to produce office supply catalogues. This is the bulk of my job. We are constantly sending out catalogues – all different kinds and sizes – so there’s always something to edit. On the electronic side, I edit a ton of emails and write articles for three online newsletters.
What communication skills are needed for your job?
I have to be a good writer and editor. I have to have near-perfect grammar and an eye for near-perfect grammar. I also have to be able to communicate clearly and effectively to our customers, through copy and visuals.
How did you prepare for your job?
My writing and editing classes at MSU prepared me, really, as well as my internship at the Press. I didn’t do anything extra to prepare for my current job, except maybe buy some new clothes. I think to be an editor you also just have to have a natural knack for grammar and mechanics.
List three of your favorite professional resources/references/tools and tell us why they’re your favorite.
The Chicago Manual of Style — My company has their own style for a lot of things, but I’ll occasionally reference this. It has everything you’d ever want to know about the technical side of writing and editing.
Dafont.com — Thousands of cool fonts.
Vector Art — Cool blog for Photoshop brushes, among other things.
How do you stay up-to-date in your field?
My boss sometimes sends us issues of The Copy Editor newsletter, or something like that, which I sometimes read. But, really, I mostly stay up to date by communicating with my co-workers. We learn from each other and we keep each other in the loop.
How would you define professional writing?
Someone asked me this once in one of my first phone interviews and I think it was followed by about 10 minutes of uncomfortable silence. I probably just ended up hanging up on the person. Professional writing is communicating. With people. Clearly and concisely and effectively and in the proper voice, and tailored specifically to every piece of communication.
Do you have any tips to share with other professional designers/writers/editors?
I’m not really in a position to give tips, because I have NO IDEA what I’m doing with my own career, or where I want to be, exactly. But my favorite advice for myself is to be creative. One thing I don’t like about my job is that creativity and humor aren’t really encouraged, which is BO-RING. I think being creative and funny in professional writing – where appropriate, of course, not like in a TiVo manual – is very effective and engaging. Have fun with writing.
