“Dear Editor–I’m not an authority on (this subject I’m writing about)–how do I write intelligently about it? How can I take a position when I don’t really know the issues?”

One mistake experienced editors frequently see? Early-career writers trying to write as an authority on a subject they don’t really know well. New writers–you don’t have to be the authority on a topic in order to write about it, so don’t TRY to sound like you know.

It’s obvious to anyone who does have experience in your subject when you try to fake your way through. Instead, don’t set yourself up as ANYTHING. Write from a neutral position, or write that you’re learning along with the audience. That makes for a much more compelling article than when you try to blunder your way through. Those with experience in the subject you write about will spot your newbie-isms right away.

For example: In music, there is a vast difference between microphones. Vocal mics have different sensitivities than mics that are used to record drum sounds. If you didn’t know what a pickup pattern is, you would be easily confused by the terms “cardioid” and “unidirectional” and probably wouldn’t guess that a lavalier mic is used for a specific purpose far different than a boom mic.

What do all those terms mean? To the uninformed this is a minefield because you might hear someone say “The singer has to adjust his lavalier mic to get the best results on stage” and assume that ANY mic a singer uses is a “lavalier”. That would be dead wrong–but you as a newcomer to all that jargon wouldn’t know.

It’s better just to ask the right questions–”What other mics can singers use on stage? Are lavalier mics the only kind or are therea diversity and why do they use so many different kinds?” The point is, you should write from your own experience level-don’t worry about appearing like a noob. The idea is to get the story and make your points without blowing your credibility.

Here’s the latest round of editor jobs, hand picked from a variety of sources—but NOT Craigslist. Why bother duplicating CL when it’s already all laid out there for you to see?

Taunton.com seeks a production copy editor for its Fine Homebuilding magazine. You must be experienced with InDesign and while home building experience isn’t required, it is a definite plus.

There’s a New Jersey-based temp editor/proofreader job listed–just one of many editing gigs listed–at the creative temp agency Adecco. If you’re really in need of some work, a creative temp agency might be a good thing…

GSW Worldwide has an opening for a health editor--a fulltime position which includes the usual proofing, fact-check and accuracy detail needed for medical writing.

AOL wants an editor for its AisleDash section. AisleDash sounds to us like some kind of grocery store deal finder gig, but this is actually a wedding-themed operation. The ad mentions a “deep comittment to read weddings for real women.” We do find the lack of diversity in this ad a bit amusingly sad (after all, gay couples like to get married, too.) but we know they were just trying to get the ad running and probably aren’t interested in political hot potato-tossing.

Being avid Penn & Teller fans, we weren’t sure if we should run this, but it IS an editor job and we won’t turn our nose up at a paycheck for a hungry editor who might need the gig. PETA advertises an editor opening, but let the applicant beware, they want someone who can speak Spanish and/or Dutch. They aren’t asking much on the Dutch front, eh? Perhaps the right person could convince them to moderate the rhetoric a bit? But that’s editorializing…and this is an editor job listing.

As always, if you know of a good editor gig, please don’t hesitate to share with the rest of us!

This one falls squarely in the writer category of EditorWriter, but one thing’s for sure–when Robert Bly puts out a new book, it’s definitely worth a look. Bly has been writing about the craft for many years and has more than enough street cred to write ex cathedra on the business and mechanics of writing.

On the surface, 88 Money-Making Writing Jobs may look like an excellent reference for beginners, but if you’re the kind of writer who has been in one specialty far too long and are looking to branch out, you could get quite a bit of inspiration from this book.

One reviewer criticized the book for being potentially out-of-date practically the moment it hits the shelves, and while this may be true in many cases, Bly has set himself up here to issue yearly updates; could this be the start of an annual issue from Robert Bly? We can’t say for sure, but since this book came out earlier in 2009, we daresay it’s far from irrelevant.

Here are the latest in hand picked editor jobs. No copy and paste listings here–we’re running stuff personally selected for relevance. Some might be happy to pull anything they find off the web, but we are far more choosy about what we pick and why. As always, please feel free to correct, suggest or provide additional information.

We normally don’t list internship jobs, but for a newcomer to the business, you could do a hell of a lot worse than this writer/editor internship position with the US Department of Veterans Affairs. This is a paid, two year internship paying in the mid 40s to mid 60s!

We’ve never used Experteer.com, but they have a sign-up bait job listed for an Executive Editor for BNet. Do let us know if you get the gig using that service and what you think…

SCORE.org wants a web editor to handle content, set editorial calendars and more. The description reads like a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, but seems like a good match for a junior to mid-level editor who needs to get some additional experience on the web. SCORE is a non-profit, so expect non-profit pay scales. Send your resume and such to Paulette.mills@score.org.

Thomson Reuters needs a wealth management editor, but they’re looking for someone with seven years of editing and writing experience in a journalistic setting, so this one’s not for newcomers. If you fit the profile, apply online and don’t forget to include your academic creds–extra emphasis is placed on that, so be ready to give your pedigree.

Interesting that while there are many insultingly low-paying gigs for writers–two dollars for an article, for example–and scammer sites aimed at freelancers, editors hardly seem to be on the radar.

There could be a number of reasons for this, but it is fascinating as a concept. Writers’ work is frequently seen as little more than a commodity. I remember one CEO asking what the difference between a product description and a blog was. He failed to understand even the most basic concept of blogging–that a blog is an entity and not an individual piece of work.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that–until you presume to try and structure a company around things like blogs and social media. But I digress. It’s fascinating that editing isn’t the target of scam sites and low-payers. It seems that giving someone the ultimate responsibility for printed or online material getting completed in an accurate, readable fashion isn’t something you can simply throw a few pennies at.

Imagine a job ad where an editor was offered the same terms as some of these low-balling writing gigs. “Editor wanted for revisions. One dollar per article.” They’d be laughed out of court!

That said, I am sure some try–or have tried. Have you seen such laughable ads? If so, we’re dying to hear from you. Please post your experiences in the comments and share your favorite bad editor job story. Some of us think these are less plentiful than for writers…but what’s YOUR experience?

Northrop Grumman is still looking for a technical editor for Army manuals and related content. Bachelor’s degree required. These types of gigs can be lucrative if you don’t mind working in the defense industry…

EditorJobs.com advertises an opening at Beyond.com–they’re seeking an editor writer to handle newsletters and e-mail marketing campaigns.

McGraw Hill seeks an editor for its Humanities, Social Science and World Languages division. This is an on-site job in NYC and requires two years of associated experience in publishing.

The BOSS Group has an immediate opening in Bethesda, MD for an experienced editor with a bachelor’s degree, three years of experience and fluency in AMA and Chicago Manual of Style.

If you know of any editor jobs you’d like to see posted here, drop us a line in the comments section and we’ll get in touch.

The Editor’s Toolbox is a reference volume for editors. It’s aimed mostly at those working in print, but the book doesn’t stop with basics like grammar and spelling issues–emphasis on proper fact checking and proper layout principles make this a more well-rounded print guide.

Can online writers learn anything from this book? There’s certainly nothing wrong with applying the same fact checking and layout concepts where appropriate. In fact, I think many websites could use with a bit more thinking time in the visual presentation–perhaps a move towards more print-based visual aesthetics could be a good thing.

In spite of the Amazon Kindle and other gadgets which intend to put the axe at the root of the trees of the print industry, print isn’t in its deathbed quite yet. This book should prove valuable to anyone with a vested interest in keeping print alive in the early days of their editing career.

We’re experimenting with this feature to see what kind of interest it might generate. These editor jobs are not scraped from Craigslist, they are hand-selected and posted here based on how relevant they seem and from reader feedback.

If you know of an editor job opening, please pass it along to us in the comments section! We’d love to know. We’ll have a special contact section up soon for people who want to post freelance or permanent editor jobs here.

Fox Sports needs content editors for a nights-n-weekends gig. This is an online content editing job requiring four years experience and a love for facts, figures and charts.

Boating World Magazine seeks a full time managing editor who can handle the hiring, firing, vacation scheduling and other duties that word “managing” entails. Love boats and managing writers? This is the gig for you. You’ll need to be able to work within your budget managing staff and freelancers alike.

We aren’t sure about this one, but if anyone has experience with Predictify, we’d love to know if this freelance editor job is worth posting here. Yes, we know we just posted it, but consider this a call for more information rather than an endorsement or encouragement to work for them.

Princeton University advertises a position for a freelance editor who can copy edit interviews, transcripts and web copy. This is for the Woodrow Wilson School Institution for Fragile States. You’ll need to know AP style inside and out for this one.

Self-editing is a skill you aren’t born with, you learn it over time. It’s not easy to look critically at your own work, which is especially true when you’ve been slaving away at it all day long.

One of the best rules of thumb to follow when editing your own work is to put it away for the day and don’t look at it again until tomorrow. That gives you a fresh set of eyes to look at the work with in the morning and you are more likely to catch little mistakes and hard-to-spot errors. One thing you shouldn’t do is try to self-edit after just having worked on the piece–at least give yourself the benefit of sleeping on THAT edit and looking at it again fresh the following day.

In cases where you simply can’t afford the time to let the copy go until tomorrow, try reading the piece backwards from the end of the last paragraph to your opening line. This helps you catch spelling mistakes and punctuation issues. You’ll have to read it the right way around to catch poor usage, but when you do, try reading it aloud.

As a writer, you are going to be edited. That is a simple fact. Learning how to deal with it is part of the business. It can help to remember that you shouldn’t take it personally. Editors edit for a variety of reasons including: to match the tone of the publication, to shorten a piece, or to suit their own personal preference. It doesn’t always mean you have done something wrong.

If you are going to succeed as a writer you have to get used to people changing your words. It’s part of the package. This is often hard at the beginning of your career, but as time goes on it gets much easier.