Several wishful attempts have been made over the past decade to demonstrate the performance advantages of electronic editing compared with hand editing. Unfortunately, the results have usually fallen short of the desired mark. And since turnaround time and staff size are among the greatest performance pressures managing editors face, it is no wonder that electronic approaches have had trouble taking hold. But now the electronic age is approaching at a startling speed.
Publishers face the prospect of converting all manner of products and processes to electronic forms.
Among the publishing functions being converted is copy editing because of the need to reduce processing time, pressure from authors to use their files, or the desire to capture keystrokes at earlier production stages. Moving to electronic editing is a tough transition. Based on this experience, we have compiled answers to the common questions and concerns we hear, along with descriptions of the unique solutions we have found to ease the electronic editing process. My copy editors are reluctant to start editing electronically. I use a lot of freelance editors and they edit by hand.