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- Employment of editors is expected to grow, especially for newspapers, periodicals, book publishers, and nonprofit organizations.
- In 2004, the middle 50% of editors earned between $33,130 and $58,850.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
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Interested in taking a single class? Some courses (designated by a 
below) may be open on a space-available basis to professionals who are not seeking the certificate. See Single-Course Enrollment for details.
Winter 2010 Courses
Editorial Roles and Careers: An Introduction
Schedule: (15 contact hours: 9 classroom, 6 online) Saturdays, Jan. 9, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Feb. 6, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.; $339; 1.5 CEUs.
Instructor: Ingrid Emerick.
Aspiring editors learn more about opportunities and the editor's role in publishing. This course also helps participants explore whether editing is a viable career choice. Through lectures and discussions, readings and presentations by guest speakers, participants consider the following questions:
- What do editors do, and where do they do it?
- What are the typical milestones in a publishing project, and what do editors do at each one?
- What do editors need to know about professional etiquette?
Participants gain insight into how the various types and stages of editorial work are interrelated with the work of authors, agents, administrative and managerial staff, designers, production and marketing departments, distributors, booksellers, and other collaborators in the publishing process.
View the course introduction
How to sign up for individual enrollment in this course
Practical Grammar for Editors
Schedule: (18 contact hours: 6 classroom, 12 online) Saturdays, Feb. 6, 1-4 p.m. and March 13, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.; $362; 1.8 CEU.
Instructor: Cherie Tucker.
The foundation for good editing skills is a solid knowledge of how the language works. This class provides a painless review of the language basics:
- Sentence structure
- Phrases and clauses
- Punctuation
- Subject/verb agreement
- Rules and their reasons
We will focus on sharpening awareness of structural, usage, and grammatical errors in everyday materials, from the media to e-mails to hone your editing skills. To continue in the editing program, participants must successfully complete a grammar test at the end of the class.
View the course introduction
How to sign up for individual enrollment in this course
Spring 2010 Course
Fundamentals of Copy-Editing
Schedule: (30 contact hours: 12 classroom, 18 online) Saturdays, March 13, 1-4 p.m.; April 17, 9 a.m-4 p.m.; and June 5, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.; $649; 3 CEUs.
Instructor: Kris Fulsaas.
Participants learn how a professional copy editor approaches the task of editing a short, simple nonfiction manuscript of up to 50 pages that contains few elements other than running text. They develop an understanding of what copy-editing is (attention to punctuation, spelling, grammar, organization and established style), and what it is not (rewriting, proofreading or substantive editing).
Throughout the course, there is frequent practice of standard editorial markup. Participants also learn how to construct and update an editorial style sheet, how to recognize the typical elements of a simple manuscript, and how to identify the manuscript's elements for a designer and a compositor.
Summer 2010 Course
Advanced Editing
Schedule: (30 contact hours: 12 classroom, 18 online) Saturdays, June 5, 1-4 p.m., July 17, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Aug. 7, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; $649; 3 CEUs.
Instructor: Kris Fulsaas.
The course is designed for students interested in developing the skills needed to edit both books (including single-author guidebooks and multi-author scholarly works) and materials other than books (magazines, newspapers, academic journals, corporate communications, Web sites, and the like). Guest speakers discuss the production environment and the pressures of working with short timelines and frequent deadlines.
The course presents various editorial problems and solutions, and students develop their skills by working through practical examples from a wide range of materials. The course covers identifying structural problems, reorganizing, reworking, and rewriting, as well as communicating with co-workers on both the editorial and the production staff. There is an introduction to online editing with practice lab included in this course.
Prerequisites: Fundamentals of Copy-Editing or a solid command of grammar, strong writing skills, and familiarity with standard editorial marking techniques used in The Chicago Manual of Style.
Optional Workshops
The following workshops are open to all, and do not require enrollment in the Editing Certificate Program.
MS Word for Editors Workshop (optional)
Location: UW campus, Seattle
For workshop schedule, instructor and registration information, please see the MS Word for Editors Workshop Web page.
Editors now make extensive use of tracking and change
features incorporated in PC word processing, especially the widely used
features of MS Word. This workshop provides exposure and practice in MS Word advanced editing tools, including track changes, comments, find and replace, shortcuts, toolbars, and customization.
Students will:
- Use advanced MS Word 2007 features to efficiently and effectively edit content.
- Apply features and resources available to editors.
This workshop is designed for beginning to intermediate users of MS Word.
The Web Savvy Editor Workshop (optional)
Location: UW campus, Seattle
For workshop schedule, instructor and registration information, please see The Web Savvy Editor Workshop Web page.
More and more editors are expected to write and edit Web content. This workshop helps prepare students to edit and write for the Web and use online dictionaries and other resources. The workshop will explore how editing and writing for the Web differs from print, and what makes a good Web site.
Students will learn:
- The basics of web jargon and HTML (Note: This is NOT a HTML course)
- Useful online resources for editors
- How to use the Web effectively for fact-checking and other
editing-related tasks
