Job Posting: Structural Editors for The New Atlantis

We are looking to find new contract editors who can take a rough draft with potential for publication, create a plan for working with the author and our staff to make it an excellent publishable piece, and execute that plan. The role is like that of a movie producer: you work to develop promising raw material into a coherent product that is ready for copy-editing and final touches. Though the position is on a contract basis to start, there is room for growth if we find a great fit.

What do we need you to do with a piece? A big part of your job will be for you to answer that question for us. You will be a good fit for this role if you…

• Have pride of work
• Regularly find yourself wanting to fling an article you read across the room in frustration, or jumping for joy when it works well
• Have a clear editorial vision on the high level (structure, framing), middle level (flow, pacing, logic, tone), and low level (factual accuracy, the difference between an em-dash and an en-dash)
• Have flipped through an issue of The New Atlantis and thought “I’ve been looking for something like this”
• Have strong opinions about specific science and tech topics that aren’t reducible to “Bacon and Descartes ruined everything”
• Would, when strategizing a piece about the Strategic Oil Reserve, have your thoughts go to its storage capacity relative to daily national production, and how it’s been used in the past, before they go to Berryan anxieties about energy profligacy
• Are always on the hunt for a good story to tell or a thorny problem to solve
• Are not terminally online
• Hate lazy troop-rallying as a substitute for building an argument, even when you know exactly what side of the argument you’re on

Get the idea? Get in touch! Email our managing editor, Samuel Matlack, at smatlack [at] this website’s domain.

What to include in your message: If you happen to have a before-and-after example of a piece you’ve edited, that will help us to see what you can do. Otherwise, share a writing sample and anything else that is relevant to demonstrating your experience, skills, or interest in the work.