Editors

Editor-in-Chief, Vice Editor-in-Chief
The Editor-in-Chief roles (hereafter “EiC”) have a hand in each department to some level, and generally serve the following purposes: These tasks are divided between the two EiC persons as best suits their abilities. New tasks may be created and accomplished or assigned by EiCs as needed.
 * The EiC is the main point of contact for the magazine, notwithstanding situations in which people are reaching out to particular departments, in which case that department’s Chair is the point of contact.
 * The Vice Editor-in-Chief works together with the Editorial Chair to accept or reject items for each issue of Worldbuilding Magazine, leaving developmental editing comments on each.
 * The Editor-in-Chief has a final look at each published item for Worldbuilding Magazine issues, can edit or suggest minor changes.
 * Organize meetings and write the agendas.
 * When administration is evenly divided on an issue they may function as a tiebreaker.
 * Maintaining documentation and/or scheduling either personally or by directing others to update what falls within their respective departments.
 * Organizing and final say on business-related issues.
 * Oversees the Meta Department, in particular the team leads. Onboards new Meta Department members with the assistance of Team Leaders (described below).

How to acquire this role: EiCs are voted in by the sum of the administration team, often from a pool of nominees. Should one need replacing, it is likely that a member of admin would be chosen as the successor. Should a member of staff from outside admin declare an interest in the position they may be tested.

Editorial Department Chair, Deputy Chairs
The Editorial Department leaders are responsible for updating Editors on deadlines, contacting any Editors who have not worked on a piece in over 4 months, and onboarding new Editors. In addition Editorial admin members are also tasked with overseeing editorial staff. Each is assigned to an article, interview, or other piece, and available to the writer/editor pair. As a member of the administration they are not required to edit every 4 months, but it is strongly encouraged that they do.

The Editorial Chair works together with the Vice Editor-in-Chief to accept or reject items for each issue of Worldbuilding Magazine, leaving developmental editing comments on each.

The Editorial Department leaders are responsible for keeping track of Editor staff and organizing any required scheduling.

How to acquire this role: Generally Editors gain this position, since they are most familiar with what the Editor staff are expected to do. Should an opening appear they may be contacted directly, or an opening may allow an open request for volunteers. In this case one would be chosen from the list of volunteers, with final say from the existing Editorial Department Chair.

Editorial Department Staff
Editing is broken into two sections: Developmental and Copy Editing.

Developmental/General Editing seeks to improve the piece by addressing problems such as missing or confusing information, a lack of sources, plot holes, and other content-based problems. They may edit grammar and punctuation, but it is not the main objective. Developmental Editors are paired with Writers’ articles and each is overseen by a member of the Editorial administration. This takes up the majority of the editing period.

Copy Editors’ primary objective is to address grammatical and punctuation problems. By the time they approach a piece, there should not be any problematic situations with content, so their role is just to refine the piece. They are only called upon after Developmental Editing is finished with the given piece.

In both cases, Editors are expected to begin editing and respond to their Writers in a timely manner. We request that Editors assist in the process every 4 months (every other issue). If you cannot meet that, contact the Editorial leadership. We would rather have you on the team and contributing a small amount than not having you at all.

How to acquire this role: Request it from the Editorial Department Chair or a Deputy and be prepared to demonstrate your ability to edit English language text.