- Joined
- Apr 10, 2011
- Messages
- 236
- Reaction score
- 189
- Gender
- Hidden
- Country
-
Hi, there!
I've decided to create a thread for Manga Editors here, too, upon a suggestion from another team member. In this post, I'll begin by listing our open positions, which will change in future posts as they are filled and other positions become vacant.
After that, I'll describe Death Toll, what we do and what kind of group we are so potential applicants can have an idea.
So, currently we are in the middle of a minor editor crisis.
The most challenging of the positions available is a redrawer for Sprite, who is badly needed.
I won't mince my words: Sprite, with its combination of hand art and CG, plus the use of photographs to generate backgrounds, is one the hardest series for redrawing. Only aces among aces can do it. It has few redraws per chapter, but most are double spreads that need to be joined and extremely hard and time-consuming. Essentially, if you can redraw Sprite, you can redraw anything in B&W that may be thrown at you.
We cannot accept anything less than someone who passes our full test, including the extra difficulty pages, with flying colours: https://goo.gl/qfnsc6
Other than that, we have lost an editor, that is, a person who can clean and typeset (and sometimes redraw, too). This one was in charge of Suicide Island (CL and RD), Underdog (only CL) and Funouhan (CL and TS).
Suicide Island is easy. Just pass our cleaning test (https://goo.gl/K8b9ON) and do the General folder of our easy redrawing test (https://goo.gl/pv6ZKI). You don't need to apply for both, we can have two people doing these projects.
Underdog is almost finished, only one chapter and an epilogue left, so we'll probably have them done as odd jobs by someone who passes our cleaning test.
Funouhan needs someone to pass the cleaning test as for Suicide Island, plus our typesetting test (https://goo.gl/wv7KcU). Or you can take our editor test that combines both (https://goo.gl/f6x0va). Of course, we can have two people do the tasks separately, so you can choose which one you want to apply for.
We have new translators, so we might be reviving stalled projects or starting new ones if we have more editors.
You can post your application(s) on this thread, or PM me (Wraith at deathtollscans.net), or post it in our home page in the Join Us section. Whatever. If you have the skills, we're willing to abide by your conditions.
Now, a little about Death Toll:
i. We're old school. Not the oldest group around, but at seven years, older than many or most. So we haven't adopted newer mindsets and interaction techniques (like Slack, which is becoming popular among Manga Editors). We still operate via forum PMs and IRC. (IRC use is not mandatory, though.) Most of our members are young adults.
ii. We're not terribly social. Most team members work quietly, post their output as download links in the forums and vanish again into the night. I am probably the only person who knows everyone else. You can have a chat with the people who choose to hang around our staff channel in IRCHighway, but our structure is decentralised and there's no place where you can meet everyone.
iii. Edited Manga for us is a relaxing hobby. Seriously, one of our redrawers does it to combat insomnia. We're not interested in Edited Manga races and blockbuster series. Although we like steady releases (they keep the teams motivated, after all), our deadlines are not tight and above all, you are not assigned tasks without regard for your own interests. In fact, we try to only have you work on things you personally volunteered to do. Having everyone work on things they like is our ideal situation.
iv. You have final say on your work. This is important for us.
There are a few cases in which we pass applicants "on probation", meaning that they will undergo supervision for a little while. This happens when their applications are somewhat lacking but show promise of improvement with practice. However, we don't train people from scratch, at most we tell them what needs improvement and give some tips. We don't have enough staff for training, unfortunately.
However, if you pass our test without remarks, or after your probation is over, no one is going to tell you to redo something unless you screw up badly. And we will be super-polite even in that case.
One more thing: we don't encourage public, unrequested criticism of a colleague's output. If you are, say, a redrawer and have objections to another redrawer's work, you can talk to them in private about it as much as you want, but don't come to the staff area in the forums or the staff channel in IRC to vent your displeasure. Constructive criticism is encouraged, but talk directly to the parties involved. And if they tell you they are not interested in your criticism, accept it. Heads of Department are the only ones who can enforce standards, but this hardly ever happens because our tests are already good gatekeepers for quality.
v. We're lean on quality checking. Basically, as I have just said our tests are fairly hard and if you pass, it's proof that you know what you are doing. The QC'er (most often myself) will take a quick look at the chapter and correct minor things like text boxes that are hiding text and the occasional typo. There's no such thing as a QC bottleneck in Death Toll.
vi. Joints and freelancers are totally okay. Freelancers are people who apply for just a series they are particularly interested in, and who are gone once the project is completed. They are normally people who have lots of experience in Edited Manga and thus don't need to take our test because they already have a reputation. They are not requested to do anything other than their assignment while they are with us.
In the case of joints, we don't say a word about the part done by the other side, but we will change things if needed when QC is done by our side.
vii. Everyone can suggest new projects. As admin, my only job is recruiting and making sure every member has what they need to do their work. I don't select or enforce new projects; even if I choose to translate something, I won't compel anyone to edit it. At most, I will give suggestions for members who tell me to choose for them. Of course, if you have a suggestion, we'll expect you to be ready to contribute to its implementation.
Of course, the translators are normally the ones who kickstart projects for obvious reasons. If a translator suggests a project, I go the extra mile to make it happen because the team grows with new projects and the hardest position is already filled. If an editor wants to do something, they have to be lucky that a member of the translator team will share the interest.
We're fairly accomodating of genres. If there are people willing to work on it, almost anything goes. However, the current composition of our group means it's unlikely that you will find colleagues interested in BL, GL, shoujo, romance and josei. ****** is also not very likely. Most of our series have historically been survival manga, seinen and violence.
viii. Our most important rule (most of the above don't count as "rules") is: don't disappear. If you need a break, or intends to retire, please tell me in advance. A one-liner via PM is enough. I check on all team members after I don't hear from them for three weeks, and the job is redistributed if they don't respond to my check.
Thanks for reading so far, and I hope to see you at Death Toll!
I've decided to create a thread for Manga Editors here, too, upon a suggestion from another team member. In this post, I'll begin by listing our open positions, which will change in future posts as they are filled and other positions become vacant.
After that, I'll describe Death Toll, what we do and what kind of group we are so potential applicants can have an idea.
So, currently we are in the middle of a minor editor crisis.
The most challenging of the positions available is a redrawer for Sprite, who is badly needed.
I won't mince my words: Sprite, with its combination of hand art and CG, plus the use of photographs to generate backgrounds, is one the hardest series for redrawing. Only aces among aces can do it. It has few redraws per chapter, but most are double spreads that need to be joined and extremely hard and time-consuming. Essentially, if you can redraw Sprite, you can redraw anything in B&W that may be thrown at you.
We cannot accept anything less than someone who passes our full test, including the extra difficulty pages, with flying colours: https://goo.gl/qfnsc6
Other than that, we have lost an editor, that is, a person who can clean and typeset (and sometimes redraw, too). This one was in charge of Suicide Island (CL and RD), Underdog (only CL) and Funouhan (CL and TS).
Suicide Island is easy. Just pass our cleaning test (https://goo.gl/K8b9ON) and do the General folder of our easy redrawing test (https://goo.gl/pv6ZKI). You don't need to apply for both, we can have two people doing these projects.
Underdog is almost finished, only one chapter and an epilogue left, so we'll probably have them done as odd jobs by someone who passes our cleaning test.
Funouhan needs someone to pass the cleaning test as for Suicide Island, plus our typesetting test (https://goo.gl/wv7KcU). Or you can take our editor test that combines both (https://goo.gl/f6x0va). Of course, we can have two people do the tasks separately, so you can choose which one you want to apply for.
We have new translators, so we might be reviving stalled projects or starting new ones if we have more editors.
You can post your application(s) on this thread, or PM me (Wraith at deathtollscans.net), or post it in our home page in the Join Us section. Whatever. If you have the skills, we're willing to abide by your conditions.
Now, a little about Death Toll:
i. We're old school. Not the oldest group around, but at seven years, older than many or most. So we haven't adopted newer mindsets and interaction techniques (like Slack, which is becoming popular among Manga Editors). We still operate via forum PMs and IRC. (IRC use is not mandatory, though.) Most of our members are young adults.
ii. We're not terribly social. Most team members work quietly, post their output as download links in the forums and vanish again into the night. I am probably the only person who knows everyone else. You can have a chat with the people who choose to hang around our staff channel in IRCHighway, but our structure is decentralised and there's no place where you can meet everyone.
iii. Edited Manga for us is a relaxing hobby. Seriously, one of our redrawers does it to combat insomnia. We're not interested in Edited Manga races and blockbuster series. Although we like steady releases (they keep the teams motivated, after all), our deadlines are not tight and above all, you are not assigned tasks without regard for your own interests. In fact, we try to only have you work on things you personally volunteered to do. Having everyone work on things they like is our ideal situation.
iv. You have final say on your work. This is important for us.
There are a few cases in which we pass applicants "on probation", meaning that they will undergo supervision for a little while. This happens when their applications are somewhat lacking but show promise of improvement with practice. However, we don't train people from scratch, at most we tell them what needs improvement and give some tips. We don't have enough staff for training, unfortunately.
However, if you pass our test without remarks, or after your probation is over, no one is going to tell you to redo something unless you screw up badly. And we will be super-polite even in that case.
One more thing: we don't encourage public, unrequested criticism of a colleague's output. If you are, say, a redrawer and have objections to another redrawer's work, you can talk to them in private about it as much as you want, but don't come to the staff area in the forums or the staff channel in IRC to vent your displeasure. Constructive criticism is encouraged, but talk directly to the parties involved. And if they tell you they are not interested in your criticism, accept it. Heads of Department are the only ones who can enforce standards, but this hardly ever happens because our tests are already good gatekeepers for quality.
v. We're lean on quality checking. Basically, as I have just said our tests are fairly hard and if you pass, it's proof that you know what you are doing. The QC'er (most often myself) will take a quick look at the chapter and correct minor things like text boxes that are hiding text and the occasional typo. There's no such thing as a QC bottleneck in Death Toll.
vi. Joints and freelancers are totally okay. Freelancers are people who apply for just a series they are particularly interested in, and who are gone once the project is completed. They are normally people who have lots of experience in Edited Manga and thus don't need to take our test because they already have a reputation. They are not requested to do anything other than their assignment while they are with us.
In the case of joints, we don't say a word about the part done by the other side, but we will change things if needed when QC is done by our side.
vii. Everyone can suggest new projects. As admin, my only job is recruiting and making sure every member has what they need to do their work. I don't select or enforce new projects; even if I choose to translate something, I won't compel anyone to edit it. At most, I will give suggestions for members who tell me to choose for them. Of course, if you have a suggestion, we'll expect you to be ready to contribute to its implementation.
Of course, the translators are normally the ones who kickstart projects for obvious reasons. If a translator suggests a project, I go the extra mile to make it happen because the team grows with new projects and the hardest position is already filled. If an editor wants to do something, they have to be lucky that a member of the translator team will share the interest.
We're fairly accomodating of genres. If there are people willing to work on it, almost anything goes. However, the current composition of our group means it's unlikely that you will find colleagues interested in BL, GL, shoujo, romance and josei. ****** is also not very likely. Most of our series have historically been survival manga, seinen and violence.
viii. Our most important rule (most of the above don't count as "rules") is: don't disappear. If you need a break, or intends to retire, please tell me in advance. A one-liner via PM is enough. I check on all team members after I don't hear from them for three weeks, and the job is redistributed if they don't respond to my check.
Thanks for reading so far, and I hope to see you at Death Toll!
