Jobs at OpenCopy

Careful work on books worth reading twice.

OpenCopy is a small independent press. A handful of people make every edition, and the roles below are how the work divides up: someone glosses the text, someone edits the English, and someone sets the book.

We are not hiring at the moment. These are the roles we expect to open as the press grows. We list them anyway, so that if one of them sounds like you, you know we exist.

The roles

Three ways to make a book.

Translator & Glosser

Freelance · Remote

Not currently accepting applications

Every OpenCopy edition starts with a glosser. The job is to put a literal English gloss under each word of the original text, keeping the original word order intact.

The work

You gloss a text word by word and choose renderings that stay honest to the source. Idioms take the most care, because readers want the natural meaning as well as the literal one. Every text then goes through our editorial checklist before it gets near a press.

Who suits it

Near-native reading ability in the source language, plus precise English. We publish in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean. Most of what we gloss is older literature, so you need a feel for the literary register of your language, not just the modern one.

Copy Editor & Copywriter

Freelance · Remote

Not currently accepting applications

The glossed text is only half of each book. Someone has to write the introductions, the back-cover copy and the product listings, and make them all sound like the same press.

The work

You would edit front matter, write blurbs that explain the interlinear method in plain terms, and look after the wording on this site. Much of it is quiet work: keeping the voice consistent from the copyright page to the homepage.

Who suits it

Plain, exact English and a light touch. Publishing experience helps, and so does having learned a language yourself. Marketing fluff is the one thing we edit out on sight.

Book Designer & Typesetter

Freelance · Remote

Not currently accepting applications

An interlinear page is a typographic puzzle. There are two or three lines of text for every line of prose, in eight languages and four scripts, and the result still has to read like a well-made book.

The work

You would design covers for new editions and refine interior layouts for print and Kindle. A lot of it is small decisions: type sizes, chapter openers, the spacing between gloss lines. Those details decide whether a study edition is pleasant to spend an evening with.

Who suits it

Real experience setting books, ideally including print production for Amazon KDP. A shelf of well-made books behind you counts for more than a portfolio of templates.

If one of these sounds like you, you are welcome to write to us anyway. We read everything that comes in, even when nothing is open, and we remember the good introductions.

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