Amy Zorovich works as the Editorial Manager at The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com. Her department provides editing services for all of MarketResearch.com's off-the-shelf, in-house brands, including Freedonia, Freedonia Focus Reports, Packaged Facts, and Simba Information.
Amy lends a hand with nearly every industry study that goes to print. When she’s not editing a study that has already been completed, she looks ahead to projects further out on the schedule and helps outline and draft the text, design graphics, and provide feedback on the writing before the study goes to editing.
Amy’s unique educational background combines skill sets that are essential for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Marietta College. Learn more about Amy’s work in the interview below.
How do editors help ensure the quality of the research?
Editors read the study from start to finish to make sure it’s clear and consistent.
Before publication, the study is continually evolving. Editors help make sure that the most important part of the study — the data — are all accurate and the most up to date.
If the data are the meat of the study, then the text, charts, and figures are all the fixings. It’s up to the editors to make sure that they pair well and that the reader leaves satisfied but not stuffed with information. We help analysts hone in on the key takeaways, and then we make sure those ideas are expressed clearly and completely.
Also, while analysts can provide deep insights about a particular topic that they specialize in, such as roofing, the editors are generalists. We read, write, and think about every industry in the MarketResearch.com catalog, and so we are often able to identify broader trends and offer insights about relationships between different industries.
What is your favorite part of the study writing process?
The very end, when we’re wrapping up the corrections process. A ton of work has already gone into the report, and the outline and organization have been finalized. The study is almost ready for print, but there are often a few analytical points to fine tune, which gives me a chance to have a discussion with the analyst, who invariably impresses me with their ability to provide new and deeper insights into the market analysis.
What is your favorite study that you’ve worked on?
It’s hard to pick a favorite. Two that I liked working on recently were Lawn and Garden Robots and Global Fertilizers.
Lawn and Garden Robots not necessarily because it’s robots and I like science fiction (ha): The industry is nascent — in a more recent stage of development than any Freedonia has worked on except maybe Solar Roofing — and the study was new. The first provides a lot of room for forward-looking analysis, and it’s exciting to think about what could happen in an area with a lot of potential for technological development. From an editorial standpoint, working on a new study is exciting because it provides a lot room for input regarding outline and content. Being able to help shape a study is very rewarding.
Global Fertilizers is a different story. It’s a much more established industry, and so the editorial challenge is to help the analyst highlight and express where the opportunities for growth are happening. Plus, the science behind fertilizer is very interesting, and its effects are something I enjoy every day — better use of fertilizer means I can enjoy a wider variety of foods.
How does MarketResearch.com maintain the quality of research for its in-house publishing divisions?
Me! (Joking.)
In many different ways. MarketResearch.com uses a wide variety of resources — from government data sources to consumer surveys to primary research to company’s press releases and annual reports to articles published in trade magazines — but doesn’t rely on any one. Instead, the analysts, editors, and economists synthesize that information and use their knowledge of the industries to inform their forecasts.
Plus, we share and trade information all the time. It helps when you work with a lot of people who are well-informed on a wide variety of topics and who have broad contacts within a number of industries.
What are some improvements that have been made to reports?
Many improvements have recently been made to reports, and they are constantly ongoing.
On a presentation level, changes are continually being made to optimize the wording of the Table of Contents and table and figure headings so that these sections succinctly and accurately represent all of the information they contain.
Another change has been to continually focus on making the text both easier to skim and higher value in the amount of analysis it provides.
About Freedonia
The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com, is a leading international industrial research company publishing more than 100 studies annually. Since 1985, Freedonia has provided research to customers ranging in size from global conglomerates to one-person consulting firms. More than 90% of the industrial companies in the Fortune 500 use Freedonia Group research to help with their strategic planning.
