This week’s Editor Spotlight features mstori. She edits several pages on Topix, including the cities of Santa Clarita and Newhall, California, and our page on Homeschooling.

She also edits a page on a subject near and dear to the heart of many Topix employees, Sushi. She took the time to answer our questions about her Topix editing experience, especially for the Sushi page.

Why did you want to come a Topix editor?
I love food and articles about food. Sushi is a personal favorite of mine and when I first looked at the Sushi Topix page, roboblogger was trying hard, but I felt the little guy was really missing the mark in this particular topic.

How much time do you generally spend a day editing?
I edit a few Topix pages. It is difficult to quantify how much time I spend per day editing. I check the news several times throughout the day, but I usually only actually make changes to each topix page once per day, and when I do that, I spend maybe 30 minutes. That doesn't include all the time I spend looking at news in general and making notes of what I should add. It also doesn't take into account looking for photos or taking and editing my own.

Where else do you find articles, outside of Topix?
I use a variety of sources, friends send me links and I check certain communities, but google news is probably my most utilized source for articles outside of Topix.

What are some editing pitfalls you've learned to avoid?
I've started to recognize most of the sites that the Topix crawl fails, so I don't waste time going the route of trying to crawl articles from sites that are not compatible.

What is your prior editing and writing experience?
I've been writing extensively since I was a child. I began working on school newspapers in elementary school and continued on. I started working on a school literary magazine in middle school and by high school I was also editor of the year book. My interest continued in hobby form as an adult, in both print and online formats.

What question would you like to ask other Topix editors?
"Have you met any interesting people as a result of your activities as a Topix editor?"

What do you when you are not on Topix?
I work. I spend time with my family. I clean up after my pets. I go to a lot of good restaurants. I eat as much sushi as possible. I also take a lot of photos.

What is your editing environment like? Do you post from work or home?
I post from work and home. I work from home though, so the environment is the same, either way. We have a wireless network in the house, and I have a laptop, so I post from all over the house, and sometimes out in the backyard. I also post when I am on travel. I haven't posted from a sushi bar yet, but at some point, I will.

What other user-edited pages on Topix would you recommend?
http://www.topix.com/drink/beer

How else are you involved in your community?
The international sushi community? My involvement is on a fairly personal scale. I read about, write about, talk about and take and look at photos of sushi. I also eat it, and drag other people out to eat it. Occasionally I make sushi. I buy sake for sushi chefs that I like, and give them prints of photos I have taken of their creations.

What other internet sites do you visit regularly?
I am online for most of the day, almost every day of the year. I visit a lot of sites regularly, too many to list.

What advice would you give to other editors in making a great page?
I think photos really add a lot of interest to a page. I try to pick and choose the stories carefully. I believe in quality over quantity. I don't think most visitors will move past the first page of news, so I want to have items of interest on that page, and I want items of interest to stay on that page long enough that an average user stands a decent chance of seeing them.

What question do you wish we'd asked you?
"Where would you like us to take you out for sushi?"

Thanks, mstori!