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Are you a woman who loves reading and correcting other people’s grammar? Have you started a personal collection of your favorite books? Do you always catch yourself reading and rereading your own writing to correct any mistakes or to rearrange parts of a sentence? Did you secretly, or maybe not-so-secretly, love completing the English part of the SAT and/or ACT?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you might have what it takes to become an editor.
Authors are known as the hard-working, low paid word weavers of our culture. But they don’t do it alone. Authors have a whole team of people behind them: editors, cover artists, publishers and publicists. Editors are, arguably, the most important behind-the-scenes team member in the business.
Essentially, an editor plans, reviews and revises content for publication. For a book editor specifically, they work directly with literary agents (who pitch novels) and authors for immeasurable amounts of time on manuscripts. Editors also have to make sure that the author’s ideas, style, characters and story are the way the author wants them to be. Editors can’t change too much of the original pieces. Additionally, they usually work regular business hours, but editing can sometimes come with overtime work and a metaphorical “emergency pager.”
If being an editor piques your fancy, here are some starting facts:
Okay, enough with the numbers. If you’re reading this, then you’re probably a woman who prefers words. Let’s move on to how exactly one would acquire an editing position and make it big at a publishing company.
Starting as early as you can is a pretty solid goal. High school is a good place to start. Gaining experience by being on the yearbook or newspaper staff in high school can help shape your writing style. Then, once you get to college, you can work for the campus publication as a writer or editor to accelerate your future success in this industry. Basically, expose yourself to as much experience as you can!
For an entry-level position, a Bachelor’s degree is required. Publishing companies usually look for degrees in journalism, communications or English, but this is not required. Emerson College in Massachusetts and Hofstra University in New York are the only two colleges in the US that have undergraduate majors and concentrations in Publishing.
If you have an epiphany and decide you want to be an editor after you’ve earned your undergraduate degree, then a Master’s in Publishing or English would be extremely helpful in getting you on the right track. Along with Emerson College’s Master’s program in Publishing, some well-known schools with Master’s degrees in Publishing are George Washington University in D.C., University of Houston-Victoria in Texas, Portland State University in Oregon and NYU in New York.
In addition to being an editor or writer for your school newspaper and earning a Bachelor’s degree, companies also look for internship and job experience before hiring. Also, having contacts in the industry can sometimes give you a boost; a family member, friend or even college counselor may have the inside track.
But if you don’t have these, don’t be discouraged. Internships at literary agencies, newspapers, magazines or publishing companies can go a long way. Although third-year college students and older are preferable for college internships, it doesn’t hurt to inquire early! As the old inspirational adage goes – nothing ventured, nothing gained.
If you are unable to land an internship at the moment, start a blog. Writing a book review blog, for instance, can help you connect with a large community of people and develop contacts from publishing companies. Not only that, but reviewing books pushes you to expose yourself to a diverse collection of writing styles, which will only help shape your talent as an editor. For the extroverted people, on the other hand, starting a YouTube channel that reviews books is a viable option; you can get your name out through “BookTube.” Additionally, a smart networking option is to follow editors, publishers and authors on social media. Another important resource is Random House’s #AskAnEditor series and Narratively’s Editor chats.
If a graduate program is financially difficult or too long for your lifestyle, there are other options. NYU, Columbia University in New York and the University of Denver in Colorado offer immersive six week summer programs to earn a Master’s degree or certificate in publishing.
Do you want to work for a small publishing company or one of the giants (HarperCollins, Penguin Books and Simon & Shuster)? Maybe you’ll start out at a smaller company but eventually work your way up. You’ll also need to think about what genre and age group you want to edit for. Harlequin, for example, would be more suited to someone looking to edit romance novels.
You’ll most likely start out as an Editorial Assistant. Editorial Assistants have the most upward mobility as they work directly for the editors. This gives you an opportunity to showcase your talent and also develop a mentee-mentor relationship. As an Editorial Assistant, you’ll be responsible for organizing schedules, responding to submissions, preparing and typing forms, administrative duties, making appointments and communicating with different departments, among many other tasks.
Other entry level jobs that could put you on the path are freelance writer, proofreader or copy editor and reporter. To move up to an Editor position at a publishing company, you’ll need anywhere from two to seven years of experience and an extensive list of agent and author contacts.
Then, once you’ve applied and been hired, congratulations! This may not have been the exact path you walked on, but you’ve made it – you are officially an editor.
