As an editor, you get a completely different experience every day, which is why this post is for aspiring authors to learn about the life of a book editor. Literature allows editors to live in new worlds, try different things, and learn something that was previously unknown. By diving into these works, an editor gets to take an author’s words and polish them into near perfection. The books, articles, and magazines you read every day were worked on by an editor—the work’s unsung hero.
What Does an Editor do?
Editors help take an author’s original ideas and turn them into something exquisite and ready for publishing. They are in charge of planning, revising, coordinating, and formating the author’s content for publication. Specific tasks editors tackle are revising manuscripts for issues, including those in content, length, structure, and tone. Your editor will also revise each paragraph line by line to make sure there are no syntax or grammar errors.
While editors do all of these things, they work simultaneously with the author to ensure their ideas are evident in the work. While working with the author, an editor delivers feedback over multiple drafts, develops new ideas to include in the work or in others, creates deadlines to make certain the work is published on time, and tracks the performance of other pieces published. To learn more about the editing process and what editors do, schedule a consultation with a member of our team.
Types of Editors
In order to create the masterpieces that reach viewers each day, there are many different types and teams of editors to get the job done. The different viewpoints and areas of expertise balance each other out and work hand in hand with each other. An acquisitions editor’s job is to find new pieces and aspiring authors for a publishing company to work with. A developmental editor looks at broader issues in a manuscript, including structure, plot, and style of writing. For non-fiction works, a fact-checking editor will work to ensure the information being shared with the public is accurate. A line editor scans each line of work to identify voice, syntax, and style errors. Line editors often work hand in hand with copy editors, who work on grammatical errors in a manuscript.
After all of these editors work on a manuscript, it is then sent to a proofreader. The proofreader looks at each detail in the work, and polishes it before publishing. While working to publish a piece, most authors use each of these editors to verify that the text reflects their best work. Having many different professionals looking at a specific section of the manuscript will result in a publication-worthy version of the author’s words.
Editing Specialties
After becoming an editor, you can specialize in specific types of literature. You can become a book, newspaper, magazine, communications, or online media content editor. Nevertheless, editors are not required to work in literature; they can work in many different fields or for large corporations. An editorial assistant is typically an entry-level position. Assistants gain an insider’s perspective on the publishing company and help edit all forms of literature. According to Grand Canyon University, there are also technical editors, who work on instruction manuals and handbooks. They make sure information has been conveyed in a way that is easy to understand.
Within a publishing company, a managing editor works to manage the teams of editors, the publication process, and the company’s progress. A production editor manages the project from start to finish, ensuring everyone stays on task. A photo editor works with images rather than words. They format a publication to verify that it is visually appealing to the reader. An associate editor works mostly at a newspaper or magazine company, editing a specific section of a piece. For example, an associate editor may specialize in the sports section.
Editors-at-large are proven editors in their field who mostly work on the projects that appeal to their interests. Editors-in-chief are the senior editors at a journal and have the final word in what stories are printed. By becoming an editor, there are many different ways to expand your career based on what you are interested in. The career is not limited by any means and allows you to expand your horizons.
Specific Training and Levels for an Editor
Each one of these editors specializes in that field, and because of that, they know which details and flaws to look for when reviewing a piece. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says to become an editor, you need at least a bachelor’s degree in English, communications, or journalism. Many editors have had previous careers in writing, reporting, broadcasting, or were editorial assistants.
Editing vs. Ghostwriting
Ghostwriters
Many people use the terms “editing” and “ghostwriting” interchangeably; however, they have different functions when it comes to publishing a book. A ghostwriter is typically an experienced writer, editor, or publisher. The “Professional Ghost” says that their job is to take an author’s ideas, previous work, or memoir and turn it into a new piece.
Ghostwriters can also use interviews and any other ideas the author may have had to produce the literature. An author pays a ghostwriter a fee to take the information they have and write a piece. Occasionally, ghostwriters will finish a work that the author has already started, while other times they will write the entirety of the piece. An author may choose to use a ghostwriter because they may not be confident in their writing abilities, experience a block in ideas, or have a pressing deadline. While the author does not have an obligation to credit the ghostwriter, some choose to do so.
Editors
Unlike a ghostwriter, an editor will not necessarily rewrite, rearrange, or add anything to the work unless they are doing a developmental edit and have express permission to do so. By taking things like voice, structure, grammar, and more into consideration, the editor will leave suggestions and return the copy to the author. The author can be accept or reject these suggestions; there may be several rounds of back and forth between the editor and author before a manuscript is finalized.
Once both the author and editor are happy with how the piece has turned out, the author can move on to the next step in the publication process. While neither a ghostwriter nor an editor are mandatory to contract for a piece for publishing, almost all authors opt to use an editor. Ghostwriters are mostly used because of a lack of skill, time, or ideas. However, an editor makes sure there are no errors and that the piece makes sense and flows well. Without an editor, it is highly likely that a book will get negative reviews and much more criticism from the public because a large part of an editor’s job is to bring awareness to the author about issues with the manuscript.
Takeaway
An editor is one, if not the most, vital piece of the publication process. Without editors, literature, film, and media would be sloppy and contain many errors. By using an editor, authors can make certain that their piece reflects their best work and ideas. Not only does an editor get to dive into different pieces of literature often, but the forms of literature and work location can vary, depending on the editor’s interest. The life of an editor is lively and allows them to experience a new world every day.
