“I suppose some editors are failed writers; but so are most writers.” - TS Eliot
What do doctors, lawyers and editors all have in common? A well-known stereotype for each profession has leaked into the social consciousness. Doctors, sterile and comforting with a white lab coat; lawyers, stiff and exacting with a business suit; editors, red pen wielding tyrants, armed with cutting remarks. Perhaps unfortunately for us, not every doctor is patient and kind, nor is every lawyer prepared and articulate. With that being said, editors are far from the angry-faced grammarians their reputations suggest. They are largely unseen, and as writer and editor, Jodi Brandon calls them, “the unsung heroes” of the publishing industry. Acquisition, copy and structural editors are the men and women behind-the-scenes working to make sure that books are found and promoted; have continuity and correct grammar and spelling; and the pages, fonts and layout of the book are easy to read.
Large publishing houses employ all three of the above mentioned editors, but of course, it wasn’t always this way. In the early days of publishing, editors like Maxwell Perkins (who famously worked with Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway) had more one-on-one time with their clients and performed all three roles, teasing out brilliant works of art from cluttered manuscripts. Today, the role is divided, yet smaller and more local publishing houses still operate in the same early 20th century fashion.
The first on scene is the acquisition editor, and from their title, it’s easy to glean which role they play. In the less-than-glamorous publishing industry, their job is the most high stakes. Acquisition editors scout for new talent, obtain manuscripts, defend book proposals, and are the point of contact for the other editors and players in the publishing circle. Acquisition Editor W. Terry Whalin has said that his position is a “consensus building project,” meaning that he has to deliberate and convince his fellow editors that the manuscript he was just given is incredible and worthy to be published. These types of editors are the most business-oriented, insofar as they must “sell” good manuscripts first to their co-workers, and secondly, to the public. They need to have an eye for what is sellable in the given market, since book publishing is, if nothing else, a buisness. Acquisition editors are the least hands-on with the actual editing process, as most of the line by line editing is handed off to the copy editor.
Copy editors receive the manuscript next, and work rigorously to maintain continuity, correct any grammar/spelling errors, and give suggestions regarding word choice or sentence structure. In addition to these duties, copy editors are also responsible for making sure that the manuscript is free of any copyright violations and performs fact-checking if necessary. (If you’ve ever read a historic fiction novel, it is the copy editor who is to thank for the lack of historical anachronisms.) Copy editors working for publishing houses are also asked to adhere to the house’s “style sheet,” a guide to keeping each book published consistently in the same style. This way, each book printed by the publisher follows the same rules, ie all foreign language words must be italicized. Copy editors are the most outsourced to freelancers in large publishing houses as it is arduous, precision work. In smaller houses, all editors take a turn at line editing. In his book, The Book Publishing Industry, Albert N. Greco describes the process as “hard and unromantic” (125).
In addition to the above mentioned duties, copy editors often start out as editorial assistants or production assistants and are asked to sift through what is known in the industry as a “slush” pile. These are unsolicited (read: agent-less) manuscripts that are sent to the publishing house by hopeful authors. It is the editorial assistant’s duty to read through the numerous manuscripts to ascertain if there are any hidden gems among the stacks of rejects. Much like production assistants at movie studios, editorial assistances are somewhat regarded as interested secretaries. Despite the difficulty and eventual anonymity, copy editors have a significant role and impact on the finished product. For instance, can you imagine how much longer O Lost would be without Wolfe being asked to cut over 100 additional pages by his editor, Maxwell Perkins?
Like any job, editing has distinct benefits and, let’s say detractions. As a copy editor, your hours are long, and your work is painstakingly slow, and you have regular deadlines to meet. Going over each line of a 300+ page manuscript takes patience and skill, not to mention attention to detail and knowledge of grammar rules. Unless you’re a freelancer, you’re most likely going to be working in an office with co-workers, which has its own perks and disadvantages. While you won’t be out there shaking hands with John Grisham or defending a book proposal in a stressful high-pressure meetings, you will be contributing to an author’s dream and shaping it so that it is appreciated for posterity.
Structural editors are often lumped in with copy editors in smaller publishing houses, largely because their main focus is the overall aesthetic of the book. Their primary concern centers around if the book is readable and orderly, without large blocks of text or out-of-sequence information. The structural editor has an aesthetic eye, and pages through the manuscript to present the work in the most attractive setting possible. An appropriate structural editor candidate would be an English major, simply because English majors are asked to present structurally sound and thoughtfully edited works throughout their college career.
Unlike the aforementioned positions, freelancers are self-employed editors that are contracted by large publishing houses. Freelance editing, like any other freelance position, has numerous benefits and drawbacks. Unlike in large publishing houses, a freelance editor has the independence to choose their own clients and set their own schedule, yet also saddles the burden of being the acquisitionist, copy editor and structuralist rolled into one. In addition to a larger work load, the freelance editor must scout for their clients, rather than being handed a manuscript to edit. They are also responsible for all of the costs typically footed by publishing houses, such as space to work, taxes, healthcare, etc. Something else to consider if going the freelance route, is that while publishing houses have “imprints,” or specialized sections like Young Adult or New Age, individual clients will vary. If you were to specialize in say, science fiction editing, becoming a freelancer may not be the best fit since you cannot guarantee that you will always be editing science fiction. Unless of course, you have an already established relationship with a client or decide after working at a publishing house to go freelance, which is less common.
The education level requirements for copy editing vary, although English and Journalism degrees are quite useful in obtaining internships or entry-level positions. Although there is no BA program specific to book editing, some schools offer a publishing certificate program. In her e-book, The FabJob Guide to Become a Book Editor, Jodi Brandon states that certificate programs are “by far the fastest way to get editing credentials” (49). These are unique and offer guest speakers from every part of the publishing industry including well-known editors and writers. Certificate courses are taken after you’ve received your undergrad and are less expensive and usually take less time than a graduate degree. The hands-on practice and experience received from certificate courses are also useful to pack your resume when the time comes to start looking for a paid position.
Skills that aren’t harvested by attending classes or writing essays are equally helpful in landing a position as a copy editor. Time management is one such skill that is essential to succeeding in the editing field. Being attuned to how long each task will take you and plan your day accordingly is absolutely vital to meeting deadlines both with clients and co-workers. Because this is an important life skill in addition to a career-based skill, English majors will find themselves excelling due in no small part to the practice obtained by writing papers on time (like deadlines) and having to juggle multiple classes (like multitasking). Another of the most important, is of course, interpersonal skills. Copy editors must interact with their clients, and must be respectful of the author’s work. Since not all of the discussion is in person, a polite and considerate tone (in e-mails, or marked up manuscripts) while making suggestions and critiques to a client’s work is even more imperative. Sounds easy enough, but positive and healthy relationships with all clients and co-workers can be challenging and requires constant effort to be peaceable and considerate. As an English major, your lexicon is invaluable in this regard, as it’s well known that everything has a positive or negative spin depending on the intention and verbiage. This way, the negatively-spun “too wordy” becomes the more helpful and positively-spun “unfocused” and so forth.
When considering any profession, understanding where the positions are in abundance is crucial. The simple advice of, “go where the jobs are,” can be challenging to follow. With that said, New York City is home to four of the largest publishing houses in the nation: Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Penguin Group. With these publishers, you’ll find yourself in a corporate environment with traditional structures. Essentially, you’ll have a boss, who will have a boss, who will have a boss. Due to the sheer volume of already-employed editors, there are more positions available and room for advancement with larger publishing houses than smaller. However, large publishers aren’t the only avenue available for budding editors. Even in New York City there are smaller publishing houses which are run independently. For example, even in Oregon, there are over 200 publishers.
As an English major and lover of books, one of the biggest perks of editing are the piles and piles of free books you’ll obtain by working for a publishing house. You will also be interacting on a daily basis with other people who love to read just as much. In addition to free stuff, English majors are well suited for this work due to their skills in composition and aesthetics. In The Art and Science of Book Publishing, Herbert S. Bailey believes that good copyediting is “intelligent and careful and flexible and sensitive” (74). If this is the case, who else is more qualified than an English major?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2008, an estimated 129,600 editors were employed in the US (compare to 74,800 English professors in the same month and year), although the BLS expects employment in editing to decline through 2016. With the recent development of self-publishing on the Kindle and www.lulu.com, freelance editing is expected to be more in demand. For more traditional editors, the annual median income was about $49,900, with senior editors making upwards of $95,490. While it’s true that the publishing industry is changing, it is by no means disappearing. Both Albert N. Greco and Jason Epstien (Book Business: Publishing Past, Present and Future) have written books about the publishing industry and how it has morphed over the years. While you won’t find yourself staying up all night with an author editing page after page with them in a cloistered office in the middle of a downtown metropolis like Jason Epstien in the 1950s, your end results as a copy editor are no less essential or rewarding now than they were then.
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