What kind of advice for someone who wants to be an editor.?

Question

My sister has an english degree and really wants to get into book editing but has no clue where to start. Any advice? She lives in a small town in MI but is willing to relocate.

Answer 1

Start looking v!

Send her resume to every publisher in the country. Also, start advertising for freelance editing, and apply for every editor/writer job she can find (go to Monster Jobs, Yahoo Jobs, etc).

Good Luck!

Answer 2

As an experienced editor, I can tell you that it is a difficult profession to break into. I have degrees in English and History, with a strong background in grammar and spelling. Those are key elements if you want to build a reputation as an editor.

Once you become a freelance editor, you'll find plenty of people who want you to "take a look" at their books, but don't want to pay for your time. If you want to work for free or you're looking to build your reputation or client base by editing books just to get your name on a cover, that's okay. I wouldn't make a habit of it, though.

Fortunately, there are sites now that advertise or broker editing work, proofreading assignments and other types of freelance writing gigs. The Craigslist is one of the better ones. Do a web search for that and then email some of the registered freelancers on the site to see if/when they get paid for their work. Some websites WILL rip you off, so be careful.

Also, if you really intend to become an editor, you must above all else be an expert speller and grammarian. There is no wiggle room for errors. There is no excuse for English not being your first language, either. In short, there are NO excuses for typos or misused words like "it's" and "its" or "affect" and "effect". You cannot rely on spell checkers or even Word functions that check your grammar. They will NOT catch those kinds of errors.

Okay, lecture over. Good luck finding work. It's tough, but it sure beats digging ditches. And, you can work from home!

Jon F. Baxley (Author, Editor, Ghostwriter and Proofreader)
THE SCYTHIAN STONE
THE BLACKGLOOM BOUNTY
THE REGENTS OF RHUM (coming, fall '07)

(For a FREE copy of The Scythian Stone or a full color, four chapter illustrated demo of The Blackgloom Bounty, email me at [e-mail]).

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