Introducing the Job of Editor
The editor is the pivotal functionary in a publication, whether print or online, whose most important function is to improve the quality of communication and does so by working with words. Anyone who is fascinated by words, can't ignore errors in newspapers, winces at broadcasters' blunders, is offended by an illogical or bad argument, or inappropriate use of statistics has the makings of an editor.
Key Responsibilities
An editor performs a variety of roles for his publication. As acquisitions editor, an editor develops ideas for books, finds suitable writers to write them, evaluates manuscripts or proposals and makes recommendations about them to publishers. As developmental editor, they coordinate projects from the proposal stage to the final manuscript while incorporating inputs from authors and others concerned with the final publication. Under substantive or structural editing, they clarify or reorganize the content or structure of a manuscript. Under stylistic editing, and editor clarifies meaning while eliminating jargon and improving readability. Under copy editing, editors check for errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation while evaluating the consistency of presentation and facts. Often editors have to rewrite the content of a manuscript and conduct research to find source material for articles or books. Sometimes editors may have to find suitable pictures or artwork to accompany a text and to check the accuracy of facts and quotes used by a writer. The job also includes indexing and proof reading, sizing up photos and artwork and filling in page referencing so that the final copy is absolutely without any error. In addition, editors also perform any work required to integrate design and content in order to turn the edited manuscript into a printed book, magazine or journal.
Level of Education Required
There is no requirement of any particular type of education for the work of an editor and employers value reputation and experience over educational credentials. Still, most editors have attended university or college and many of them have degrees in journalism, mass communication, English or some technical writing field. If you aspire to be an editor, having such a degree will help. It's also best to begin by gaining early experience by working on newsletters, magazines or brochures for organizations in your community.
Additionally, computers have come to play an important role in the publishing process. Therefore familiarity with one or more word processing systems and computer graphics can increase your chances of landing an early editorial job. There is hardly any formal training available for the career of an editor and most of the training is acquired on the job.
Career Path
Most editors start as proofreaders, researchers or copy editors in a publishing house and move on to become senior editors. Many become freelance writers after holding one or more in-house positions and then return to in-house work as editors. The online revolution has given a tremendous boost to the editing career as new websites, online magazines, e-books and the like all need editors in large numbers.
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