Education is crucial for anyone who desires to edit books for a living. You must spend the time and energy necessary to get an adequate degree from an accredited university or college. When you are pursuing your education, you will want to choose something associated with English. A degree in English literature is an ideal field of study for those who are interested in becoming a book editor. While studying English literature you will have the opportunity to read and analyze a great variety of literature. This will help to give you a repertoire of literature and experience to draw from in your career. Additionally, a degree in English will give you a lot of writing and editing experience to take with you into your career. However, it is important to realize that simply a bachelor's degree may not help you get your dream editing job. Many publishing agencies expect their book editors to hold masters degrees so you may want to pursue further education to ensure that you will have the right requirements for your dream job.
A simple degree or even a master's degree will not ensure that you are going to be the right fit for the job of a book editor. The truth is that you really must be passionate about books, and be an avid reader. Having had the experience of reading a great variety of literature in terms of style and genre will better equip you for your dream career than you might have ever thought. The truth is that many book editors are able to specialize in one genre, but that is not always the case when you are starting out. As a beginning book editor, you may have to edit whatever comes across your desk. Having a vast experience to draw upon will be invaluable as you begin your editing your career. However, while reading all of those books you will want to think about what genres really set you on fire. When the time comes for you to choose what you would like to specialize in you want to be sure that you make the right choice. Additionally, in preparation for this moment you might also want to spend some time specializing in a particular genre.
You also need to gain a significant amount of editing experience. Volunteer work is a great way to get this experience. Is there a local community newsletter or even a newspaper that you can volunteer some time to? Though it may not pay your bills the experience that you will be gaining priceless experience that could land you your dream job.
You will also need to spend some time discovering the different types of publishing technology that is available. Anyone in editing will need to be very comfortable with a computer and a scanner, but there is also specific publishing software that you should spend some time getting familiar with.
You may also want to take a few classes that cover the legal end of publishing books. You will want to learn about the publishing laws, negotiating tactics, and copyright laws. This type of education may help you in the long run more than you realize.
After you have done the prep work, it is time to start filing applications for your dream job. You have gotten all of the education and experience that you should need in order to get your dream book-editing job. Now you simply have to wait for the opportunity to present itself.
