What is it like being an editor for an author?

Being an editor is a fantastic line of work. You get to help authors produce well above their best.

It’s also hard to get into the business. I’d suggest writing a book, getting a degree, and getting some work experience under your belt first. Some people go via the English degree route. I can’t see why someone who studied English would make a good editor. It’s like saying someone who studied sand, cement and brick kilns would make a good builder.

Editors should be interested in people, in ideas, in things. If you’re interested (I mean like you can’t stop absorbing knowledge/ideas/conversations like a sponge) then you can be interested in what authors write for you.

Editors should be ego-less. An editor is a servant to the publisher and a servant to the author. Most of all, the editor serves the eventual reader, so you have to have been a reader.

Editors need to learn to be decisive but pragmatic. You should learn to know what’s best for the reader, but know when it’s pushing the author too far to get what you want.

Finally, to reiterate, become more interested in things, people, ideas, than in language. Language is a barren wilderness without them.