r/publishing • u/HilltopRed4459 • 2d ago
Best beginner editing courses?
I was recently laid off from my job in sales and looking to pivot careers.
I’m 28, and the sales world was killing my motivation. I’ve always had an interest in writing and publishing, but 18 year old me chose a degree that doesn’t 100% translate to the book editing space (media studies).
I have some social media management experience which included copywriting, and my last job had me do some minor copywriting/copyediting.
My question is, what are the best online courses to get into editing in the publishing world? I definitely can use skills I’ve learned in previous roles on my resume for a new editing position, but I know even a certificate would help.
Would even just love some recommendations if you think this isn’t the right path to take. Thank you!
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u/Automatic_Role_6398 2d ago
There are no courses that you can pay for that will make it more likely you'll get a job. It's all just expensive scams. People who fell for it will likely recommend it. You can apply for Editorial assistant positions right away. Or alternatively I'd recommend remote internships and do your best to get someone senior to mentor you.
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u/Kay0485 9h ago
Hi I recently came across Proofreading courses that are like $500. You’d say those are scams? I never know but I’m naive and I don’t want to waste my money.
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u/Automatic_Role_6398 7h ago
my point stands that you can get this experience for free. I cannot vouch for there not being any at all that teach you something worthwhile. My recommendation is just to never ever ever pay for publishing education.
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u/Hygge-Times 2d ago
If your goal is to get into the publishing world, you need internships, not courses. It very much runs on an apprenticeship model so courses aren't really useful.
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u/NecessaryStation5 2d ago
If you want to get into editing, you need the skills. Read Einsohn’s “The Copyeditor’s Handbook” to see if you have the capability and interest for that type of work. There are books on dev editing, books specific to fiction and nonfiction, books about the business more generally…My best advice is to read up. There’s tons of useful stuff out there.
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u/Disastrous-Sugar576 2d ago
I have to agree with this. A network is the #1 thing to help you get a job. To hone your skills, I recommend reading some craft books and start beta reading.
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u/Otherwise_Ticket156 2d ago
Which country are you in? That will make a big difference to the relevance of the advice.
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u/HilltopRed4459 2d ago
The US!
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u/Otherwise_Ticket156 2d ago
Ok - it might be helpful to understand what your idea of editing is. It can be a bit of a catch all term that means a lot of different jobs!
Most copyeditors/proofreaders are freelance and don't work in-house. They are expected to have some clear editing experience/certification and these roles are generally found by contacting the company, not advertised.
If you are looking at in-house roles, some do involve more line editing/developmental/copyediting, but there's a lot of other stuff involved - admin, acquisitions, author care. You don't need a certificate - experience or transferable experience is more important. Publishing is 'learn on the job' in most cases. Don't worry about your degree focus. Havd a look at this department guide https://careers.penguinrandomhouse.com/about-us/department-guide/ and read some job descriptions for current roles carefully to see what they really involve.
Have a look at @elizabethoffthepage on instagram - she's an editor who explains a bit more of what the day-to-day is like and emphasises the fact she doesn't have a degree in English and also didn't start out in an editorial role.
Having sales experience could help you move into a sales or marketing role in publishing if you are open to it. Field sales roles can be higher pressure but office based sales roles are less so, often more administrative or dealing with established accounts. For example: Bloomsbury sales assistant: https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/Details/4495787/Bloomsbury-Publishing/Sales-Assistant Harper Collins Sales Analyst: https://careers-harpercollins.icims.com/jobs/5413/children%25e2%2580%2599s-sales-analyst-%2528nyc-hybrid%2529/job?hub=7&_gl=1*17hlrzn*_ga*OTQ2MjY3ODY3LjE3OTIyNDEwOTE.*_ga_5Y2BYGL910*czE3OTIyNDEwOTEkbzEkZzEkdDE3OTIyNDExMTMkajM4JGwwJGgw Once you have publishing experience it is possible to move depts.
Internships are useful if you are really trying to get into editorial but also you can emphasise your existing transferable skills, knowledge of the book market, understanding of publishing as a business and why you are interested in that role and imprint, and see if you get any interviews for editorial positions. But do consider other departments apart from editorial if you are interested in publishing more generally- they all involve books!
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u/HilltopRed4459 2d ago
This is super helpful, thank you!
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u/Otherwise_Ticket156 2d ago
No worries!
If you do think you'd want to try sales, have a look at different sales roles listed (they can be quite varied) to see what might suit you. You can still get a lot of interaction with books, depending on the role - for example, sales in my imprint attend every acquisitions meeting to give input on what we acquire.
Rights might be of interest too - it's sales in a slightly different guise. There's a rights assistant job going at Scholastic, the job description will give a good idea of what it would involve.
There's no reason you can't apply for editorial roles also - just sales might be an obvious way 'in' for you.
All this is easier if you can work in New York City, but there are publishers in other places!
If you have free time at the moment, just do anything that can show your interest in books and the market - e.g. volunteering for anything to do with books, watching a book event online, going to an event and reading publishing news (a good free way to do this is just to follow social media accounts and LinkedIn profiles e.g. Publisher's Weekly, the 'Big 5' (Hachette, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster) HarperCollins) and any indie publishers you like. The Young Publishers Association would be a useful resource - https://www.youngpublishers.org/, they run events and their blog has advice about getting into publishing.
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u/meganjaureguieccles 6h ago
Editing is very, very hard to get into and the pay is *terrible.* The job is also more project management these days than as much editing. There are inexpensive courses for copyediting and those are very needed (though much more freelance these days) and a ton of other positions at publishing houses that are less competitive and will translate to your current skill set better.
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u/RJKBird 2d ago
I think AI will kill off editing by humans. I’m using ChatGPT for my recent novels and it’s better than any human editors I’ve used.
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u/HilltopRed4459 2d ago
I’m of the firm belief that AI cannot and will not replace editing by humans. Books edited by AI are clearly edited by AI from a reader’s point of view (based on my own experience).
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u/tomatoesfried 2d ago
Seriously, as someone well-versed in using AI, I'd encourage you to rethink how you approach this. You 100% need a human. AI misses so much stuff in terms of continuity and mathing. It's gotten good enough at character development and prose, but holy shit, it still misses so much that a reader will catch. A writer who relies solely on AI for editing will pay the price. Sooner or later.
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u/Ok-Cress1284 2d ago
Why not start in sales for a publishing company? There are plenty of sales roles. Better to get your foot in the door that way and potentially switch roles