The Complete Guide to Becoming An Editor
How to decide if editing is right for you, what it really pays, and how to break in without a single published credit
by Alumigogo Books
non-fiction
What editors really do, what they earn, and how to land your first editing job without experience. No fluff, just the facts.
🔒30-day money-back guarantee — not right for you? Full refund, no questions asked.
About this book
You're considering becoming an editor. Maybe you love reading, maybe you notice grammar mistakes everywhere, maybe a teacher once told you you're a good writer. But what does that mean for your paycheck, your daily routine, and your long-term career? This guide answers the questions that career-day pamphlets gloss over, with real numbers and real examples from the field.
Inside, you'll find a concrete breakdown of an editor's day — from style guides and markup to author calls and deadline crunches. You'll complete a self-assessment to test whether your working style matches the job's demands, not just its romantic image. You'll weigh the cost of a degree against bootcamps and learning-by-doing, see what entry-level pay actually looks like, and get a step-by-step plan for building a portfolio when you've never been paid to edit a thing.
This is not a textbook for practicing editors. It's a reality check for anyone trying to decide if they want to commit. You'll finish with a clear 'yes', a clear 'no', or a specific plan to find out for sure.
Reader Reviews
Paul Martin
★★★★★Decent overview. I appreciated the salary ranges and the chapter on breaking in, but the writing felt a little dry in places and I wish the education costs were broken down by region more. Still, it gave me a much clearer picture than the recruiter email that got me interested. Good for a first read if you're honest about not knowing what editors actually do all day.
Thomas Taylor
★★★★★I was torn between editing and copywriting, and this guide settled it in one long weekend. The self-assessment checklist in chapter two is brutal in the best way - I realized I'd rather edit someone else's draft than write my own, which I genuinely did not know about myself. The portfolio-building steps in chapter five got me two interviews with zero paid credits. Worth every penny.
Michelle Lopez
★★★★★The hour-by-hour day in the life made me feel like I was already on the job, which is exactly what I needed. I'm a career-changer from teaching, and the shift in team dynamics was something I hadn't considered. The concrete tool list and the networking advice in chapter five felt like a path I could actually walk. I've already recommended it to my writing group.
Sharon Adams
★★★★★Mind you, I'm a high school senior and I'm still deciding between majors, but this was a pragmatic view. I liked that it didn't tell me to follow my passion or any of that. I only wish there was more on the line-editing specialization versus copyediting in the growth chapter. Four stars because it made you actually research the differences. Overall, a solid purchase if you're seriously weighing the career.