What degree would you need to become a book editor?

Question

I’m currently an English Major with a concentration in education, but I wasn’t sure if that would work for editing as well due to my concentration. Could I use that degree to be a book editor in the future or would I have to have a different concentration? Does the concentration matter much? I’m not sure which route I’d rather take yet and was hoping to keep my options open.

Answer 1

You are already studying the appropriate subject, you just need to learn the skill of editing. Editing requires both knowledge and skill, once you've got the knowledge then you need to work on the specific skills needed.  And like any skill it requires practice.  For example one can't learn swimming very efficiently by reading a book about it.

Answer 2

I would take a look at Linguistics as it examines the structure of language rather than its literature.  Linguistics is highly regarded but it is not for everyone.  As a CS major learning how to compose SQL statements to query relational databases I did some Linguistics and loved it but there is a lot of logic involved.  Skip the Education, you can always do a Master's later if you decide to go that route.

Answer 3

My sister majored in English, and upon graduation went to work as an associate editor for a major publishing firm.  She also did some ghost writing for some well-known authors, and eventually opened her own business as a literary agent.



My sister's main talent as an associate editor was that she was good at making books interesting for the average person.  Basically, she would work with the author in changing what was originally written, into something which was commercially viable.

Answer 4

Talk to a guidance counselor. I should think a background in marketing would be an asset when looking for work as an editor, but maybe there are courses in publishing you could take, and probably a business degree would also help.

Answer 5

The best editor I know has a degree in Fine Arts. The best carpenter I know has a degree in Musical Composition. If you want to work in astronomy, you'll likely need to have a degree that relates to that field. But if you want to go into editing, you'll have to become a good editor. Would having a degree in English Literature or Creative Writing help you as you work toward that goal? Obviously. But that doesn't mean that having a degree in something else would make it impossible for you to find work as an editor. Literature is art. You can teach someone how to write, but only experience will really afford a person the ability to do it well. The same is true when it comes to editing. If you really want to boost your chances, get involved in some type of publication. Write articles or stories of your own and try your hand at editing your own stuff. Volunteer to do editing for other writers and listen to the feedback you receive. Ask a trusted professor or established author you respect to guide you along. That experience will count for more than a degree. A good editor could have a degree in Basket Weaving or be a house painter with no formal higher education. 

Answer 6

There has to be someone at the school who can answer your question. Ask your English teacher or a literature professor.

Answer 7

You may want to focus on literature instead of education.

Answer 8

An English degree is a fairly useless major. There are very few jobs for somebody who is an expert on Shakespeare, Milton, and other poets, writers, etc.



However, there are some decent jobs for people who can edit books in specialty NON-FICTION areas. For instance, if you had a degree in Finance, for instance, you could be an editor for books about finance, investments, retirement planning, etc. Or if you had a degree in Physics, you could edit books about engineering, light, relativity, astronomy, electronics, etc.



An English major coupled with knowledge of Education is not particularly useful in the real world of work. The demand for these subjects is pretty weak.