How to become an Editor

A critical reader and a lover of words, an editor is someone who works in the publishing industry. The editor`s job is to polish and enhance a narrative or an article before it is published. Editors operate in a variety of businesses, editing periodicals, newspapers, blogs, and novels, among other things. Editors are also on the lookout for errors in factual information, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The editor`s tasks include ensuring that refined and polished work is completed, as well as cutting and editing writing material following content requirements. The editor is responsible for the publishing policy, the administration of the staff, and the dissemination of the policy.

Sports, foreign news, education, professions, family, and other topics are covered by the editor`s work. In addition to this administrative responsibility, editors are responsible for the employment of authors, the planning of budgets, the negotiation of contracts with freelance writers, and other tasks. Assistant Sub Editor, Sub Editor, Assistant Editor, and Editors are the levels of entry-level editors in the hierarchy. Commissioning Editors, Section Editors, Web Editors, Film or Video Editors, Associate Editors, and Editors are some of the many different sorts of editors available.

The roles and responsibilities of an editor includes:

• Providing  guidelines to the authors for submission of manuscript.
• Providing  clear statements of the journal policies to the author.
• To treat all the authors with transparency, fairness and honesty.
• To protect the confidentiality of every author’s work.
• To communicate clearly all other standard and policies
• To establish a system for rapid peer-review process 
• To establish a procedure for editorial decision.

The following abilities can help you succeed as an editor if you develop and enhance them:

Exceptional writing abilitiesTo be successful as an editor, you must have a strong command of the English language. Editors must be able to examine the content and assess if it delivers information to the intended audience logically and effectively while adhering to the style guide's criteria. They must check for proper voice, tone, and structure, as well as the capacity to edit information to make it flow more naturally. These abilities also include a solid understanding of sentence structure, grammatical rules, and appropriate punctuation, as well as how the rules vary based on the writing style needed. The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, The Chicago Manual of Style, and the Modern Language Association are all common style manuals (MLA).

The ability to communicate Although an editor's primary concentration is on material, interpersonal skills and the ability to connect with people are equally crucial. Because editors often interact with authors and other customers, compassion and the ability to form constructive connections with people are valuable skills in this career. Editors must give encouragement and understanding to authors, as well as assistance and direction. They must also establish professional ties with in-house leadership and corporate clientele.

Mind that is both creative and curious Editors must be interested in learning more about the subjects they edit, and they most often come up with catchy headlines and beginning paragraphs to capture the attention of readers. They may also need to find out a unique method to write about a familiar subject that many people have previously explored. Advertising and marketing editors depend significantly on creativity and curiosity to create engaging text for website landing pages, corporate branding, social media, and other sorts of material used to influence a target audience. Exceptional attention to detail The assurance of error-free work is the cornerstone of editing.

This requires meticulous attention to detail, which might involve catching even the tiniest punctuation errors and ensuring that a whole text's flow of ideas is correctly constructed. Every component of a style guide must be remembered by editors and applied to each piece of text they update. They may also need to be familiar with many style guides and transition between them during the day, which necessitates a high level of concentration and devotion to the specifics of their job.

The mindset that is well-organized and deadline-oriented Editors generally work on numerous projects at once and with a variety of authors, so they must have exceptional organisational abilities to arrange their workday and keep on top of assignments. Because copy editors are often required to fulfil last-minute deadlines to accomplish ambitious organisational objectives or ensure that text reaches print, the ability to be organised and cool under pressure is essential.

The average starting salary of approx.is Rs. 3,33,949 per year. An editor at a mid-career level gets an average salary of approx. Rs. 4, 86,385 per year while an editor with more experience can expect approx. Rs. 4,77,228 per year.

To enroll into a Bachelor's Program in Editing, it is essential for the aspiring candidate to clear entrance exams conducted by various educational institutes. Some universities take admission on bases of merit list and interview.

Most widely conducted entrance exams for career as editor is

• IIMC’s entrance exam
• Jamia Milia Islamia Entrance exam
• GGSIPU CET Exam
• FTI Pune
• AUCET
• Aligarh Muslim University entrance exam

• Newspaper house
• News agency
• Magazines
• Websites
• Publishing houses
• Freelancers
• Advertising companies
• Radio and TV stations
• NGOs
• Government sector in Indian information service or state government information service