Editor
Job Title
Editor
Day in the Life
Editors have the rare opportunity to work with primary sources and contribute to publications that influence historical understanding.
Editors help prepare scholarly treatments of history for publication. Editors typically spend much of their time on tasks such as source checking, proofreading, copyediting, substantive editing, and preparing materials in HTML or XML for electronic publication. They may also be involved with document transcription and verification, project management, research, digitizing sources, creating style guides, writing, securing permissions, typesetting, indexing, publicity, and other work.
Editors enjoy close association with historians, writers, archivists, and other editors. Projects are complex, highly collaborative, and often high profile. Individuals who can think critically, communicate well, work patiently with others, manage time effectively, meet deadlines, solve problems, give scrupulous attention to detail, thrive while performing repetitive tasks, and quickly learn new processes and technology are well suited for this career.
Experience Pathway
An editor will need a bachelor’s degree in English or a related field. A master’s degree in English or a related field is helpful if one desires to eventually advance in this career. College coursework in editing and student editing internships are valuable preparations for an editing career. Prior experience with publishing technology such as HTML, XML, or the Adobe Creative Suite is essential for most editorial roles.
Thoughts from Our Editors
“I really like being part of the editorial team in the Church History Department. We have lots of bright, hard-working editors who are fun to be around and from whom I am constantly learning. And the historians and other writers we work with are great people and scholars. I feel fortunate to be able to work on projects that are of great value to members of the Church and to outside scholars.”