Copy Editors
Overview
Introduction
Copy editors, sometimes called line editors, read manuscripts for correct grammatical usage and spelling. They edit the manuscripts to conform to the publisher's style, which includes such points as capitalization, abbreviations, and the use of numbers. They polish the writing style, make sure the style and structure is consistent throughout the manuscript, and flag the text with questions about details that may need elaboration or clarification from the writer. Magazine and book publishers, newspapers, newsletters, corpora...
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Median annual earnings for all editors were $59,480 in May 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The lowest paid 10 percent earned less than $31,500, and the highest paid 10 percent earned $117,810 or more. The mean annual earnings for all editors in newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishing were $65,890, while those employed by colleges, universities, and professional sc...
Work Environment
For the most part, publishers of all kinds realize that a quiet atmosphere is conducive to work that requires tremendous concentration. It takes an unusual ability to focus to copyedit in a noisy place. Most copy editors work in private offices or cubicles. A growing number of copy editors work from home.
Deadlines are an important issue for copy editors. Newspaper and magazine copy edi...
Outlook
Employment of all editors will decline by 3 percent from 2018 to 2028, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Competition for those jobs will remain intense, since so many people want to enter the field. There will be more job opportunities for copy editors in Internet publishing, versus print media, as online publishing and services continue to grow. Many companies n...
