Editorial assistant

Editorial assistants provide support at all stages of the publication process for books, journals, magazines and online content.

Also known as: Publishing assistant

• Starter salary£24,000 a year
• Experienced£30,000 a year
• Typical hours37 to 39 a week

What you'll do

As an editorial assistant, you could:

• be a point of contact for authors for routine enquiries
• update databases, spreadsheets and other records
• read documents and make corrections
• deal with rights and permissions
• act as a personal assistant to commissioning editors
• work with images and page layout software
• proof and edit online text, including social media content
• compile and send out newsletters
• provide admin support at all stages of publishing

Working environment

You could work in an office or from home.

Skills and knowledge you'll need

You'll need:

• knowledge of English language
• knowledge of media production and communication
• excellent written communication skills
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• excellent verbal communication skills
• the ability to work well with others
• to be flexible and open to change
• the ability to organise your time and workload
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently

How to become a editorial assistant

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• an apprenticeship
• working towards this role
• specialist training courses with professional bodies

University

You can study for a university qualification before looking for work. Subjects like English, journalism or media and communication studies may give you an advantage, though most subjects will be acceptable.

If you want to specialise in a particular field of publishing, you may need a degree that's closely related to it, for example physics or maths for a scientific journal.

An excellent grasp of English language will be essential for all jobs.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English
• 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

Apprenticeship

You can apply to do a Publishing Professional Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship with a company to get into this role.

This typically takes around 2 years to complete and is a mix of workplace training and study.

Entry requirements

Employers will set their own entry requirements.

Work

You could work in a publishing office or a company's communications department, as an admin assistant or copywriter, and work your way up through in-house training and promotion.

Volunteering

You'll find it useful when applying for jobs to have done some paid or unpaid work experience in publishing, for example on behalf of a charity.

Other routes

You could take a proofreading or editing course, like the ones offered by The Publishing Training Centre or the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading .

Career path and progression

With experience, you could take up senior roles, such as editorial team leader or content department head. You could also move into rights management, become a commissioning editor or work freelance.

Career tips

Skills in image editing software could be useful for some jobs, though employers would give you training in the packages they use.

Professional and industry bodies

You may find it useful to join organisations like the the Publishers Association and Professional Publishers Association for professional recognition, training opportunities and to make industry contacts.

Guides for this industry

• Creative & Media: pay, interviews and getting started →

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