I always knew I wanted to work in the book industry. I knew it ever since I received my first laptop at 9 years old (it was a hand-me-down from my dad and only used to write stories). I fell in love with writing stories and swore one day, I’d grow up to be an author.
Fast forward to college. I’d been very aware and interested in the publishing industry. I decided that as an elective I would take a creative writing class, since I wanted to be an author. Every week our assignment was to write a short story and each Friday we switched with another person in the class and went home over the weekend to critique the work.
Ever since that moment, I realized I really enjoyed reading others’ stories and helping to improve them. From there, I went on to taking more editorial type of classes and continue to do so today. I realized that while I’d still love to be an author, I love working with authors on their visions and helping them towards their dream of being published!
Being an editor isn’t just about finding mistakes in a manuscript, it’s about helping the author create the best version of their story. Pulling out their strengths, while being honest with constructive criticism. Being an editor isn’t about reading a manuscript, telling the author everything that’s wrong, and then moving on. An editor should have a positive friendship with their author and truly care about their work.