Understanding the Various Types of Editors

Do you love language and have a passion for writing? Perhaps you have a knack for taking a piece that someone else has written and improving it to make it more polished and concise. If you’re interested in a career that involves working with written language, consider becoming an editor. 

There are many different types of editors in the publishing field and beyond. Some common types of editing include line editing, copy editing, proofreading and developmental editing. You can determine which specialty area suits you best when you explore what each type involves.

In This Article:

• What Is an Editor?
• What Does an Editor Do?
• Types of Editors
• Pursue Editing: Begin at GCU

What Is an Editor?

An editor is a written communications professional whose primary responsibility is refining content for publication, including, but not limited to, photos, videos and social media content. Often, this means ensuring that published writing is well-organized, factually accurate and free of grammatical and spelling errors. When writers submit content for publication, editors must review and revise it as often as needed until it is ready for publication. High-ranking editors, who plan content and distribute writing assignments to writers, are called managing editors or editors-in-chief.

Editors play an important role in numerous industries, particularly the media field, where they work on books and magazines. Editors also work in scientific and technical fields, as well as for the entertainment industry and media streaming distribution services.¹

What Does an Editor Do?

The tasks an editor is in charge of are as follows:

• Evaluate writing submissions
• Correct grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors
• Review content for coherence and flow
• Verify facts
• Help writers improve their writing skills and the content they submit

An editor may have the opportunity to rise to an editor-in-chief and as such would be responsible to:

• Develop content and story ideas
• Assign writing tasks to a writing team

Types of Editors

There are numerous types of editors — both in the media and publishing industries and beyond. When considering the role of an editor, however, many people are likely to think of the publishing industry.

As you might expect, all the books sold each year require a significant amount of editing. Every book published goes through multiple rounds of editing under the close scrutiny of various types of editors — including developmental, line and copy editors. The process starts at the office of an acquisitions editor. 

Acquisitions Editor

An acquisitions editor does not typically do much editing themselves. Instead, their job is to acquire promising new manuscripts for the publishing house or literary agency.

Acquisitions editors must be attuned to the latest and upcoming trends in publishing, as well as to readers’ expectations. They select manuscripts based on the literary talent of the author and the sales potential of their work.

As they go about evaluating a book’s potential, acquisitions editors generally follow a checklist. For example, they might ask the following questions:

• Does the book fit the imprint? (For example, a romance imprint will not publish car repair manuals.)
• Is there a similar book currently on the imprint’s list?
• Is the synopsis intriguing?
• Does the author have an established online presence?
• Is the book impossible to put down?

Even if a manuscript needs a great deal of work, an acquisitions editor may decide to buy it if it has potential. Once the acquisitions editor agrees to a deal with the author and their literary agent, the editor is responsible for shepherding the author through the rest of the publishing process.

Developmental Editor

After the acquisitions editor has acquired a manuscript for the publishing house, it is then sent to the developmental editor, sometimes referred to as a structural editor. A developmental editor is a “big picture” editor. This professional is not necessarily concerned with smaller details like comma usage; rather, they address broader issues like structure, plot, character development, dialogue, voice and style.

While evaluating a manuscript, a developmental editor will consider many factors, including the intended audience. Specific genres of fiction books generally include certain elements that the audience has come to expect. For example, readers of the romance genre generally expect a happy ending, such as a wedding.

Fact-Checking Editor

Fact-checking editors typically work on nonfiction publications, although some works of fiction also require fact-checkers. This type of editor may also work on newspapers, magazines and academic journals.

As you might imagine from the job title, a fact-checker is an editor who combs through manuscripts line by line to identify facts in need of verification. The professional then researches the fact in order to verify it. Even fiction writing contains elements of truth. For example, a novel might tell the story of a character who is a veterinarian. The fact-checker would be responsible for verifying the various facts regarding any medical conditions discussed in the book.

Line Editor

Line editing refers to the process of going through a manuscript line-by-line with a fine-toothed comb. The goal is to make the writing as polished as possible, such as by eliminating redundancies, suggesting word choice improvements, adjusting sentence structures and so on. That is why this type of editing is often referred to as “stylistic editing.”

Instead of focusing on big-picture issues like character development and plot structure, line editors focus on the style of the writing itself. As an example, consider the following before-and-after sentences:

• Before line editing: “Jessie hoped and hoped that her college acceptance letter would come today, and so she spent hours waiting by the window, staring off into the distance, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the mail truck.”
• After line editing: “Jessie sat by the window for hours, eagerly awaiting the appearance of the mail truck in the hope that her college acceptance letter would arrive today.”

As you can see by comparing these two sentences, line editors focus on making prose polished and more engaging for the reader. In other words, they improve the flow of the writing.

Copy Editor

Copy editing is similar to line editing in that it involves going through the manuscript carefully, one line at a time. Compared to line editing, however, copy editing is more technical than stylistic.

Copy editors focus on correcting inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization errors, shifts in tense and similar issues. For instance, a copy editor following the Associated Press (AP) style will ensure that numbers one through nine are written as words and numbers 10 and above are written as numerals. In short, a copy editor makes the writing more readable by eliminating distracting inconsistencies and mistakes.

Proofreader

After a manuscript has gone through developmental, line and copy editing, as well as fact-checking, it is sent to the typesetter or designer to create the hard copy layout for the book. Then, a galley proof is created. A galley proof is like a test copy of the book.

This test copy is sent to a proofreader. It is the proofreader’s job to comb over every detail in search of mistakes that the copy editor may have missed or that the typesetter or designer may have inadvertently introduced to the text. The proofreader serves as the final checkpoint before the finalized version is completed and printed.

Managing Editor

Much as the job title suggests, the managing editor manages the day-to-day operations of the publication. This professional is charged with creating the overall content strategy for the publication, managing the teams of professional writers and editors, tracking the progress and results of content campaigns and ensuring that all published content adheres to the publication’s style and voice.

Production Editor

Production editors are responsible for overseeing the life cycle of a writing project from start to finish. They do everything from planning the angle and scope of the content to assigning the writing project to a writer to editing and proofreading the copy.

Production editors are also in charge of some administrative tasks. For instance, they may negotiate contracts with freelancers and manage their departmental budget.

Photo Editor

Not all types of editors focus on the written word. Photo editors specialize in working with images.

Photo editors are responsible for reviewing and understanding the visual element needs of various publications. They select appropriate photos and often use photo editing software before arranging the images in an aesthetically pleasing layout.

Associate Editor

An associate editor, also known as a section editor, works on a particular section of a magazine, journal or newspaper. For instance, a sports magazine may have different section editors for each team covered by the publication.

The associate editor is responsible for cultivating a team of contributors and commissioning articles as well as their accompanying photographs. They then edit the completed writing and may request revisions before granting final approval.

Editor-at-Large

The job of an editor-at-large, also called a roving editor, is unique. This role is generally awarded to journalists who have already proven their professional competencies and are known to be innovative thinkers. Editors-at-large aren’t generally assigned particular stories to work on; rather, they work on whatever assignments interest them — so long as those stories fall under the scope of the publication.

Editor-in-Chief

The editor-in-chief is the most senior editor at a publication and is charged with establishing its overall voice. They manage all the editors across all the departments in the organization. The editor-in-chief is more of a manager than a hands-on editor. They have the final say in which articles get published.

Technical Editor

Technical writers create documents such as instruction manuals, training handbooks and operational procedures. The types of editors responsible for improving these materials are technical editors. The job of a technical editor is quite different from that of any other type of editor because of the unique nature of technical writing.

In technical writing, the goal is not to convey information creatively with the intention of sparking an emotional response in the reader. Rather, it is simply to convey practical information in a straightforward manner using as few words as possible. A low word count is particularly crucial for instruction manuals, both to ensure the clearest possible presentation and to avoid common errors. 

Video Editor

Video editors are responsible for polishing raw footage to prepare it for publication, such as for a broadcast, movie, TV show or commercial. This type of editing involves using specialized software to cut, splice and arrange various segments of the raw footage. The goal of video editors is to create a cohesive narrative through an audiovisual presentation.

Social Media Editor

Social media editors are content creators. Rather than simply editing the writing that others produce, social media editors usually create their own content. First, they develop an overall content strategy before developing compelling copy and sourcing visuals to accompany a post. Then, they edit the content before publishing it to various social media channels.

Pursue Editing: Begin at GCU

Professional editing services are essential for creating polished, publication-ready content that will engage, entertain and inform the audience. There are many different types of specializations within the editing profession. No matter which career appeals most to you, you can build a firm academic foundation for your future at Grand Canyon University.

Here, you can choose from a range of relevant degree programs, such as the Bachelor of Arts in Communications degree or the Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing for New Media program. At GCU, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to practice the writing craft and begin building a professional portfolio that you might use later when applying for work. 

Fill out the form on this page to speak with a university counselor and begin exploring the possibilities at GCU.