Commissioning Editor

Typical Salary

£20,000 To £40,000

Typical Hours

37 to 39 a week

evenings / weekends away from home

How To Become a Commissioning Editor

You can get into this job through:

a university course
working towards this role
applying directly
specialist courses run by professional bodies

College / University

The degree subject you choose is not usually important but particularly relevant subjects might include:

publishing
creative writing
journalism

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

Apprenticeship are not listed for this job.

Routes into this Career

You'll usually start out as an editorial assistant and work your way up. There's a lot of competition for jobs so you may find it useful to have a degree.

You may be able to apply directly for a job as a commissioning editor in academic and professional publishing, if you have a high level of specialist subject knowledge.

Other Routes

You could take a proofreading or editing course, like the ones offered by the Publishing Training Centre or the Society for Editors and Proofreaders.

Skills And Knowledge

You'll need:

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

Day To Day Tasks

Your day-to-day duties could include:

keeping up to date with trends in the book market
identifying future markets and new products
deciding whether to accept submitted manuscripts
developing ideas for books and identifying suitable authors
preparing publishing proposals, including costings, projected sales and income
making decisions on reprinting, revising, and producing new editions
making sure schedules are followed and deadlines are met

Working Environment

You could work in an office.

Career Path & Progression

With experience, you could move on to be a senior commissioning editor, editorial manager, director, or work as a freelance consultant.

Volunteering Opportunities

You'll need to get some experience before applying for your first job in publishing. To build up your experience you can:

volunteer for student and community newspapers
keep an online blog
have an online presence on sites such as Twitter
submit articles and reviews to local papers or websites

This is also a good way to develop contacts, as many jobs are not advertised.

Tips & Information

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.

Further information

You can find out more about becoming a commissioning editor from:

You can also get information on working in creative careers from Discover Creative Careers.

Restrictions & Requirements

Restrictions & Requirements are not listed for this job.