Want to become a freelance book editor?

Want to become a Freelance Book Editor?

Editorial Arts Academy: Where wordsmiths learn to prosper from their passion

Have you ever wondered whether you’d make a good book editor? Maybe you spot typos in the books you read, or you readily think of ways a novel could be strengthened. Maybe you’ve always wanted to turn your love of words and books into a profitable, rewarding career. Or maybe you just want to explore freelance work for the flexible lifestyle it affords.

We’re longtime freelance book editors, and we love what we do. We started Editorial Arts Academy so we could teach others how to prosper from their passion.

Take our Editor Profile Quiz!

Not all editors are good spellers or grammar geeks. There are different editorial roles depending on what stage of the book you work on.

We’ve found four editor profile types and seven editorial roles for freelance book editing. To see where you fit in, take our Editor Profile Quiz.

The quiz takes about ten minutes. You’ll learn which of the four editor profiles you fit and also get an idea of what kinds of editorial roles/jobs you could pursue: beta reader, manuscript evaluator, writing/book coach, developmental editor, line editor, copyeditor, or proofreader.

About Freelance Book Editing 101

Want to know how to become an editor of popular books for a general audience? (Examples of these kinds of trade books are fiction, creative nonfiction, how to/wellness/business, and Young Adult.) If so, then this is the class for you.

Learn more about the class by clicking the button below.

Learn about FBE101

Editorial Arts Academy was founded by us, longtime freelance book editors Nancy Marriott and Susannah Noel. Since the mid-1990s, we’ve enjoyed successful careers editing fiction, nonfiction, genre titles, self-help, and everything in between. We formed Editorial Arts Academy because we wanted to have the perfect answer to the question we’ve heard over and over through the years: “I’d love to become a freelance book editor, but how do I get started?”

Learn More About Us

How we help

“I’ve always wanted to be a book editor but felt paralyzed about how to get started. Susannah and Nancy broke down the process of getting started as a freelance editor into manageable parts, so it feels doable to me now.” —Sarah Yahm, Educator

“Susannah and Nancy are full of knowledge and positive energy and are super fun to work with! They provided concrete steps and tools that can help me turn my hobby of editing friends’ emails and Facebook posts into a freelance career.” —Joy Worland, Librarian

“Susannah and Nancy have been deeply helpful to me in every imaginable way as I begin my journey toward becoming a freelance developmental editor of YA novels: planting the seed of the idea that I might parlay my skills and love of reading into the role of book editor; supporting me at every step with information, resources, and priceless samples of their own editing expertise at work; and availability to answer any and every question that might arise. Their deep knowledge and passion and enthusiasm for sharing what they know has been a great gift.” —Nancy Disenhaus, Ed.D., Retired English Teacher

We’ll Teach You How to Edit Books!

We’re developing courses geared toward wordsmiths who’ve always wondered how to get started as editors. Our online courses will be targeted specifically toward editing trade fiction and nonfiction books (the kinds of books you might read for a book group). In addition, we’ll provide community and support through online groups and mentoring/coaching. We’d love to keep you updated. For announcements about our courses and other offerings, sign up below.

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