Editorial assistant

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

In this guide

What you'll do

Day-to-day tasks

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.

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.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

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

Most relevant

  • English Language - Editorial assistants spend much of their time reading, correcting, and editing text, so a strong command of grammar, punctuation, and style is essential. They also write newsletters, social media content, and correspondence with authors, all of which require clear and precise written English.
  • English Literature - Editorial assistants working in book publishing need to engage closely with written works, understanding narrative structure, tone, and audience. Studying literature develops the critical reading skills needed to assess manuscripts and spot issues with clarity, consistency, and style.

Also relevant

  • Media Studies - Editorial assistants help produce and distribute content across print and digital formats. Media Studies builds an understanding of how media industries operate – from rights and permissions to how different audiences engage with different publication formats – giving useful context for the decisions they support daily.
  • Business - Editorial assistants deal with rights and permissions, manage databases, and support the commercial side of publishing. Understanding how businesses operate – including contracts, intellectual property, and project management – is useful in this role.
  • Art and Design - Editorial assistants often work with images and page layout software to help prepare publications. Having an eye for visual composition, typography, and how text and images work together on a page helps them contribute to the design process.
  • Computer Science - Editorial assistants increasingly work with content management systems, databases, and digital publishing tools. Understanding how these systems are structured – including basic knowledge of HTML or web technologies – can be helpful when editing and formatting online content.
  • Modern Foreign Languages - Editorial assistants may deal with international authors, foreign rights, and translations as part of the publishing process. Language skills are particularly valuable in publishers that produce multilingual content or sell rights to overseas markets.

How to become

You can get into this job through:

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

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

More Information

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.

More Information

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.

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.

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 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.

Further information

You can find out more about becoming an editorial assistant from the:

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