How to Become a Copy Editor: The Complete Guide

A copy editor refines and polishes a writer’s work, ensuring clarity, coherence, and correctness. In our text-driven world, every industry needs someone with an expert eye for grammar, punctuation, and style. But beyond technical accuracy, a great copy editor elevates an author's voice, maintaining consistency in tone and structure. With meticulous attention to detail and a sharp red pencil in hand, copy editors pave the way for effective communication.

If that sounds exciting, this guide covers everything you need to know about the profession and how to kick-start your career.

Looking to hire a copy editor, not become one yourself? We’ve got 100+ copy editors available for hire right here.

What do copy editors do?

Understanding the scope of copy editing is crucial for building a successful career. Let’s take a closer look at what the role entails.

Copy editors focus on form and coherence

Copy editing is one of four main types of editing. Typically, a manuscript first undergoes a developmental edit, addressing big-picture elements like structure and themes. Once the overall content is solid, a copy editor steps in to refine the language, ensuring clarity and consistency while adhering to relevant style guides.

Think of it like cooking: developmental editors ensure the soup has all the essential ingredients, while copy editors fine-tune the seasoning to perfection. Afterward, the manuscript moves to a proofreader for a final polish.

Key responsibilities

To excel as a copy editor, you should be familiar with the core aspects of the job, including:

• Checking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors
• Revising word usage, repetition, and dialogue tags
• Ensuring clarity, coherence, and consistency
• Refining text formatting (e.g., bold, italics, paragraph breaks)
• Maintaining inclusive and appropriate vocabulary
• Fixing descriptive inconsistencies (characters, locations, etc.)
• Correcting unintentional POV or tense shifts

However, copy editors do not typically:

• Provide feedback on story structure
• Comment on character development
• Alter an author's voice

Top tip: To keep track of all creative choices when they're editing, copy editors often create editorial style sheets. Learn more about it here.

What copy editing jobs are there?

Copy editors work in all kinds of industries to provide polished and clean texts, from publishing and journalism to marketing and corporate communications. You can work in-house or as a freelancer, depending on your career goals and personal preferences.

In-house copy editing

In-house copy editors typically work for publishers, newspapers, or marketing forms, reviewing manuscripts, articles, or promotional material. 

Working in-house offers a steady income with potential benefits and the possibility of career advancement within the organization, but it offers less flexibility and your workload, schedule, and salary are decided by your employer. 

Freelance copy editing

Many copy editors choose to go freelance, collaborating with independent authors, journalists, or companies. It is also common to be hired by publishing houses on a freelance basis.

As a freelance copy editor, you’ll have the flexibility of choosing your projects, setting your own rates, and managing your own schedule, but you won’t always have a steady stream of income and will need to invest time towards self-promotion and business administration.

What is a typical copy editor salary?

Regardless of the field, both in-house and freelance copy editors can make good money, depending on their level of expertise.

According to Ziprecruiter, copy editors in the US earn an average of about $60,000 per annum, though this will depend on your level of experience and location, as well as what industry you’re in (hint: publishing is not quite as lucrative as legal copy editing).

As a freelance editor, on the other hand, you set your own rates. On the Reedsy marketplace, copy editors charge an average of $0.024 per word or $1,600 per 70k word project. That means that you’d have to take on about two to three projects per month for an annual take-home of $50–60k. The more experience you have, the more you can charge — so your rates should increase as you gain expertise.

For more detailed information on how to set your editing rates, check out this article. 

What qualifications and skills do you need?

While you don’t strictly need a publishing degree to become a copy editor, you’ll need a mix of technical and interpersonal skills to do your job well.

Let’s briefly look at what basic skills you need before you can start looking for copy editing jobs. 

Copyediting certification and training

It goes without saying that you need to have expert knowledge of English grammar and syntax to be a good copy editor. You can learn the foundations by pursuing a degree in something like English, communication, or journalism, but to go from a skilled layman to a true professional you should consider getting a certificate that attests your copy editing skills. 

In addition to indicating to clients that you are a trained professional, most copyediting courses will teach you common errors you might find in a text, practical skills to work with authors, diverse and inclusive language choices, and how to find jobs as a freelance copy editor. They will also teach you how to work with style guides. 

Style guide fluency

Copy editors need to be consistent and accurate. Style guides are key for this as they provide a framework for everything from em-dashes to Oxford commas and citations.

Common style guides include:

• Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) — common in book publishing
• Associated Press (AP) — used in journalism
• APA or MLA — used in academic writing

 Luckily, these guides are available online so you don’t need to learn them all by heart, but the more familiar you are with them, the more efficient you become at your job. 

Top tip: on top of style guides, copy editors can also set up customized style sheets for each project to maintain consistency.

Strong work ethic and interpersonal skills

Copy editing can be a solitary venture, as you’ll spend lots of time reading lines on your own. To succeed in this business, it’s key to be focused, disciplined, and able to work independently. At the same time, you’ll need good communication skills in order to work with and retain clients. 

Computer literacy and organization skills

Most copy editing jobs require a solid understanding of editing software, such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs, as well as email, calendar, and file management tools. Additionally, you need to be well-organized if you hope to manage multiple projects without missing deadlines.

How do you become a copy editor?

Gain practical experience

Saying you know copy editing is one thing; being able to show clients hard evidence of your skills is something else entirely. The question is, how do you gain experience when you’re just starting out?

Before landing paid gigs, to build experience you can: 

1. Join writing and editing communities: r/copyediting or r/writing on Reddit, the university paper or journalism club, and creative writing societies are just some of the communities that offer opportunities to practice and network in a low-pressure environment.
2. Volunteer your services: offer to edit for non-profits or student newspapers to build a portfolio (but only on a short-term basis).
3. Apply for internships and entry-level roles: opportunities in publishing or media companies are competitive but provide hands-on training that is widely recognized. You can also think outside the box and get a start in adjacent industries. 

As you build your experience, remember to keep track of everything you do that could eventually go into your portfolio.

Be flexible in the beginning

Though it is always best to specialize within one niche, you might not be able to work on what you truly want at first. Editor Alyssa Matesic shared in a webinar that she worked on a lot of thrillers and suspense in her in-house career but once she gained enough experience to go freelance, she was able to pursue her real passion: creative nonfiction.

Don’t worry about getting it perfect when you start. Begin with a genre you can work in or even in an adjacent field and by the time the opportunity you dream of comes around, your resume will be strong enough to give you a proper chance of getting the job.

Look for freelance opportunities

If you prefer a more independent approach, it is possible to start freelancing right away. Platforms like Upwork or Fiverr are good to get a foot in the door and once you have a solid portfolio, you can find legitimate and consistent copy editing jobs through:

• Publishing marketplaces like Reedsy
• Editorial societies’ job boards
• Occasional job postings on LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit
• Major book publishers (who maintain a database of regular freelancers). 

⚠️ Be aware of freelancer scams on sites with less stringent criteria like Upwork.

You can read about Reedsy’s selection criteria here.

Specialize in one editorial niche 

The sooner you can start specializing as a copy editor, the better. Think of it like this: an academic copy editor may be great at clarifying technical expressions and formatting in-line citations but they may not be used to the more poetic prose of literary fiction. Logically, clients want to work with someone who knows their genre.

As you test the waters, consider your specialty on two levels:

• The format: Do you want to work on news and magazine articles, SEO copies, or full-length books? 

• The genre: Will the content be about politics or lifestyle; the tech industry or education; romance or thriller — or something else? 

Build a strong portfolio

Your portfolio or freelancer profile is your shopfront and your resume, where clients come to see whether you’re fit for their project. It should clearly indicate your experience and expertise, as well as what type of work you tend to do.

The structure we have for Reedsy profiles, and what we’d suggest for everyone, goes as follows:

• A brief introduction of yourself, including qualifications, and specialty
• A friendly yet professional profile photo
• A detailed list of relevant employment experiences, if any
• A portfolio of books (or texts) you’ve worked on
• Reviews and testimonials from former clients, if any

Select the right samples

Your portfolio should not be a complete list of everything you have ever done. Instead, your samples should highlight your expertise and experience in your particular niche, displaying work in your preferred genre front-and-center.

Polish your presentation

To give a good first impression, you’ll want to organize your samples in a clear manner, and, crucially, avoid any typos or grammatical errors. Then, finish your portfolio off with a friendly yet professional profile photo that shows online clients that you’re approachable.

Wondering if you should create a Reedsy profile? This quiz will tell you if you meet our selection criteria:

For more specific tips on how to set up a Reedsy profile, check out this article. 

Promote yourself and network 

Leverage client feedback

Whether you’re freelance or in-house, you’ll need to spend some time on self-promotion to gain some traction in the industry. One of the best ways to market yourself is to let others do the work. Nothing is more reassuring to a potential client than hearing from previous clients that you are understanding, professional, and excellent at your job.

Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your clients after each collaboration to get some customer testimonials and maintain contact with past clients in case they have a new project going on. Who knows, they might also refer their author friends to you.

For more tips on building strong partnerships with authors, check out this discussion on client retention strategies between editors Allister Thompson and Ashley Wyrick.

Expand your online presence

Just like when you were starting out as a copy editor, engaging with writers and fellow copy editors online in forums and on social media platforms is a great way to find new clients. Contributing consistently, even once you have your foot in the door, is a way to keep your finger on the pulse, but also to get your name out there to a wider circle.

Join professional associations

If you haven’t already, join your national association for copy editors, such as the American Copy Editors Society (ACES), or the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP). They organize a ton of events for professionals, provide job boards and networking opportunities, and give advice on things like contracts or freelancing.

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A career in copy editing is both rewarding and flexible. You’ll get to take part in shaping compelling stories, collaborate with talented authors, and continually refine your craft. Whether working in-house or freelancing, the key to success is honing your skills, specializing in a niche, and consistently delivering high-quality work. Good luck!