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Posted on Oct 08, 2021
Being a Managing Editor: Responsibilities, Skills, and Salary
About the author
Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.
More about the Reedsy Editorial Team →About Linnea Gradin
The editor-in-chief of the Reedsy Freelancer blog, Linnea is a writer and marketer with a degree from the University of Cambridge. Her focus is to provide aspiring editors and book designers with the resources to further their careers.
Learn more →You’ve become an editor (or are looking to become one), and you want to know what’s in store for you down this career path. Managing editor is a senior role that professionals usually aim for, and we’re here to give you a quick breakdown of what the job entails, what skills it requires, and how well it pays.
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What is a managing editor?
As the title suggests, a managing editor’s main job is to manage a publication’s overall production process. If a regular editor is primarily responsible for checking and improving a piece of content, then a managing editor’s role is to make day-to-day operational decisions and ensure that every piece of content produced meets the publication’s goals and standards.
You can find this position in publishing houses, magazines, and newspapers; it’s also sometimes seen as the equivalent of a content manager in marketing.
Q: What is the difference between a managing editor and other editing roles?
Suggested answer
A managing editor plays the role of traffic cop to keep everything flowing. Or, to use another image, the managing editor keeps the trains running on time.
At a traditional book publisher, a managing editor keeps track of production schedules for all the projects being handled by various editors. At a New York publishing house, the managing editor has a team of production editors working under him or her. The production editors are responsible for hiring copy editors, keeping the interior layout on track, hiring the indexer, and so forth. The managing editor oversees that whole process.
At a traditional publishing house, an editor (or senior editor or executive editor) is responsible for acquiring the book--i.e., choosing which book to publish and negotiating the contract. The editor also is responsible for developmental editing. There's a common perception that New York editors don't really edit. It's true that some editors are deal makers who hand off the edits to an assistant or some other editor. But many editors work closely with authors on the edits.
If you're looking on Reedsy for an editor, you want an editor who has experience working with authors and manuscripts, who understands the market you're trying to reach, and who works closely with text rather than just gives you high-level comments.
Jed is available to hire on Reedsy ⏺
In the publishing industry
Within publishing, a managing editor (sometimes referred to as executive editor) schedules upcoming book releases and overlooks the production of all of these titles so that everything is delivered on time and up to standard. They will also work closely with the publisher’s important authors on what are oftentimes lead titles.
As you can guess, it’s a lot of project management, which is why many editors who enjoy the literary and creative aspects of their job tend to go for self-employement instead of staying in management as their career progresses.
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In the news industry
In journalism, managing editors oversee the publication’s staff, assign articles, and proofread every single piece due to be published to make sure there are no typos and that it's ready for publication. They have the power to hire and fire editors and reporters, and they decide whether to publish controversial pieces. Since news managing editors have their background in reporting, they’ll sometimes write a column for the paper, too.
Managing editor vs. editor-in-chief
In newspapers and magazines, you may find there's another management position an editor can take on, and that's the position of the editor-in-chief. Is managing editor the same as editor-in-chief? The answer is no: unlike a managing editor, who is mostly concerned with day-to-day operations, the editor-in-chief works primarily on long-term strategy and direction by collaborating with the company’s executive board and being present in things like partnership meetings. In other words, the chief is higher up the command chain than the managing editor.
Note, however, that in some small publications, these two roles are merged into one.
In marketing
In a marketing context, a managing editor determines marketing strategies, plans and assigns work, and again is the final proofreader for all content produced. Oftentimes, this also involves coordination with the design and sales teams. Content produced may take the form of blog posts, advertising copy, or even videos.
What skills are needed to become a managing editor?
What makes a good managing editor? Beyond being great at checking and improving text, some other things that are expected of a managing editor are leadership and the ability to strategize for the long term. And though getting there often requires a lot of patience (especially in the book and news industry), waiting for the right vacancy to pop up, working on the following skills can give you an edge when you apply for that coveted position!
Q: What skills do you need to become a managing editor?
Suggested answer
A managing editor has oversight of the entire production schedule (all the books being produced that year) and works with everyone having anything to do with "making" the book. They need to be very organised, a problem-solver, cool-headed, a great communicator and have a strong understanding of how books are made. They work with lots of different editors, authors, designers and typesetters, maybe audio producers or rights contacts too, and so they need to be both proactive and approachable. The managing editor needs to know what is going on, and how to help their colleagues and their authors get the work done to the highest standard and on schedule and budget.
Lauren is available to hire on Reedsy ⏺
1. Interpersonal skills
Management is all about coordinating and working with a team, so one of the most important skill sets for a senior-level editor is that of interpersonal skills. A managing editor delegates and communicates feedback to their team members so that every aspect of the publishing process is done well and done punctually.
That doesn’t just include checking deadlines and exercising quality control — it also means having a good grasp of your team members’ strengths, their fluctuating workloads, and balancing everything out so that everyone functions together as one unit. On top of that, you’ll be the intermediary between your team and other departments in the company, sometimes including logistics and finance. All of this involves a lot of communication, oversight, and organization.
What you can do to hone your skills is to be mindful of your colleagues within and without your department, be open and respectfully curious about their job so as to familiarize yourself with different communication channels earlier on.
Want to make it big time in the book industry? Get tips from senior editors at Big 5 publishers from our interview with them on what it’s like to work in publishing.
2. Creative vision
It might sound vague, but having a creative vision is a very crucial thing employers look for in a managing editor. As someone in charge of leading the editing team, you’re expected to contribute to the long-term goals of the publication by identifying new ideas to try out.
This doesn’t mean that you have to individually come up with ground-breaking projects — it might just involve being up to date with the latest topics of interest in your field and brainstorming with your team to find the best course of action. Especially for managing editors in the newsroom who get a big say in who to hire and fire, it’s as much about assembling the right creative team to work with as it is about having a lightbulb moment on your own.
How much does a managing editor make?
As with all discussions on the topic of editor salaries, the amount a managing editor is paid really depends on the type and size of the publication. Needless to say, the bigger the company, the higher the salary. Location also affects how much you are paid and salaries are often higher on the East and West coasts than it is in other regions in America, for instance.
In book publishing, a managing editor salary usually falls between $50,000 and $90,000. Working for an educational imprint like Pearson tends to pay more than a trade publisher, though the difference isn’t drastic.
Managers in the media and marketing worlds enjoy slightly higher pay, falling in the $70,000-$110,000 range.
It’s worth reiterating that these are just averages that may or may not reflect your own experience. At the end of the day, salary is also affected by your level of experience and how you negotiate this with your employer. If you’ve honed your expertise and you have a strong drive to lead a creative team towards producing high-quality content, there will be good opportunities waiting for you.
Hopefully we've answered some of your pressing questions about what it's like being a managing editor. For more tips about getting into the publishing industry, head over to our post on how to become a book editor right here!
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