Write an Editorial Assistant Resume That Gets a First Publishing Job
Editorial assistant resume examples and a guide to internships, slush reading, permissions, scheduling and the skills publishers screen for.
Example Editorial Assistant summary
Editorial assistant supporting two acquiring editors on about twenty titles a year, from signed contract through copy edit to page proofs. Reads a dozen submissions a week and writes reader reports with comparable titles, clears text and image permissions, and keeps title metadata accurate for catalogs and retailer feeds. Trained in Chicago style and tracked changes.
Skills to list on a Editorial Assistant resume
- Manuscript tracking
- Reader reports
- Slush pile reading
- Permissions and rights
- Chicago Manual of Style
- Proofreading
- Track changes
- Title metadata
- Catalog copy
- Editorial scheduling
- Author correspondence
- Meeting minutes
- Microsoft Excel
What actually gets this resume read
- Lead with the number of titles or writers you support, because publishers hire assistants to hold volume.
- Name the stages you track: contract, delivery, copy edit, page proofs, printer files and publication date.
- Put reader reports on the resume if you write them, and say what a report from you contains.
- Show permissions and rights work explicitly, since it is unglamorous, essential, and rarely on a junior resume.
- List every system by name, including the title management database, the CMS and any scheduling tool.
- Turn your internships into real bullets with volumes and outcomes rather than a bare list of duties.