Copy Editor Salary

Providing grammatically correct, clean, and understandable copy is the key for any publication, and the majority of that responsibility fall squarely on the shoulders of the copy editor. A copy editor, in its most basic form, goes over all of the text, pictures, and layout of a publication to find common mistakes, such as grammatical errors, misspelled words, incorrect information, and to ensure that all text follows the in-house rules of the publication. This job is rife with long hours, deadline pressure, and the pursuit of the literary accuracy of anything that crosses their desk. Any piece of copy that needs to be corrected, rewritten, or reread, is then either fixed by the copy editor or sent back to the writer.

The copy editor is normally one of first set of eyes to see text after its written and one of the last to see it before it is sent to the printer for publication. Many times, is a grammatical error or misspelling makes it to print, it is blamed on the copy editor. Most copy editors find work at newspapers, magazines, publishing companies, and in human resources, marketing, and public relations departments of major companies.

To become a copy editor, experience combined with a college degree is required. Most copy editors either major in English, with a strong focus on vocabulary and grammar, or in various types of media, primarily journalism or public relations. While is primary education and in secondary education, emphasis should be placed on courses that teach various writing styles (MLA, AP, Chicago), teach you common and uncommon grammatical rules, and expand your vocabulary as far as possible.

Experience can also easily be gained while in school, either though smaller freelance work or working for a school publication, like the student paper or the yearbook. Most are in desperate need of copy editors and proofreaders. You can also potentially find paying work as a university writing center or tutoring younger students.

The copy editors salary is based primarily on the amount of experience you have, and does not directly reflect the amount of stress most copy editors are put under. Here are the common copy editor salary ranges that can be found based on experience.

*0-4 Years- $27,000 to $40,000
*5-10 Years- $37,000 to $50,000
*10-20 Years- $39,000 to $63,000

After hitting the 20 year mark, salaries are generally capped for most publications, but it is not uncommon for many publications to pay more than $70,000 for an experienced, deadline driven copy editor.

Many copy editors also find supplemental income freelancing. Many freelance copy editors charge $20 and hour or more to proofread documents for small businesses and smaller publications.

The copy editor position is normally underpaid, overworked, but is commonly appreciated when everything comes out clean and concise. If you have a love of words, becoming a copy editor will give you more words than you could ever want.

Copy Editor Salary Graph

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