Annual Salary
£25,000 to £50,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
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Commissioning editors request or buy authors, book titles and ideas to publish them.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends; away from home
There will be
2.4% more Commissioning editor jobs in 2027.
As a commissioning editor you could:
You could work in an office.
You can get into this job through:
To become a commissioning editor, it will help if you a have a degree. The subject you choose is not usually important but relevant subjects include:
If you want to work for a specialist publication like a technical, medical or scientific journal, you may need a degree in that subject instead.
You could do a postgraduate qualification in publishing or digital publishing but it's not essential.
You'll usually need:
You could apply to do a Publishing Professional Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship, which may help you to get a trainee or assistant editor role with an organisation.
This typically takes around 2 years to complete and is a mix of on-the-job training and off-site study.
You'll usually start out as an editorial assistant and work your way up.
There's a lot of competition for jobs so you may find it easier if you have a degree.
You'll need some experience before you apply for your first job in publishing.
To build up your experience you can:
This is also a good way to get to know people who work in the industry. This will help as many jobs are not advertised.
If you have specialist subject knowledge, you can apply directly for commissioning editor jobs in academic publishing.
You could take a proofreading or editing course from The Publishing Training Centre or the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading.
You may find it useful to join the Publishers Association and Professional Publishers Association. It might help you get professional recognition, training opportunities or make industry contacts.
You can find out more about becoming a commissioning editor from the Publishers Association and the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading.
You can also get information on working in creative careers from Discover Creative Careers.
With experience, you could become a senior commissioning editor, editorial manager, director or you could work as a freelance consultant.
You'll need: