Business Idea #20 - Book Editor

Absolutely no start-up dollars needed. Just a love of books and a grasp on grammar.

January 17, 2025

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BOOK EDITOR

How to Start and Run a Book Editing Business: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you love books, have a strong grasp of grammar and storytelling, and enjoy helping authors bring out the best in their writing, starting a book editing business could be a fulfilling and profitable career path. Whether you're freelancing solo or eventually building a small team, here's how to launch and manage your own book editing business.

Step 1: Define Your Editing Services

Book editing includes a range of services, and you’ll need to be clear about what you offer:

  • Developmental Editing: Big-picture editing of plot, structure, pacing, and character development.

  • Line Editing: Improving flow, clarity, tone, and language at the sentence level.

  • Copyediting: Fixing grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.

  • Proofreading: The final polish before publication, catching minor typos and formatting issues.

You can choose to specialize in one type of editing or offer a combination depending on your skills and target market.

Step 2: Identify Your Niche

Instead of marketing to all authors, narrow down your focus to a niche that fits your expertise or interests:

  • Fiction (genres like romance, fantasy, thriller)

  • Nonfiction (memoirs, self-help, business)

  • Academic or technical books

  • Indie or self-published authors

Specializing helps you stand out and attract clients looking for exactly what you offer.

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Our team has over 30 years of experience in starting and running successful businesses. If you have a start-up idea you would like some feedback on, send us a note at [email protected]. Tell us about it and we’ll let you know what we think.

Keep reading. You are bound to find something you want to do.
Michelle, Sophia & Seth. The Green Owl team.

Business ideas anyone can implement.