Microcosm is Hiring a Book Editor! – closed

Microcosm Publishing is looking for an early- to mid-career book editor who is excited to work with Microcosm on all stages of editing. If you love the puzzle-solving of developmental editing, relish the challenge of turning a disorganized manuscript into a book that can make a splash and save lives, and want to learn and grow along with us, please consider applying.
Microcosm is a reader-oriented publisher, primarily working with non-literary, nonfiction manuscripts by first-time authors. Our goal is never to craft a beautiful turn of phrase or achieve grammatical perfection, but rather to offer readers valuable, practical tools to change their life and world, while preserving the author’s unique voice and always having the most fun. You can learn more about our editorial program and processes in our department documentation.
Hours: This is a full-time, 40 hour per week position.
Location: A desk is available in our Portland office if desired, but this position can be fully remote.
Experience: For this position, we are only considering candidates with experience editing books for publication. Other types of editing and coaching skills are valuable, but books require a specific skill set and that’s what we need this time around. The ideal candidate would come to us with one to four years of experience (or equivalent, time-wise—we know life isn’t always so straightforward).
Core job duties:
- 50% developmental/global edits
- 30% line editing
- 20% copy editing or management/scheduling, depending on the qualifications and interests of the person hired.
Requirements:
- Experience editing nonfiction books for publication
- Strong developmental and line editing skills
- Adequate copy editing skills
- Comfortable editing directly in Google Docs
- Flexibility to work with a variety of author writing and communication styles
- Ability and willingness to edit books about topics that may be sensitive to some, including trauma, abuse, and recovery, non-christian religions, various marginalized identities, drugs, sexual instruction, and erotica
- Expertise as a sensitivity reader in at least one domain
- Ability to meet or exceed deadlines without operating in a state of last-minute urgency
- Ability to prioritize between multiple projects and work independently
- Strong work ethic and desire to continually learn and improve
Preferences/level-ups:
- Production editorial experience
- Management and leadership skills and interest
Pay and benefits
Starting wage is $18-$22 per hour, and goes up $1/hour after 90 day trial period. Starting pay will depend on level of responsibility in previous editorial work, ability to work independently, and management/leadership capabilities.
- All company profits are distributed to staff in the form of raises and bonuses
- Paid sick time
- Health insurance
- Paid time off (coming in early 2023!)
- Fully remote work option
- Flexible work hours and time off
- Employee ownership program after five years
- Transparent compensation and clear metrics for advancement
- Meaningful work at a fast-growing company
To apply:
- Fill out this application, and
- Submit either a sample of 2-5 manuscript pages you have edited (with suggestions/track changes showing your work) or this editorial test
Application deadline: November 15, 2022