What does a technical editor do?

“What does a technical editor do?” you’re no doubt wondering. Indeed one should ask, “what doesn’t a technical editor do?”

Most people, unless they’re involved in the publishing industry, don’t really have a good appreciation for how much work goes into producing a book between an author finishing his or her masterpiece and that same tome rolling off the printers. This is especially true for first-time authors, and even more so if a book contains lots of code. And if the author’s first language is not English, then you can count on the effort required to be doubled again.

Massaging descriptions, improving metaphors and anecdotes, checking the accuracy of code, verifying that best practice approaches are being followed, cleaning up screenshots—these are all things that fall into my domain.

It’s a great job for me because it challenges me in three areas that I’ve always enjoyed—the technical (depending on the topic of the book), the creative (creating diagrams or retaking screenshots) and the literary (reworking descriptions, and rewriting entire pages in some cases).

A love for both the technical and the creative is the reason I decided to pursue a career on the Web in the first place. I didn’t expect to find the same job satisfaction working on books, but it’s no surprise really.

Update: SitePoint is looking to hire more technical editors. Apply online now!

posted: 07.01. 2007, 07:51 (0)