Life as an assistant editor - interview with Sophie Dawson
Assistant Editor Sophie Dawson
I’m really excited about today’s interview! Sophie Dawson is an Assistant Editor at publisher Head of Zeus. She also recently worked on my second Charlotte Rixon novel, which is coming out later this year, and she’s been a real joy to work with! So I’m thrilled that she agreed to answer a few questions about her work, especially as I know that many authors wonder what it’s like to be on the other side of the fence…
Please can you tell us a little bit about your background, and how you came to your position as Assistant Editor at Head of Zeus.
My publishing career started when I was fortunate enough to be accepted as an intern for Michael Joseph at Penguin Random House, where I worked on their romance and fantasy titles.
The internship was a phenomenal experience and from there I went on to work as an editorial assistant at Mills & Boon, HarperCollins for a year and a half before I secured my current position at as part of team Aria at Head of Zeus.
What does a typical day at work look like for you?
First things first, I’ll open up my emails and work through those, but I always spend the first half an hour of my day checking what’s charting on Amazon and using this information to tweak data in our systems to increase visibility of our titles. We have set days for particular meetings, so from there I might be briefing a cover, sitting in on acquisitions meetings, catching up with our production team etc.
Background work really varies from day-to-day depending on where we are in the lifecycle of our books, but throughout the day I’ll be doing a mix of communicating with authors and agents and working on broader projects.
In the face of tight deadlines it’s not always viable but, when possible, I like to spend the last part of my day reading submissions – a lovely way to wind down from the day unless you get so hooked you just can’t stop reading!
What are your favourite parts of your work?
Definitely reading submissions. It’s such a lovely part of the job and nothing can beat the feeling of finding a title that you’re excited about and see so much potential in. You know you’ve found a good one when it’s hard to walk away from your desk!
And your least favourite?
When deadlines are tight, the stress does come creeping in. Shifts in workload tend to come and go in waves, but certain parts of the year are inevitably stressful when we have more titles publishing at the same time.
It’s difficult when something you’re so invested in becomes stressful because then just looking at another book is off-putting!
How many books might you be working on at any one time?
This completely varies and is quite hard to pin a number down. I might be ‘working’ on a book in a sense of setting up for an acquisition, or working on the text and cover of a title itself. I’m also doing work on lots of our backlist titles at the moment, so I don’t think I could give a number.
For any frontlist/upcoming titles, our average lead time is about a year, so anything we have coming up around that time period is on my mind.
What kind of books do you work on?
Fiction only and romance/romantasy specifically. I’ve been very lucky that I’ve always worked on my preferred genres to read.
Are you involved in the acquiring of books for Head of Zeus’s list?
Whilst I don’t acquire myself yet, I’m definitely involved in the process. Our editorial director for Aria sends all submissions to the team and we will read and feedback on our thoughts. It’s one of my favourite parts of the job, but it can be a lot of pressure – no one wants to say no to the next Fourth Wing!
What are the biggest misconceptions that authors have about the publishing industry?
My instinct is to say that most of the job is just reading which definitely isn’t the case.
How can authors get the most out of their experience working with their publisher?
I think by being as open and receptive to feedback as possible. It’s always hard receiving constructive criticism on a project that so much love and care has gone into, but publishers are able to offer different perspectives and a specialised industry knowledge that an author might not necessarily have.
At the end of the day, it’s a creative process and all we are trying to do with an edit is get a book in the best shape it can be and offer insight on what we think readers will respond to well.
Are there any mistakes that authors should look out for before submitting their books to publishers or agents?
It sounds obvious, but continuous spelling/grammatical mistakes are always off-putting. When you’re reading so many submissions, the little pet peeves do stand out.
Also, not a mistake as such, but a strong opening is extremely important. Crafting your first chapter, page, or line can make a big difference. There has to be incentive for an editor to keep reading or, to be blunt, they won’t. Given the volume of submissions we are sent and how hectic the job can be, it’s got to be good to be worth the inbox building up.
“You’re in good hands! If we’ve bought your title, there is passion behind it”
What one thing do you wish all authors knew?
That you’re in good hands! If we’ve bought your title, there is passion behind it. No editor would buy a book that both themselves and their team weren’t excited about.
A lot goes on behind the scenes, so it’s hard to get a sense of the process. But everything we do for our books is because we want them to succeed and be the best they possibly can be.
Finally, are there any books you’ve worked on that you’d like to give a shout about?
Well, I can’t not mention After the Fire – mark your calendars for August 1st and get ready to have your heart broken and put back together again!
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