Recipe Editor Careers Information
Recipe Editors, sometimes known as cookbook editors, combine their excellent writing skills with a love of cooking. Like other editors, they must scan written texts for technical errors and unclear writing.
Recipe Editor Careers & Degrees
- Grand Canyon University: Online
- B.S. in Elementary Education: English (With IR and Cert.)
- B.S. in Secondary Education: English
- M.Ed. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) (No IR, No Cert.)
Unlike other editors, however, recipe editors also need to understand cooking well enough to know when a direction is incorrect. Thanks to the work from recipe editor careers, anyone with a kitchen can make an assortment of meals with relative ease.
Recipe editors can fulfill a few different roles in the editing process and, depending on the size of the project, they may perform one or many of them. Like copy editors, they may simply be hired to catch typos and obvious mistakes, such as mixing up tablespoon and teaspoon measures.
Recipe editors may also make suggestions for revisions in order to make the directions clearer to the intended audience. For instance, overly technical directions may not be suitable for a cookbook meant for the average person cooking at home. This work is especially important considering the fact that most cookbook authors are primarily chefs and cooks, not writers.
In a similar vein, some cookbook editors are charged with sorting through manuscripts and deciding which ones may be profitable in the marketplace and therefore worth working on. They may encourage popular chefs to produce personalized cookbooks and help them do so.
Recipe editors may be a type of research chef as well. These editors make each recipe in the book or work closely with those who do in order to make sure each recipe produces a good meal. They will tweak the recipe as needed a little less of this, a little more of that,until it produces consistently good results.
Recipe Editor Careers Path
Recipe editors, as a mixture of two professions, may take a couple of paths. Most editors have at least a Bachelor’s degree, often in English. Recipe editors should have strong writing skills at the very least.
Unlike regular editors, however, cookbook editors also need to have a solid foundation in cooking. They must not only be able to make meals, but also accurately record the steps and the amounts of each ingredient.
Therefore, recipe editors may earn culinary degrees or at the very least have a great deal of experience preparing food. Regardless of the path she takes,an English major who loves to cook or a culinary student who writes well,a recipe editor should work to be a clear and concise communicator.
Recipe Editor Careers: Compatible Personality Traits
Highly analytical, excellent written communicator, attention to detail, patient, critical thinker, inquisitive, meticulous, works well under pressure of deadline, project oriented, works well with others.
Recipe Editor Careers: Salary Expectations
As a type of editor, recipe editors may expect to earn an average yearly salary of $49,990, with the middle fifty percent earning between $36,690 and $69,140. Of course, two key things may affect these figures. One is that the special expertise of recipe editors having technical knowledge of cooking may help them earn more money.
The second is that because many editors, of all stripes, are paid by the hour/page/project, their average yearly pay greatly depends on the number and size of the projects they complete. Cookbook editors with excellent credentials in both editing and cooking and who have a reputation for good worth should have the best chance of finding work.
Recipe Editor Careers: Job Outlook
Competition for recipe editors should be high. As with most editing/writing positions, there are often many more qualified people than open positions. This may be less true, however, for recipe editors considering their unique skill set.
Also, with the recent popularity increase of all things cooking, with famous personalities, television shows, and even entire networks dedicated to cooking, many more cookbooks may be published, thereby increasing demand for those with the skill to edit them.
Recipe editors with better education, excellent writing skills, and a record for completing successful projects on time and within budget should have the best chance of finding work.
Slightly off the Footpath
Source: bls.gov/oco/ocos320.htm; bls.gov/ooq/2002/fall/yawhat.pdf
