"Average" Week

I was speaking with a couple people the other day who were shocked when I told them that editors often don’t read or edit books in the office and have to bring that work home. There are too many other things going on during the workday! So, to illustrate this fact, here is a minute-by-minute recap of my hours spent working last week.

Please note: this isn’t meant to be representative of what editors do. It’s not even necessarily representative of what I do. Some weeks are busier than others. Some weeks are full of meetings. Some weeks I take more work home or stay in the office later. My goodness, some weeks are even FIVE days long.

Even though there’s no such thing as an ‘average’ day, this is my schedule as an editorial assistant last week.*

Tuesday**

9-9:30	Settle in; read emails that have piled up over the long weekend
9:30-10:30	Attend cover strategy meeting for Books A and B
10:30-10:45	Update Facebook page
10:45-11	Mail Book C final manuscript to author
11-12:30	Read Book D first draft manuscript and write reader’s report (started early last week)
12:30-12:45	Miscellaneous including request title change for Book E, order books, print out updated schedule of important dates
12:45-1:45	Read Book D first draft manuscript and write reader’s report (partly while eating lunch)
1:45-2	Review industry-related magazine and blogs
2-3	Finish reading Book D first draft manuscript and write reader’s report
3-3:30	Attend marketing meeting
3:30-4:45	Draft copy for our digital catalog
4:45-5	Watch book trailer for Book F, update Facebook page, prepare for tomorrow

Wednesday

9-9:30	Settle in; read emails
9:30-10	Miscellaneous including circulate materials and gather attendance for editorial group for upcoming week
10-10:45	Write and polish reader’s report for Book D
10:45-11	Miscellaneous including organize email and go through to-do list in preparation for meeting with boss
11-11:15	Meet with Boss#1
11:15-11:30	Review royalty statements (planned on doing this for an hour)
11:30-12:30	Boss#1 receives Submission A she’s excited about, so asks me to reading ASAP
12:30-1:30	Attend Harper-sponsored lunch about cover design
1:30-4:45	Continue to read Submission A and write reader’s report
4:45-5	Read industry-related articles online, prepare for tomorrow
8-8:30	Speak with student from my alma mater about how to break into the publishing industry
9:45-11	Read Book G.  This manuscript is edited by another person on the team, not my bosses, but the editor thinks this book is special and really wants everyone (editorial, sales, publicity, etc.) to get behind it.  So I'm reading it because of that and because it just sounds so amazing!  This intersection between work and fun reading is exactly why I love my job so much.

Thursday

8:45- 9:30	Settle in; read emails, read industry-related blogs
9:30-10	Miscellaneous including emails, organize calendar, look into contract issue, order contractual book copies for authors, report attendance
10-11:30	Group editorial meeting
11:30-11:45	Miscellaneous including emails, deal with a DHL delivery issue
11:45-12	Cover strategy meeting for Books G and H
12-12:15	Finish drafting copy for our digital catalog
12:15-12:30	Miscellaneous including emails, update Facebook page
12:30-12:45	Eat lunch while reading Submission A and writing reader’s report
12:45-1	Miscellaneous including talk with Boss#1, organize to-do list, emails
1-1:30	‘Lunch’ break
1:30-1:45	Emails
1:45-4:30	Review ARC manuscript of Book I for typos, etc.
4:30-5	Update Facebook page
5-5:15	Prepare for tomorrow
8-8:30	Read Book G
11-11:15	Offer book buying advice for friend's niece
11:15-11:45	Read Book G

Friday

9-9:45	Settle in; read emails
9:45-10	Figure out payment issue
10-11	Miscellaneous including review jacket for Book J, organize calendar, get copy of Book K from design, deal with audio book issue, emails
11-1	Review royalty statements
1-2	Harper-sponsored ‘lunch’ meeting on book-centric social media
2-2:15	Run out and get lunch
2:15-2:45	Miscellaneous (while eating lunch) including mail books to authors, emails, Deal with contract mailing issue
2:45-4:30	Read Book G
4:30-5	Miscellaneous including emails, prepare for next week

So, there you have it, the glamorous life of an editorial assistant!

* I haven’t included any of my kind-of-for-work-but-not-really-reading (aka children’s book published by other houses to keep up to date with the industry), but that’s a very important part of my subway commute/evenings, too.

** Times are rounded to the nearest quarter hour, to make up for circulating manuscripts and other materials to my bosses, checking my mailbox, keeping up with social media, replying to email quickly, answering phones, etc.