How To Become An Editorial Writer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an editorial writer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Nicole Walker

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an editorial writer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.05 an hour? That's $54,192 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 3,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an editorial writer?

Nicole Walker

Professor of English, Website

My main advice is to show potential employers how it's done!

ScoreEditorial WriterUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $54,192

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.8

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.35%

Asian 8.56%

Black or African American 6.44%

Hispanic or Latino 7.64%

Unknown 4.95%

White 72.05%

Gender

female 55.92%

male 44.08%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an editorial writer

Explore editorial writer education requirements

Most common editorial writer degrees

Bachelor's

79.7 %

Master's

12.0 %

Associate

4.6 %

Start to develop specific editorial writer skills

Skills	Percentages
Editorials	36.26%
SEO	7.84%
Opinion Pieces	6.82%
Editorial Content	6.39%
Blog Posts	5.08%

Complete relevant editorial writer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New editorial writers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an editorial writer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real editorial writer resumes.

Research editorial writer duties and responsibilities

Manage website by uploading and scheduling articles, fixing errors, proofreading, optimizing for SEO, and polishing content.
Compose, edit and proofread copy for obituary and life celebration announcements.
Research, pitch ideas and write editorials daily, including a community award-winning editorial and recognition for a four-part editorial series.
Research and identify public-policy issues and craft the paper's editorial opinions.

Prepare your editorial writer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your editorial writer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an editorial writer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable editorial writer resume templates

Build a professional editorial writer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your editorial writer resume.