My hiring process for the positions has three main steps: a letter of introduction to the position’s duties and pay, an edit of a short partial manuscript along with a critical analysis (for content editors) and an edit of a completed short along with a revision letter (again for content editors). When I first started doing the hiring at my previous position, I didn’t include the first step–the letter of introduction to the position’s duties and pay. I quickly came to realize this letter was a crucial part of the process, because many people aren’t familiar with the business model of digital publishing or with the method of payment generally employed by digital publishers to pay their editors, and many applicants were expecting either an hourly wage, a salary or a high per word pay.

Every digital publisher does pay somewhat differently, but most pay editors via book royalties in some way. Some publishers pay editors only in book royalties, some pay a small fee per book plus royalties, or other variations of these ways. At Quartet, we pay content editors per word edited, payable immediately upon delivery of a completed manuscript, plus a percentage of the book’s royalties, payable quarterly. This allows the editor to be paid promptly for their work, but to also share in the book’s success.

There are pros and cons for both the editor and the publisher to payment in this manner. In the “con” column, it can make it difficult for publisher to attract experienced editors to the position. On the other hand, it makes it an attractive position to new applicants, eager to learn the trade and enthusiastic about helping build the publisher and the author. For the editor who works under this pay structure, especially those who work on a royalty-only basis, with no flat fee or per-word fee, working for royalty-only can be both risky and discouraging for several reasons, including having to wait months to get paid for work performed and little to no pay for publishers/books that have low sales.

On the plus side, the editor enters into a kind of partnership with the publisher and author, invested in acquiring the best manuscripts possible, polishing them to the highest quality, and enthusiastically promoting them. For the editor, this payment arrangement can mean escalating paychecks and a share of each book’s success. Editors who work with successful publishers and authors come to appreciate this arrangement and see the benefit of it.

Publisher who enter into this type of arrangement with their editors do not do so lightly, and reputable publishers revisit the policy periodically as the company grows, to ensure editors continue to be compensated fairly for the time, effort and loyalty shown to the company, and to ensure the payment structure continues to be the best choice for the publisher, editors and authors. At Quartet, one of our goals as a publisher is to grow not just our company, but our editors and authors as well, and that includes re-evaluating and innovating processes as needed.

We realize that this type of payment arrangement is new to many in publishing, though authors, readers and editors familiar with digital publishing will probably have seen this discussed before. We’d like to hear comments from both sides, those who are familiar with this pay structure and those who are new to it. What are your thoughts?

I won’t lie, it’s a big task, and the past few days have been a blur of emails and Word documents as I get the process going. But it’s a task I love, because I’m excited about building the editorial team at Quartet. I love the camaraderie of working with a group of editors who love the books, authors and editing process as much as I do, and I look forward to again working with people who share my obsession with hyphens and commas. If it sounds like I’m describing you, I hope you’ll consider working with us.

As I go through the steps of hiring editors, the main thing I’ll be looking for is skills demonstrated during the testing process. I do look at resumes and/or past experience, but because of the nature of the job, I am most interested in seeing a practical application of skills.

I would like to add, as it’s been asked several times, that one of the beautiful things about digital publishing is its flexibility, and part of that includes the ability to hire contractors from any location. This is a telecommuting position and where you live will not be a factor.

You’ll find the job posting here if you’re interested, but here’s a highlight:

At this time we are searching for motivated individuals interested in working on one to four releases a month as an editor in all genres of romance, women’s fiction, YA, science fiction, fantasy and urban fantasy. Preference for both positions is given to non-authors or to writers not actively seeking publication/pursuing a career in writing, but authors will be considered as well. We are especially seeking editors with interest in working with non-erotic genres such as romantic suspense, historical romance and fantasy, though editors will be asked to acquire and edit across the romance and fantasy genres.

Duties include but are not limited to reading and responding to submissions, contracting books, editing and finalizing manuscripts, communicating with authors, final line editors, other content editors and Quartet press partners about various things such as cover art, excerpts, blurbs, promotion and more. Training and ongoing support will be provided to editorial staff at Quartet Press.