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Erin Wicks 鈥�11 wanted so badly to be a book editor that she willingly took a few steps down the professional ladder to get that opportunity.

She had been hired as an e-book rights assistant at HarperCollins Publisher soon after her graduation from DePauw; within three years she was a producer of audiobooks, including the Grammy-nominated 鈥淵es Please鈥� by Amy Poehler. But when a friend told her he was leaving his job as assistant to a renowned book editor, 鈥淚 just thought I would always regret it if I didn鈥檛 see what editorial was all about.鈥�

She got the job, and the accompanying pay cut. But it paid off. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very much a mentorship industry,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how I learned how to be an editor, how to do all of the other things in my job that you don鈥檛 normally think of when you think of what a book editor does.鈥�

She started climbing the rungs again until she became a full-fledged editor at Harper, the publisher鈥檚 flagship imprint, where she acquired and edited books for the last three years. Among them was 鈥淭he Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois鈥� by Honor茅e Fanonne Jeffers, an 816-page epic that landed on more 鈥渂est of the year鈥� lists than any other novel in 2021.

On Feb. 1, she moved to Zando, an independent publisher founded in 2020 that leverages the marketing clout of 鈥渋nfluencers,鈥� such as musician John Legend and Gillian Flynn of 鈥淕one Girl鈥� fame. Wicks is a senior editor there.

鈥淎s the editor, it鈥檚 your job to be bringing in the books, setting the vision for publication and seeing the whole thing through,鈥� Wicks said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e an editor, you鈥檙e wearing so many different hats.鈥�

She courts agents 鈥渟o they understand my tastes and I can get in strong submissions,鈥� she said. Wicks鈥檚 taste in books is her 鈥渧alue as an editor.鈥� She is especially interested in publishing authors who write from perspectives underrepresented in the marketplace.

When a book interests her, she calls the author to make sure they鈥檙e a good match and warns that 鈥淚 am a very hands-on editor.鈥� If the fit is good, she pitches the book up the chain of command, suggesting how much the company should bid at auction, the way most books are sold these days. If she acquires the book, she works closely with the author to develop its structure, characters and plot, conducting as many as eight rounds of edits and ultimately homing in on individual word choices and sentence placement (but leaving grammar to the copy editors). Her edits of 鈥淟ove Songs鈥� took two years, and she often is editing four or five books at once.

Twelve months before publication, Wicks launches the book to the whole company, seeking to enlist marketers and publicists who will be as enthusiastic about the book as she is. She writes retailers鈥� copy and suggests a cover idea, then participates in a team that selects the final choice. She also acts as a liaison to the production team 鈥渢o make the actual book happen.鈥�

At its best, Wicks said, her relationship with an author is 鈥渄eep and beautiful and meaningful. 鈥� My dream is to be the kind of editor that publishes my authors throughout their careers, and really develops those relationships.鈥�