About Our Professional Editors
Elite Publishing House Experience Guaranteed
Because Kirkus’ reputation was built on our unparalleled ability to assess literary merit, we select only
the strongest editors to join our team. Our triple qualification process guarantees that your manuscript
will go to an experienced editor with a track record of success.
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Portfolio
Kirkus only selects editors who have worked on books published by the top publishers in
the United States. We define the “top publishers” as the major five (Penguin Random
House, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and HarperCollins), award-winning
independent presses, such as Graywolf, Kensington, and Abrams, or otherwise notable
genre publishers, such as Harlequin.
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Testing
If an editor’s portfolio meets our discriminating standards, he or she is invited to
complete our testing round, which is used to evaluate skill level.To pass the testing
round, an editor must prove his or her ability to provide thoughtful, productive
feedback, show exceptional attention to detail, and exhibit expert knowledge of The
Chicago Manual of Style, the style guide used by all major U.S. publishing
houses.
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Performance
Kirkus’ editors are held to the industry’s highest performance standards, which means our
stable of freelancers have proven track records of meeting deadlines and maintaining
consistent quality. We ensure that our standards are met on each project by assigning an
experienced production editor to review all work before it is returned to the
author.