Development Editor

We’re very proud of our development editors. It’s a tough job, shepherding technically brilliant authors and helping them channel their experience and wisdom into mere words.

There aren’t many people who have the technical skills, the project management skills, and a mastery of communication skills to be a great development editor. Are you up for the challenge?

We’re looking for editors who share our excitement and commitment to craftsmanship. We’re looking for editors who can help an author put the awesome into their book.

As a development editor, you’ll take book projects from inception to completion. You’ll help the authors find their voice, but still make it a “pragmatic” book—helpful to real developers, working in real jobs. You’ll help the author with content, organization, and flow. You’ll manage projects start-to-finish, scheduling authors, deadlines, and reviewers. Our Production Manager will take over and handle the nitty-gritty details to get the title in print, and our Managing Editor will help bring new authors up to speed and hand them over to you. Then it’s your baby. (If you know interesting folks who would like to write, that’s a plus, as you’re welcome to acquire titles as well.)

We run books like software projects: everything is checked in to a Subversion repository, and all books are written in XML markup. There’s a continuous build machine to see the latest builds in PDF, and you can build locally with a suitable machine. We like to run with iterations, so that authors are delivering something useful on a regular basis. If you’ve worked in a software company, this should all sound familiar.

We put our company name on the cover of each book. We put your name on the cover of each book, too. A proud craftsman signs his work, after all.

Why work with us? We’re a well respected, innovative publisher. We try very hard to stay agile and author-focused, and care deeply about the topics we publish on. Our editors work from home, and compensation is royalty-based. We live on the net, and our authors and readers do too.

Compensation is royalty based on a 1099 (independent contractor) basis. You set your hours depending on the nature and number of titles you edit.

If you’re ready for the challenge, contact jobs@pragprog.com, and put “Development Editor” in the subject line. Tell us in about 300 words why you’d be a good fit for us. If possible, link to your previous work or writing. We’d love to hear from you.