Most book editors started their careers with a degree in literature, journalism, communications, etc. Those are all proof that you have completed a training course in necessary knowledge, such as technical and creative writing, drafting, reviving, and publishing.

That said, you don’t need to have a degree to be a book editor. However, you must equip yourself with fundamental knowledge of writing, gain strong writing and reading skills, build a logical and careful mind, practice good communication skills, and study for yourself a wide knowledge of a specific book genre to take it to your advantage.

In addition, a good book editor also needs to thoroughly understand literature, be good at building story structures, and logical hierarchy, learn how to tell a story, how to build a character and connect it to other ones, how to create the plot and how to develop the story, etc.