A chance internship leads to a lasting career
Sharon Hodge never imagined herself as an editor, but after 20 years at the Star Tribune and six years at Bethany House Publishers, she sees editing as an answer to prayer.
By Lydia Gessner
Sharon Hodge went to the Star Tribune to build a clip file. Instead, she found a career.
“I wouldn’t be an editor now, I wouldn’t have been an editor at the Star Tribune, had I not done that internship.”
Hodge said, “I hadn’t even really thought about that, but they were looking at my stuff and they were like, ‘You’d be a really good candidate for this editorial internship,’ and I did that and I really liked it. And after the internship they offered me a job and I enjoyed that job for 20 years.”
Now Hodge is a line editor at Bethany House Publishers and has been for over five years.
She’s not a “frustrated writer” as some people assume editors are, instead she sees herself as “an advocate for the reader” and is there to make their work “the best it can be.”
Q: What are some of your responsibilities as an editor? What does your day-to-day job look like?
A: In a season I’ll usually have two or three books that I’m editing, so day-to-day I’m working on a book or two. Usually, I’ll have one I’m in the process of doing the line-edit for, but then I also usually have books I have edited that are still going through different stages of the production process. So even though I’m done with the line edit, if I’m the project editor, I’m still seeing it through those other stages of production.
I’m not as much an editor who’s emphasizing the turn of phrase and beautiful writing. To me, my role as a line editor in the nonfiction realm is asking what the author’s message is and making sure what they’re writing is getting that across. I’m more interested in making sure it’s clear, true and well-supported. Other people may say it’s important that the work sings, and you know a lot of nonfiction, it’s not singing, and that’s not what people are looking for. It’s always great, but the best thing you can say about a book is that it didn’t get in its own way.
Q: Thinking about career path, was it a big step to go from fast-paced journalism editing to this?
A: It was. I got a communications degree from Augsburg. I’ve had one journalism class my whole life, which was for my major. I did corporate communications for a couple of years to decide where I wanted to go. On my way to deciding I wanted to do my own communications company, I thought I needed to build a clip file, so I went to the Star Tribune, and they told me they don’t do that, but that they do have editorial internships.
Before I did that, I had a stint at this community newspaper where I was the managing editor and the vice president of projects — associate publisher. It was a big title at a small paper. I was quite young, so it was cool. I took the job at the Star Tribune after my internship and then I stopped working at the community paper. And so I did that editing for 20 years and that was very interesting. What I loved about that was you came in, you had your stuff that you did, and at the end of the day you were done. So short cycle, very quick turnaround unless you were working on projects, which I did from time to time, but mainly it was the daily stuff.
Q: What section of the newspaper did you edit?
A: When I came in at the paper, I came in on the local desk, which almost everyone did when we started. So we worked on Minneapolis, Twin Cities stuff, but we spent the first part of our shift doing world and national work. When I wanted to move to the day shift, I edited features. It was very fun. I worked in features for many years, like books, food, entertainment, lifestyle, and I spent years on the faith and values team. Everything got shifted around, and then I did nights again toward the very end.
Q: What brought you to Bethany House?
A: Even while I was at the paper, a couple of people knew I was an editor, and so I would do freelance work every once in a while. I was very busy, and I wasn’t really looking for it, but people would come to me with stuff and ask me to edit it. A couple of people came with books, like Christian books or Bible studies or something they wanted to turn into books, so I got my first taste of book editing as a freelancer. Many of us knew the newspaper industry was contracting back then, so I knew I wouldn’t be there forever.
I always wanted to edit books, and I always wanted to work at a Christian workplace. When I realized Bethany House was here, every once in a while I would check and see if they had any editorial openings. Then finally, when I was working at VocalEssence, I saw one. So I went for it and I got the job and I was very excited. I had only worked part time ever since my son was born. This was a fulltime job and at first I wasn’t sure, but I felt like I should take it. To me it was just an answer to prayer, so it was super cool. I started as a copy editor here for about a year, and then I became a line editor.
Q: What would be your advice to students who aspire to become an editor?
A: I would say, obviously, do a lot of reading. Edit your own stuff, too, not that you shouldn’t have other people edit your stuff, but practice editing your own. I would say, just like any other field, I think internships are hugely important. And the reason I say this is I didn’t have a journalism background; I didn’t even have a writing degree.
I think a good editor is very curious about the world and has a broad base of knowledge because you only know what’s wrong if you know what’s right; otherwise, what’s wrong gets perpetuated.
Now there are editing courses; there weren’t editing courses when I was in school. I think the value of editors is being appreciated a bit more now, and people understand that an editor is not just a frustrated writer. I’ve never wanted to really be a writer; I’ve always liked editing. So I tell people you have your role, and I like my role. My role is to make your stuff better. If I want to write something, I’ll write it — but I’m here to edit yours. That’s how I see myself — I’m an advocate for the reader, making sure they are getting what they need from whatever you’re putting out here, but I’m also an advocate for you because I want your stuff to be the best it can be.
For Sharon Hodge, working at Bethany House Publishers is an answer to prayer. Her career connects her with life-changing stories. She helps authors make their message clearer so their words can have a greater impact on readers. The career she wasn’t looking for became the one she’s always longed for.
