Hiring: Freelance developmental editors
Apply to join the Ideas on Fire teamAt a glance
- Application deadline: October 9, 2026, 11:59 pm Eastern
- Role: Part-time, freelance (independent contractor)
- Location: Fully remote
- Projects: Scholarly books and book proposals
- Fields: Interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences (see our portfolio for full list)
- Project cadence: Varies based on project availability, subject expertise, and editor capacity
- Pay rate: USD $0.07 per word
- Start: As projects become available
About Ideas on Fire
Ideas on Fire is an academic editing and indexing agency at the forefront of interdisciplinary publishing.
Founded by Dr. Cathy Hannabach in 2009, Ideas on Fire partners with authors, publishers, research institutes, museums, and community organizations to bring ambitious, engaged scholarship into the world—books that reshape conversations about power, history, inequality, culture, and social change.
Our work has helped redefine what interdisciplinary editorial collaboration looks like in academic publishing.
The books we work on frequently become field-shaping texts, and we take seriously the responsibility of helping them enter scholarly and public conversations with critical generosity.
We treat developmental editing as rigorous intellectual work: identifying what a manuscript needs and developing concrete, actionable solutions to help authors strengthen its arguments, structure, interventions, interdisciplinary reach, and publishing position.
Editors work collaboratively within the Ideas on Fire team to produce thoughtful, cohesive guidance for each project.
The books and proposals we work on engage fields such as gender and women's studies, queer studies, trans studies, ethnic studies, critical race studies, Indigenous studies, disability studies, media and cultural studies, and other interdisciplinary humanities and social science fields.
Ideas on Fire brings together a global team of editors and indexers who believe that craft matters and that collaboration makes scholarship stronger.
IoF developmental editing helps authors:
- sharpen a book’s argument, intervention, stakes, and contribution
- build structures that make complex interdisciplinary arguments coherent and compelling across audiences
- strengthen chapters and their relationships to the book as a whole
- position projects strategically for today’s academic publishing landscape, including increasingly constrained lists, interdisciplinary audiences, and publisher expectations around audience, market, sales, and fit
- craft compelling book proposals that communicate the project’s argument, contribution, audience, market, comparable titles, and fit for prospective publishers
We are a specialized academic editing agency, and we are looking for editors whose experience and editorial practice align specifically with our work and unique approach to scholarly publishing.
Responsibilities
Depending on your experience and project fit, you may work on full scholarly book manuscripts, scholarly book proposals, or both.
Scholarly book developmental editing
- Developmentally edit full-length academic books in the interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences
- Evaluate argument, structure and organization, framing, chapter development, scholarly intervention and engagement, audience, and interdisciplinary legibility—and develop concrete solutions for strengthening them
- Provide substantive in-text comments and queries that give authors clear, actionable paths for revision
- Prepare detailed editorial reports that identify manuscript-level priorities and recommend specific strategies for addressing them
- Strengthen relationships among chapters and the book’s larger intellectual project
- Engage thoughtfully with theoretically complex scholarship on race, gender, sexuality, disability, colonialism, power, inequality, and related subjects
- Follow project briefs carefully, including project-specific priorities, deliverables, and timelines
Scholarly book proposal developmental editing
- Developmentally edit book proposals intended for academic and university presses
- Evaluate the proposal’s argument, intervention, stakes, audience, market, and publisher fit
- Develop concrete strategies for strengthening project descriptions, chapter summaries, comparable-title discussions, market identification, and other proposal components
- Help position interdisciplinary projects strategically within the current scholarly publishing landscape
- Provide actionable editorial guidance grounded in direct knowledge of current scholarly book publishing
Requirements
- 2+ years of direct professional experience developmentally editing scholarly books in the interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences
- 2+ years of direct professional experience developmentally editing scholarly book proposals that authors have successfully used in the academic publishing process
- Demonstrated familiarity with the fields Ideas on Fire works in. Please review our portfolio and fields before applying.
- Strong knowledge of scholarly book publishing and the purposes, audiences, and conventions of academic book proposals
- Ability to evaluate argument, structure, scholarly intervention, audience, positioning, and interdisciplinary legibility
- Experience working with conceptually dense and theoretically engaged scholarship
- Ability to follow Ideas on Fire’s confidentiality and data security requirements, including our prohibition on uploading client materials to generative AI tools or using generative AI tools for editing
- Strong command of US English
- Strong knowledge of the Chicago Manual of Style
- Expertise using Microsoft Word, including Track Changes and comments
- Reliable internet connection and access to your own computer and required software
- Ongoing engagement with professional development in developmental editing and/or scholarly publishing
- Demonstrated ability to manage deadlines and communicate reliably in remote, project-based work
Relevant professional experience means experience doing the work for which we are hiring—not editing your own work, peer reviewing, advising students, and the like (which are awesome skills, just not what we’re looking for in this professional editor role).
This role is a good match for you if
- Have 2+ years direct professional experience developmentally editing scholarly books and book proposals in our humanities and social science fields
- Have helped authors develop scholarly book proposals that successfully moved forward with academic publishers
- Understand what makes a strong university press book proposal—and why editing one requires different skills from editing a manuscript
- Can move comfortably between the architecture of an entire book and the details of individual chapters
- Enjoy interdisciplinary, theoretically engaged scholarship
- Are adept at editing scholarship engaged with race, gender, sexuality, disability, colonialism, power, and inequality
- Understand that editorial choices are intellectual and ethical choices
- Appreciate and meet clear deadlines, expectations, and responsibilities
- Communicate clearly and reliably, especially around capacity, timelines, and availability
- Are excited by a team-based process that includes editorial feedback and revision
- See developmental editing as an evolving craft and actively work to improve your practice
- Are genuinely interested in Ideas on Fire’s particular approach to scholarly editing and the kinds of projects we take on
How our agency model works
Ideas on Fire is a team-based editorial agency. Each book project is supported by a coordinated group—editors, indexers, and project managers—led by Dr. Cathy Hannabach. Together, we shape a cohesive book.
Developmental editors work with Ideas on Fire rather than directly with authors or publishers. Our CEO and project managers provide the project brief, coordinate schedules and deliverables, answer questions, and review editorial work.
Project teams are assembled intentionally, not through open calls. Editors are selected based on:
- Subject expertise and experience
- Editorial expertise, including book and book proposal experience
- Past performance with Ideas on Fire
- Availability and capacity
- Fit with the particular project
Our feedback process
Feedback and revision are core parts of the Ideas on Fire ethos.
Ideas on Fire leadership reviews developmental editing work as part of our collaborative quality-control process.
Depending on the project, you may receive:
- substantive feedback on your editorial approach
- questions about recommendations, queries, or editorial priorities
- requests to develop or clarify particular areas of feedback
- requests for revision when needed
We’re looking for experienced editors who are confident in their craft and welcome feedback, read it carefully, and revise thoughtfully.
Application
Applications are due October 9, 2026, at 11:59 pm Eastern.
When you submit your application, you will receive an email confirming receipt.
We will contact applicants selected for a Zoom interview by October 30, 2026, at 11:59 pm Eastern.
Because of the large volume of applications we receive, we are unable to provide individual application status updates.