Associate Editor

Inkitt; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Diversity & inclusion

Career growth opportunities

Job summary

Inkitt in San Francisco is seeking an Associate Editor to shape their romance catalogue. You will reimagine manuscripts, adjust stakes, pacing, and character motivation, then present revisions to authors and readers backed by data.

You will work with authors and AI-assisted tools to craft bold editorial plans, run reader tests, and iterate based on feedback, building strong relationships with the content team and contributors.

Qualifications

• 1-3 years in editorial or publishing.
• MFA or equivalent preferred.
• On-site in San Francisco.
• Strong knowledge of romance tropes and subgenres.

Responsibilities

• Read deeply to diagnose where readers lose interest and why.
• Draft bold editorial plans for major rewrites with new hooks and strengthened character motivation.
• Collaborate with authors and AI tools to implement rewrites.
• Run reader tests on revisions and interpret results to inform next drafts.
• Build relationships with authors, editors, marketing, and content teams to improve each book.

Skills

Editorial instincts

Romance genre knowledge

Data-driven decisions

Collaboration

Education

MFA or equivalent in writing/publishing

Tools

AI tools

Job description

Inkitt is building the Operating System for Storytellers, standing at the forefront of technology and entertainment.

Leveraging AI and predictive algorithms, Inkitt discovers unknown stories and turns them into blockbuster hits, producing a new $1M ebook every 7 days and selling directly to consumers through its Inkitt Galatea app. Bestsellers are then translated onto the screen through Inkitt CandyJar, the #1 US-based microdrama platform with billions of episodes streamed to date, and Inkitt Ironblood, the world's first streaming app for superhero, sci-fi and action stories.

Inkitt has become the 11th most bestseller-generating publisher in the world, boasting a 40x higher hit-rate than traditional publishers.

Backed by some of the top VC’s such as: Khosla, Kleiner Perkins, and NEA Ventures, our recent expansion into Ironblood, the first AI Native streaming platform for action and adventure, is only the beginning of our journey to becoming the next-gen entertainment powerhouse.

The Role:

We’re building the best romance catalogue in the world, and we’re assembling a small team of creative people to do it. As an Associate Editor, you’ll take books that readers almost love and reimagine them: the characters, the stakes, the pacing, the plot, the emotional payoff. You’ll study how readers respond, work out what’s holding a story back, and rebuild it into something that hits far harder. Then you’ll put your version in front of real readers and see if you were right.

What You'll Do:

• Read deeply and diagnose. Find where and why a story loses readers, using the manuscript, reader feedback and engagement data.
• Write clear, bold editorial plans for major rewrites: new hooks, reworked arcs, sharper character motivation, payoffs readers can’t stop talking about.
• Bring your vision to life. Execute those rewrites in collaboration with authors and agentic AI tools.
• Test your instincts. Run reader tests on your revisions, interpret the results, and carry what you learn into the next book.
• Build relationships with authors, freelance editors, marketing and the wider content team, who will be your collaborators in making each book better.

What You'll Bring:

• You love romance and read widely in it. You know the tropes, heat levels and subgenres, and you have strong opinions on why readers keep coming back.
• You have sharp editorial instincts. You can say exactly why a story isn’t working and what would fix it.
• You’re a creative thinker with big story ideas, and you get excited by the chance to reinvent a book, not just repair it.
• You’re comfortable with developing creative theories from quantitative data. You can look at reader data, form a hypothesis and explain it clearly.
• You’re excited to use AI as a creative tool, with the taste to judge what it produces and make it better.
• You’re smart, curious and hungry. You learn fast, take ownership, and want real responsibility early.
• You have 1-3 years in editorial or publishing, an MFA, or similar. Your judgment and ideas matter more than your résumé.
• You can work on‑site in San Francisco 5 days a week.

Nice To Have:

• Experience with serialized or web fiction (Wattpad, Galatea, Kindle Vella, webtoons)
• Experience giving developmental feedback to writers
• Your own fiction, playwriting, or screenwriting experience. We love people who make things.

$80,000 - $100,000 a year

At Inkitt, we strive to build a company culture and provide employment opportunities based on diversity and inclusion. We believe every author should have an equal opportunity to succeed, as should our team members. As a growing team from 20+ countries, we welcome everyone to apply.