Associate Editor

Inkitt • San Francisco, CA

6d • $80,000 - $100,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Inkitt is seeking an Associate Editor to help build its romance catalogue. The editor will assess books that are close to succeeding with readers, identify what is holding them back, and reimagine elements such as characters, stakes, pacing, plot, and emotional payoff. The work combines manuscript analysis, reader feedback, and engagement data to develop and execute major revisions, then test those revisions with readers and use the results to inform future editorial work.

The Associate Editor will collaborate with authors, freelance editors, marketing, and the wider content team, and use agentic AI tools as part of the creative process. The role is based on-site in San Francisco five days a week. Inkitt describes itself as a technology and entertainment company that uses AI and predictive algorithms to discover stories and develop them into consumer entertainment.

Requirements

• Love romance and read widely in the genre, with knowledge of its tropes, heat levels, and subgenres.
• Have strong editorial instincts and be able to explain why a story is not working and how to improve it.
• Be a creative thinker with substantial story ideas and interest in reinventing books, not just repairing them.
• Be comfortable developing creative theories from quantitative data, forming hypotheses from reader data, and explaining them clearly.
• Be excited to use AI as a creative tool and able to evaluate and improve its output.
• Be smart, curious, eager to learn, able to take ownership, and interested in taking on responsibility early.
• Have 1–3 years of experience in editorial or publishing, an MFA, or similar; the posting says judgment and ideas matter more than résumé.
• Be able to work on-site in San Francisco five days a week.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with serialized or web fiction, such as Wattpad, Galatea, Kindle Vella, or webtoons.
• Experience giving developmental feedback to writers.
• Experience creating fiction, plays, or screenplays.

Responsibilities

• Read manuscripts and diagnose where and why a story loses readers using the manuscript, reader feedback, and engagement data.
• Develop clear editorial plans for major rewrites, including new hooks, revised story arcs, sharper character motivations, and stronger payoffs.
• Execute rewrites in collaboration with authors and agentic AI tools.
• Run reader tests on revisions, interpret the results, and apply learnings to subsequent books.
• Build working relationships with authors, freelance editors, marketing, and the wider content team.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level