October’s Job Vacancies

Job vacancies:

• Hachette is seeking an Assistant Project Editor to join their John Murray Learning team. The successful candidate will work across their trade education list providing administrative support and managing a number of projects across a wide range of formats. The closing date for applications is Friday 7th October and position is based in London.
• Penguin is advertising for an Editor to join their audio publishing division. The role will involve casting, scheduling and managing studio bookings, as well as working closely with sound editors to brief production expectations. This position is based in London and the deadline for applications is Monday 17th October.
• Wiley is looking for a Senior Editorial Assistant to provide support to their peer review team. The successful candidate will ensure the smooth progression of journal manuscripts through the peer review process. The role will involve working closely with editors, authors and reviewers. The closing date for applications is Thursday 27th October and the position is based in Oxford/Chichester.
• Oxford University Press is seeking an Assistant Commissioning Editor for Economics. The role will involve overseeing the delivery and publication of around 55 titles a year through frequest liaison with authors and internal departments. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 11th October and the position is based in Oxford.
• Cambridge University Press is advertising for an Editorial Assistant to provide administrative support for a team of commissioning editors working on the life science and astronomy lists. The role will involve administrative tasks, seeking permissions and endorsements, and writing cover copy. The position is based in Cambridge and the closing date for applications is Monday 17th October.

February’s Job Vacancies and Internship Opportunities

Job vacancies:

• Jessica Kingsley Publishers is looking for a Marketing and Publicity Executive to help with marketing campaigns. JKP is a professional publisher who has lists on the autism spectrum, social work, mental health, and counselling. The chosen candidate will be responsible for organising marketing campaigns, attending conferences, and social media marketing. The position is based in London (near King’s Cross) and the closing date for applications is Monday 22nd February.
• If you’re interested in book sales, HarperCollins is seeking a Sales Operations Administrator to support their Sales team and help maintain stock levels. Responsibilities include preparing reports, managing data, analysing stock reports, raising invoices, and updating stock management systems. This role is based in London in the London Bridge Quarter.
• Nature Publishing Group, part of Springer Nature, is looking to recruit an Editorial Assistant. The successful candidate will handle administrative tasks within the Nature Reviews and Nature Protocols team. Specific responsibilities include providing support to authors, checking manuscripts, obtaining rights and permissions, and ensuring databases are updated. This position is based in London, next to King’s Cross, and the deadline for applications is Wednesday 24th February.
• The education publisher, Macmillan Education, is seeking a Part-time Media Assistant to help with the smooth running of their media department. The chosen candidate will assist the Media Producers and Media Team Manager, and will be required to assist on shoots, prepare props, carry out photo research, and help with other project-specific needs. The position is based in London and the closing date for applications is Thursday 18th February.

Internship opportunities:

• Cambridge University Press is offering six-week internships for current or recent Publishing MA students. In their Academic division, there are opportunities available in Marketing, Open Access, and Science Journals. In their Education division, there are vacancies in Commissioning, Design & Content, and Marketing. Interns will be paid a living wage and will need to be available between Monday 16th May and Friday 1st July. The closing date for applications is Tuesday 1st March and the internships are based in Cambridge.
• Hurst Publishers, a non-fiction publisher based in Central London, is offering internships to graduates interested in pursuing a career in publishing. These internships are available throughout the year and generally last around six weeks. To apply, send your CV and covering letter to Jonathan de Peyer (jon@hurstpub.co.uk).
• Oxford University Press has opened its Summer Internship Scheme with a range of opportunities available in different teams. Internships are based in Oxford and will start on Monday 4th July and finish on Friday 26th August. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 1st March.
• Little, Brown Books, a publisher of children’s and young adult fiction, is looking for an Editorial Assistant Intern. The internship will last six months and the successful candidate will gain an insight into children’s publishing. There will be opportunities to learn how to proofread and copy edit, and the role will involve reading submissions and assisting with manuscripts. The position is based in London and the deadline for applications is Thursday 18th February.

As always, if you do decide to apply for any of these opportunities and would like some advice on writing stand out covering letters and CVs, please feel free to get in touch: pathwaytopublishing@gmail.com.

December’s Job Vacancies and Internship Opportunities

Starting your job hunt over Christmas? Check out the latest opportunities in publishing:

• The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), one of the world’s largest engineering institutions, is looking for an Editorial Assistant to join their Books Editorial and Production team. The role will involve tasks such as, managing the signing of contracts, preparing manuscripts for production, ensuring accurate payment of royalties, and ordering gratis and review copies. The position is based in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
• Interested in selling books? Bloomsbury is recruiting an International Sales Assistant to work across all of their publishing divisions. The successful candidate will be tasked with selling books in all territories, liaising with customers, providing marketing material, and creating promotional sales kits and regular newsletters. The role is based in London and the closing date for applications is Wednesday 16th December.
• Bloomsbury also has a vacancy for an Assistant Editor to join their Adult Editorial team and work on their award-winning cookery and lifestyle list. The role will involve providing editorial and administrative support, liaising with authors, writing cover copy, assisting Production with reprint corrections, and clearing permissions. The candidate must have a minimum of one year’s editorial experience. The deadline for applications is Friday 18th December.
• Sage Publications, an academic book and journal publisher in business, humanities, social sciences and STM, is looking for an Editorial Assistant. The successful candidate will be working on Sage’s STM journals and the role will involve providing support to two editors, arranging meetings and taking notes, and supporting the launch of new journals. The position is based in London and the closing date for applications is Thursday 10th December.
• Are you passionate about children’s books? HarperCollins is looking for an Editorial Assistant to join their award-winning Children’s team. The position will involve tasks such as, liaising with authors, preparing rejection letters, monitoring submissions, copy writing sales and marketing material, proofreading jacket copy, preparing prelims, and sending cover proofs to authors. The role is based in London and the closing date for applications is Friday 11th December.
• Taylor & Francis Group, a leading academic publisher, has numerous Editorial Assistant vacancies in the following subject areas: Business, Management and Accounting, Geography and Tourism, and Sociology. The roles will involve managing the peer review process, drafting author contracts, preparing manuscripts for handover to production, and writing promotional copy for marketing materials. These positions are all based in Milton Park, Oxfordshire, and the closing date for applications is early January 2016.
• Edward Elgar Publishing is seeking an Assistant Editor with a keen interest in social sciences to join their academic book publishing team. The position will involve guiding proposals through the peer review process, handling contractual arrangements, and other administrative work. The role is based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and the deadline for applications is Friday 11th December.
• Profile Books, a London-based non-fiction publisher, is offering eight-week, full-time internships. They are currently accepting applications for positions opening in May 2016. The internship will cover all areas of publishing including administration, publicity, marketing, and editorial. All interns are paid the London Living Wage. Interviews will take place in January 2016.
• Little, Brown Book Group is running an Editorial Work Experience scheme for graduates looking to build up industry experience on their CVs. Placements last two weeks and will cover all aspects of entry-level work in the publishing industry.
• Little Tiger Press, a small children’s publisher based in London, is offering work experience placements in editorial, design, and marketing and publicity. Unfortunately the placements are unpaid, but expenses of up to £10 per day are covered.

As always, if you do decide to apply for any of these opportunities and would like some advice on how to write stand out covering letters and CVs, please feel free to get in touch: pathwaytopublishing@gmail.com.

October’s Job Vacancies and Internship Opportunities

Job vacancies

• Cambridge University Press is seeking a Designer to work on their English Language Teaching (ELT) books. The role involves creating cutting-edge covers, text layouts and digital concept designs. The position is based in Cambridge and the closing date for applications is Wednesday 28th October.
• The Children’s Group within Quarto Publishing is looking for a Design Assistant. The chosen candidate will be working on their children’s fiction and picture books and should have a thorough knowledge of InDesign, Photoshop and Acrobat. The deadline for applications is Friday 23rd October and the position is based in London.
• Bluebird, an imprint of Pan Macmillan which publishes wellness and lifestyle books, is advertising for a Junior Publicist. The role involves planning PR campaigns for Bluebird titles across all media platforms and building relationships with media contacts to maximise publicity. The position is based at Pan Macmillan’s King’s Cross office and the closing date for applications is Wednesday 21st October.
• Floris Books, an independent publisher based in Edinburgh, has a vacancy for an Editorial Assistant. The successful candidate will be editing and proofreading manuscripts, helping to maintain editorial schedules, assessing manuscripts, liaising with authors, and briefing design and production on cover designs and cover blurbs. The position is based in Edinburgh and the closing date for applications is Friday 30th October.

Internship opportunities

• Jacqui Small Publishing, an imprint of Quarto Publishing based in London, is offering an eight-week editorial internship. The placement will involve gaining picture permissions, editing text and liaising with authors. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 20th October with a suggested start date of Monday 26th October. For more information please contact Hannah.bugg@quartouk.com.
• Story Terrace, a book publisher specialising in biographies, is seeking a part-time editorial intern for a minimum of two months to support their managing editor in London. The internship will involve assisting with the editing of books, writing blog posts and updating their website. Travel expenses and lunch are paid, and the closing date for applications is Monday 19th October. Applications should be sent to Emily McCracken, the managing editor, at emily@storyterrace.com.
• Sheldrake Press, a London-based book publisher, is offering publishing traineeships. The placements will cover all aspects of publishing, including editorial, sales and marketing, production and rights. Travel and lunch expenses will be paid and the closing date for applications is Friday 6th November.
• Sweet & Maxwell, one of the UK’s leading legal publishers, is running an editorial work placement scheme. Placements involve supporting editors, proofreading, copy editing and administrative support, and usually last two weeks. Sweet & Maxwell are looking for applicants interested in undertaking placements throughout November and from mid-January 2016 onwards. If you’d like to apply, send your CV and covering letter to smg.workplacementscheme@thomsonreuters.com.

If you do decide to apply for any of these opportunities and would like some advice on writing stand out covering letters and CVs, please feel free to email me: pathwaytopublishing@gmail.com. I’m more than happy to help!

The Start of a Career: My First Six Weeks as an Editorial Assistant at Palgrave Macmillan

With a dry mouth, sweaty palms and shaking hands, I sat in the reception at Palgrave Macmillan, waiting to embark on my career in publishing. I had mixed emotions; from excitement and eager anticipation, to nervousness and a crippling fear.

What if I’d made the wrong decision? What if this industry wasn’t for me? What if I ended up hating the role?

That moment was six weeks ago. And those fears – those last minute shreds of doubt – they did not become a reality.

Instead, six weeks from that moment, I can now say that my decision to go into publishing and accept the role at Palgrave has been the best decision I’ve made in a long time. Choosing this career path may have meant completely going against what my parents wanted, but despite how agonising it was, I'm glad I made that choice because, finally, I made a decision – a decision that was right for me.

The past six weeks have been a HUGE learning curve. From meeting the editorial team and starting to build good working relationships, to being introduced to authors and becoming a part of the publishing process for their titles – I’m really surprised at how much I’ve learnt at Palgrave already. I now have a real appreciation for the work that goes into the publication of each and every book.

But just in case you’re wondering what my role as an Editorial Assistant actually involves, here are just a few of my main responsibilities which I’ve been getting to grips with during my first six weeks in the role:

• Managing the peer review process – As Palgrave is an academic publisher, their book proposals go through a peer review process in order to ensure that material is of a high quality and is suitable for publication. Managing this process involves approaching academics in the field to supply us with reviews of book proposals. I also organise payment for academics who provide us with reviews (either in cash or in books). This is a task I really enjoy; it’s interesting to read the feedback from academics and see whether a book idea is actually viable.

• Preparing manuscripts for handover to Production – This is probably the most important and time consuming task I’m responsible for. When a manuscript comes in from an author, it is my job to prepare it for handover to Production. This involves checking that all permissions have been correctly obtained (on images, tables and figures), preparing the handover forms for Design and Production (including the chosen cover image), checking the word count and that all chapters are present, assessing the quality of the language to allocate the correct level of copy-editing required, and putting together the prelims. This can be a lengthy process, but it’s so rewarding to hand a manuscript over to Production and then see the book slowly start to take shape.
• Cover image research – All of our standard monographs generally have an image-based front cover design and it is one of my responsibilities to carry out image research and get authors thinking about potential images for the cover of their book. I would say this is definitely one of the most fun parts of my job. It’s going to be so exciting to see a book published with a cover image I’ve researched and found myself – hopefully this moment won’t be too far away!

• Proofing, editing and finalising cover copy – Most of our authors write the cover blurb for their book themselves. Once we’ve received this, it is my job to proof and edit the cover copy, and then get it finalised by my line manager. The finalised cover copy is sent to Design to lay up on the cover proofs which I then have to check again one last time. As someone who’s always enjoyed proofreading and copy-editing, this is one of my favourite tasks. I find it extremely satisfying to correct book blurbs and make sure that cover proofs are error free.
  
  

As you can see, my responsibilities as an Editorial Assistant are extremely varied, but that’s what I enjoy most about my role. Although this does make it stressful at times, it’s rewarding to work so closely with authors on all aspects of their book and see it evolve into the final product.

If you are considering applying for an Editorial Assistant position, I hope this post has given you more of an insight into what a role like this would actually involve. Academic publishing is such a rewarding and fascinating industry, I really would encourage you to just go for it!

Internship & Job Opportunities...

First of all, here are some graduate job opportunities I’ve come across this week:

• Do you have a passion for children’s books? Make Believe Ideas, a small children’s publisher, has an exciting opening for an Editorial Assistant/Junior Editor. The position is based in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire and the deadline for applications is Friday 31st July.
• Cambridge University Press has an opening for a Production Assistant (12-month contract) to help provide administrative assistance to their Academic Production team. The position is based in Cambridge and the deadline for applications is Friday 24th July.
• If you’re interested in STM publishing, the Institution of Engineering and Technology is looking to recruit a full-time Editorial and Production Assistant (contract ending in December 2015) to manage the journal peer-review and production processes. The IET’s offices are based in Stevenage, so this is a great opportunity for anyone who lives in Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire.
• SAGE Publications is looking for an Editorial Assistant (Research Methods). This position is based in London and the deadline for applications is Friday 31st July. (To see the details of this position click on the link above, then just scroll down and click on the ‘view all open job positions’ link.)

If you’re looking for publishing internships, here are a few opportunities I’ve found recently:

• Profile Books, a non-fiction publisher based in Central London, runs an eight-week, full-time internship for graduates which is now open for applications. The internship involves working in editorial, administration, marketing and publicity, and all interns are paid a living wage.
• If you’re interested in academic publishing, Rowman & Littlefield International is offering a 6–8 week editorial internship starting in late July/early August. The intern will carry out editorial tasks and provide support to commissioning editors. This is a paid internship based in Kennington, South London and the deadline for applications is Monday 20th July.
• Plexus Publishing, a publisher of illustrated non-fiction books, is looking for an Editorial Assistant Intern to provide administrative and editorial support to their Editorial Director. The internship is based in Clapham, London and the deadline for applications is Friday 31st July.