Assistant Editor - Children's Fiction London, England
Job description
Team: HarperCollins Children's Books
Salary: Permanent
Location: London, UK
Closing: 11:59pm, 19th Feb 2023 GMT
Perks and benefits
Overview of the role
A key member of the editorial team, this role provides editorial support to the Fiction publishing team and is responsible for project managing titles across all areas of the list, as well as a particular focus on supporting the Publishing Director with their books. This is not a commissioning role, but the position offers a rare opportunity for an accurate, organised, efficient and creative team-player to step into a challenging Assistant Editor’s role in a power-house team, learning key skills for development as an editor.
Key tasks and accountabilities
Supporting the commissioning team across the list, and the Publishing Director on their books, project managing titles from manuscript through to publication under the editors’ guidance, ensuring given titles are delivered on time, to budget and to specification
Desk editorial responsibilities – proofreading, some copyediting, copywriting – for a range of fiction titles, including digital formats
Writing design briefs with guidance from acquiring editor – covers to be briefed on time and within context of the market on given titles
Reading and reporting on submissions and competitor titles for the whole team, providing timely, insightful feedback to the commissioning team taking into consideration market context and HarperCollins’ forward publishing strategy. Note that reading time is unlikely to be available during office hours
Market research as required by the senior editorial team including Bookscan, retailer visits, and competitor research in order to provide supporting materials for strategic planning and acquisitions
Managing relevant editorial listings (AIS, BIC, Acquisitions forms, P&Ls) alongside the departmental Metadata Champion, to ensure accurate and up-to-date title/list information is available internally and externally. Ensuring that editorial Plan G listings, including AIS, are complete, accurate and in line with best practises for online visibility and SEO
Liaising with authors, artists and agents across the list, maintaining standards of excellent author care and strong publisher-agent relations when appropriate alongside the editors
Responsibility for upkeep of correction files, attending the reprint meetings, marking up and checking reprints in progress, including corrections, updating end matter, etc. with support from the editorial management team and the Editorial Assistant. Ensuring all books that reprint do so with all relevant corrections made and checked, all in good time for the reprint schedule
Coordinating editorial content for bookfair catalogues, and proofreading and imputing corrections, ensuring efficient and timely coordination of editorial content from early stages to endpoint
Experience required
Strong and current editorial experience in children’s books
Skills required
Exceptional proofreading skills
Solid understanding of copy-editing process
Organised, efficient, self motivated
Strong author care and interpersonal skills
Good design eye
Excellent communication skills across all levels in order to present solutions to senior editorial team, liaise effectively and decisively with design and production in-house and with authors and agents externally
Awareness/understanding of budgets
Team player
Solutions-focused
Benefits
Hybrid working model (2+ days in the office)
26 days holiday plus bank holidays (option to buy and sell holiday days)
Enhanced pay for maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave
Private healthcare cover and life assurance
Free access to HeadSpace, employee assistance programme (24 hour helpline), mental health first aiders, and a wellbeing portal
Season ticket loans (from day 1 for entry level) and cycle to work scheme
Employee networks: HC All In (open forum), Elevate (for ethnic minority colleagues), HarperParents, Menopause at Work and Pride at HC
Unlimited training on our Learning and Development portal, management courses (up to MA level) and mentoring programmes
Virtual GP and eyecare vouchers
Gym membership discount
Onsite physiotherapy (London only)
Charitable donation matching and volunteering day
We're a certified Carbon Neutral company
Free e-books and audiobooks, newspaper subscriptions and discounts on books
Subsidised canteen and retail discounts
Onsite prayer room
If you wish to discuss anything regarding this position and/or your application to this role, please reach out directly to our Talent Acquisition Manager at [email protected] with subject heading ‘Vacancy Query’ plus the job title and we will aim to get back to you within 5 working days.
