Desk Editor

Pan Macmillan UK is one of the largest general book publishers in the UK, with imprints including Macmillan, Mantle, Pan, Picador, Boxtree, Sidgwick & Jackson, Bello, Tor, Kingfisher, Macmillan Children's Books, Two Hoots, Bluebird, Campbell Books, Macmillan New Writing and Macmillan Digital Audio. Pan Macmillan is part of Macmillan Publishers International Limited.

Administration

Graduates

This is an exciting opportunity to join an industry-recognized team within an award-winning publishing house on a twelve-month fixed-term contract. We’re looking for an organized and detail-oriented individual who’s passionate about working across a variety of genres. This is an important and wide-ranging role for someone who enjoys seeing projects through to completion as accurately and effectively as possible.

You will be working in the Managing Editorial team, reporting to the Managing Editor for Pan. Managing Editorial is a collaborative and multifaceted department that forms the backbone of Pan Macmillan’s publishing programme, overseeing frontlist, backlist and reissued titles through all stages of the editorial and production process. We work alongside authors, commissioning editors, the production team and other in-house departments to ensure high editorial quality is maintained, technical processes are refined and commercial needs are met, all while bringing a wonderful and varied array of books to life.

You will play a crucial role in supporting our Adult commercial publishing, project-managing backlist titles and your own frontlist allocations to iron out any pesky typos and misplaced commas.

A typical day could see you liaising with commissioning editors and authors before moving on to check a jacket or proofread some cover copy. Maybe you’re also reviewing a copy-edited manuscript or preparing a file for typesetting. You might then step away from a proof collation to attend a progress meeting, which you’ll follow up with some Biblio schedule maintenance to keep on top of the important critical path dates, enabling you to line up one of our brilliant freelancers for an upcoming project.

Perhaps you’ll also find yourself busy checking an ebook file, proofreading picture captions or copy-editing bonus content for one of our beautiful exclusive editions.

Your key responsibilities:

• Project-managing a number of assigned frontlist titles, working across all elements of the editorial and production process, including copy-edits, proofreads, indexes, picture sections, endmatter and circulating jacket artwork
• Overseeing multiple formats of assigned titles, including exclusive editions, export editions, backlist or reissued editions, and ebook files
• Working closely with commissioning editors, authors, production controllers, art workers and other key stakeholders to problem-solve effectively and to keep assigned titles to schedule and on budget
• Booking and managing freelancers for assigned titles and quality-checking their work
• Inputting at progress meetings, providing updates on projects and monitoring outstanding material to ensure critical path dates are met
• Supporting the Managing Editorial team at peak times, working collaboratively to review key processes and carrying out general administrative tasks to assist with the smooth running of the department
• Copy-editing and proofreading text, as required, and checking catalogues, sales copy and ad-hoc material for other departments.

Essential experience, abilities, knowledge and values you’ll need to succeed:

• Editorial experience:
  Previous desk-editing or editorial assistant experience with first-rate copy-editing and proofreading skills.
• Accuracy:
  An impeccable eye for detail and an excellent understanding of the English language, i.e. grammar, punctuation and semantics.
• Schedule management:
  An understanding of the editorial and production process and the ability to draw up, manage and renegotiate schedules in line with the critical path.
• Adaptability: A self-motivated, highly flexible approach to work and the ability to pivot between tasks as priorities dictate, managing multiple projects effectively.
• Technical proficiency: A strong understanding…