Commissioning Editor
Quarto adults is looking for a Commissioning Editor
Quarto, the leading global illustrated book publisher, wishes to appoint a Commissioning Editor. The role is based at office in Brighton.
The Quarto Group is the leading global illustrated book publisher and sells books in more than 45 countries and in more than 35 languages.
Sparkling book ideas: Must be able to come up with a steady stream of sparkling new book ideas and be able to recognise a commercial idea when it is presented to you.
New concepts: To produce concepts for re-presenting familiar subjects in fresh ways to bring in new book readers and retain existing ones.
Trend analysis: Keep ahead of market trends and tastes before they happen and to share the information with the team.
Research: Be strong on research and be able to analyse, digest and present research material.
Good authors: Your task is to find “good” authors, and, through your experience of being an editor running live titles, to know absolutely and intuitively that a good author is the difference between an OK book and a great book.
Guidance: In the early stages of the book idea development, to guide the author and mould the content that will sell the book idea.
Logistics: To figure out, at presentation stage, the logistics of how a six-page presentation will expand into 128, 144, 160 or however many pages, within a given budget and schedule.
Organisation: To organise the team, chair meetings, write minutes, follow-ups, allocate tasks, to drive this team mercilessly.
Negotiation: Author contracts
Editing: To apply to presentations and sales materials all the usual skills that the very best illustrated book editors bring to books.
A good eye: You’ve been working in illustrated book publishing for five years: how it looks is as important as how it reads.
Sales support: To supply the sales team with what they want, when they want it.
Adrenalin rush: To thrive on pressure. To be willing to work late to complete time-sensitive tasks in the lead up to book fairs, in particular. To always do it with urgency.
Enjoying it: Not essential. But desirable.
Interested? Please send your CV and a covering letter to David Breuer, Publisher, david.breuer@quarto.com