COMMISSIONING EDITOR
Watkins Media Ltd
Do you love books about personal development, spirituality, alternative health and wellbeing, and other mind-body-spirit topics? Do you have sound commercial sense and experience of commissioning illustrated and mono books in this field? Watkins, one of the world’s leading independent mind-body-spirit publishers, is looking for a creative and dynamic commissioning editor with an ambition to publish innovative, high-quality and commercially successful books in this fast-growing sector.
Key Responsibilities
- Commissioning new books for Watkins, including coming up with new project ideas and searching out new talent
- Identifying and developing reuse projects from the backlist
- Negotiating contracts with agents and authors
- Liaising closely with authors at all stages from the first spark of an idea to promoting the published book and beyond
- Concept development, including creating and pitching new project proposals, briefing authors, structural editing, flatplanning, and briefing covers and internal design
- Creating and managing P&Ls
- Briefing and working closely with in-house project managers
- Writing sales copy
- Taking responsibility for the success of your books by liaising closely with the Marketing & Publicity and Sales departments, identifying promotional opportunities and generally being the champion of your books
Key Skills & Expertise
- Knowledge of the mind-body-spirit market (e.g. who publishes what, what is selling well, what future trends might be)
- Contacts in the field (e.g. agents, potential authors)
- A track record of commissioning commercially successful books
- A sense for what makes a great book
- The vision and patience to turn an idea into a book
- Great editorial skills
- Fantastic communication and a love of collaborative teamwork
- Self-motivation and ability to work independently
To apply for this full-time role, please email a CV and covering letter to Fiona.Robertson@WatkinsPublishing.com
Closing date: 8 July 2019