Marketing and Promotion Manager

ABC is a collective of independent African publishers, marketing and distributing African published books worldwide. A Council of Management (CoM) comprised of Africa-based publishers establishes strategy. ABC is established as a UK non-profit company limited by guarantee and aims to be profit-making on behalf of the participating publishers. It is governed by a board of UK-based Directors.

The Marketing and Promotion Manager of ABC will report to the Executive Director on aspects of the company’s activities for which they are responsible. They will be expected to play an active part in the staff team growing the company, its relations with customers, suppliers and African publishers as it seeks to expand sales of their books across the world.

Part-time employment can be considered. It is expected that working hours are spread over at least 4 working days per week.

We are committed to equality, valuing diversity and inclusion. Applications are encouraged from under-represented groups in the UK publishing sector including those from Black, minority ethnic and African backgrounds.

Job Description

Marketing and Promotion schedule

Maintain and input into annual Marketing and Promotion schedule, agreed together with the Executive Director. Implementation and fulfilment of said activities. Liaison with Executive Director and Business Manager about the marketing budget and associated costs.

New titles and new publishers

Working closely with the Executive Director, handle all assigned administration on new titles/publishers contracted for distribution by the collective, including adding new titles to ABC database, establishing BIC and BISAC codes, setting prices (£ & $), and managing price increases across ABC accepted formats (print/stocked, print-on-demand, ebook).

Assist the Executive Director in presenting ABC’s opportunities to publishers, including its services and access to international markets, with the aim of increasing the number of suitable titles/publishers available through ABC for distribution.

Bibliographic data management

Maintain book data on ABC database and book management systems.

Maintain ISBNs (including for ebook formats, in connection with the Marketing and Production Assistant) on ABC database and for ONIX exports.

Liaison with Lightning Source, TextStream, CoreSource and other aggregators/platforms, including Baobab Ebook Services (the host of ABC’s own ebook platform), on the availability of titles, including on matters of pricing, discounts and returns.

Upload ebook data to CoreSource with ONIX data (in association with the Business Manager/Marketing and Production Assistant), including rights filters, and enable ebook distribution.

Supply of book data to Lightning Source; deal with classifications according to Thema and BISAC codes. Input (and deal with updated) pricing to Lightning Source.

Enable books at Lightning Source for print-on-demand distribution.

Manage ONIX feeds (export from ABC database).

Manage data feeds to Nielsen, Bowker etc.

Manger data feeds to vendors including JSTOR, Project Muse, and other trade vendors.

Ebook platform

Liaise with technology partner for ABC ebook platform (Baobab Ebook Services) on general marketing of the platform, new title additions and file uploads.

Stocking and warehouse

ABC maintains a small warehouse of physically stocked books. Liaise with ABC publishers and the Business Manager about appropriate stock levels, and destocking exercises.

ABC website

Responsibility for ABC websites, liaising with external designers as necessary and in-house IT staff. Add titles to ABC’s online shop (assistance is currently provided). Select titles for promotion on the ABC website.

Publicity and social media

Liaise with freelancer working on publicity of ABC and ABC titles, including on social media feeds (Twitter etc.) and ABC’s second website, readafricanbooks.com

Catalogues and marketing material

Collate copy for production of catalogues (usually one or two per year, both general and subject catalogues).

Design and layout of catalogues.

Produce all other marketing material, including any publicity flyers or adverts, in print and electronic formats.

Distribution of marketing materials, including maintaining email mailing lists and purchase of any external mailing lists used. Send regular new title emails to customer mailing lists.

Book prizes

Monitor suitable major book prizes for ABC titles and arrange entries. These may include but are not limited to prizes awarded by the African Studies Association (US), and the African Studies Association of the UK.

Attendance at conferences and book fairs

Organise the exhibit for and attend the annual African Studies Association conference held in a US city (November, annually).

Organise the exhibit for and attend the biennial European Conference on African Studies held in a European university (May/June/July, biennially).

As resources permit, organise exhibits for and attend book fairs such as London, Frankfurt, or Gothenburg (not all would be attended in any given year).

Presence at academic events and conferences in or easily accessible from the UK, e.g. the African Studies Association of the UK conference (held biennially at a British university).

Attend smaller conferences at major UK universities with significant African studies presence, e.g. at universities in Birmingham, London, Cambridge, Oxford and Edinburgh.

Investigate with the Executive Director the feasibility of attendance at significant conferences and events in the African continent, such as the African Association of Africa conference (held biennially at an African university) and any significant national book fairs.

Exhibit organisation includes: selection of titles, liaison with event organisers about stand bookings, displays, adverts and miscellaneous matters. Manage exhibits at events and deal with book sales and receipts in liaison with the Business Manager.

Provide written feedback on conferences and events to ABC Directors, and to publishers to assist with list development.

Sales and market development and reporting

Advise the Executive Director on new opportunities for book distribution mechanisms, market developments and sales outlets.

Working with the Executive Director and technology provider of ABC’s ebook platform; proactively look for and assist in making new deals and sales.

Write annual marketing/sales reports for ABC management meetings. Provide analysis/reports on market conditions.

Assist and advise the Executive Director on other development matters such as new titles or new publishers as may contribute to increased sales and financial viability of ABC.

Other

Assist in arranging ABC meetings around bookfairs and events, notably the annual Council of Management meeting usually held in conjunction with a book fair or conference.

Other appropriate tasks as advised by the Executive Director and appropriate as part of a small team running ABC operations.

Aptitudes and experience required

Essential

Experience in marketing in publishing.

High level of IT literacy, including use of full Acrobat (InDesign, Photoshop), MS Office.

Organisational skills: ability to maintain and deliver work schedules, electronic filing systems and databases.

Good communication skills.

Willingness to work as part of a team.

Desirable

Knowledge or experience of African publishing/books sector.

Terms and conditions

The person employed will work as part of a small team headed by the Executive Director. A Business Manager, and Marketing and Production Assistant are employed, and freelance or contracted posts cover production, publicity and ebook special sales. Liaison with all these posts will be required.

Salary: £35,000 fte

Pension, as per company scheme

Location: home-based job (the company is located and registered in Oxford); ability to travel to and attend regular meetings, events and conferences in the UK (mostly in or accessible from Oxford or London) and annual conferences abroad (as specified in the Job Description).

Probationary period: The post is subject to an initial 6-month probationary period; and will be confirmed as permanent if both ABC and the candidate appointed are in agreement. During the probationary period, one month’s notice of termination of employment may be given by either party in writing. After confirmation, three months notice of termination of employment may be given by either party in writing.

Start date: April/May 2023.

How to apply - Please send cover letter and cv to stephanie@africanbookscollective.com