Project Editor (maternity cover, 9 mo. minimum)

Joffe Books is looking for an experienced project editor with proven trade editorial experience to cover a maternity leave. The successful candidate will project manage a diverse list of commercial fiction, from delivery to publication. It’s a fantastic chance to work with some of our brilliant bestselling authors, including Rebecca Tope, Gretta Mulrooney, Margaret Murphy, Catherine Moloney, Cath Staincliffe and Chris Collett. This is not a commissioning role.

At Joffe Books, we are a passionate and collaborative team that cares deeply about our authors and our readers. We are looking for highly organized, fleet-footed, creative project editor, who can hit the ground running and is keen to make a significant contribution. We are especially looking for someone with a holistic approach to publishing who will keep at it until the whole project is right. We are committed to making book publishing more diverse and representative, and we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority candidates.

Salary: £27–32,000 depending on experience

Key duties include but are not limited to:

• Project-managing the publication of both backlist and new titles, meeting all key deadlines in the run-up to publication
• Providing assistance to the editorial and publishing directors
• Handling manuscripts, including scanned manuscripts, from formatting to preparing for publication
• Some copy-editing and proofreading
• Writing punchy back cover blurbs and copy for marketing use
• Working closely with the marketing team to brief campaigns across social media platforms
• Communicating effectively with authors, freelancers (editors, proofreaders and designers) and external suppliers
• Commissioning covers, with a keen and critical eye for where a book sits in the market
• Forging strong relationships with authors and providing author care

Experience/skills required:

• Previous project editing or desk editing experience
• A keen interest in commercial fiction, especially crime fiction
• Comprehensive understanding of formatting and editing in Word (using wildcards, macros, etc.)
• Meticulous copy-editing, proofreading and research skills
• Copywriting experience, in particular creating blurbs and being able to sum up a novel in a single sentence
• Excellent attention to detail with very strong communication and organizational skills
• A proactive can-do attitude and a great team player, with the ability to work independently

Desired experience/skills:

• Working in digital publishing platforms
• An interest in keeping up to date with the book industry

Our benefits include:

• 10 a.m.–4.30 p.m. office hours; great for work/life balance
• Hybrid working pattern with minimum 2 days office based
• Five days Christmas company holiday, plus 28 days’ holiday per year
• Mental health days
• Flexible working days
• Pension scheme
• Health insurance
• Company culture! Including staff-nominated charitable giving, access to publishing resources, access to professional training and development, publishing events, being heard and encouraged to innovate, and doughnuts

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from anyone of any background, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender identity, age, ability or socio-economic status. We strive to be a company where you will thrive.

If this sounds exciting, we would love to hear from you! Email a 100-word blurb (please include in the body of the email) about yourself and a CV to work@joffebooks.com, stating the job reference in the subject line ‘JB PROJECT EDITOR MATERNITY’ by 31 May. Priority for interview will be given to early applicants. Ideally to start June 2022.

Contact name:      Emma Grundy Haigh

Email:                    work@joffebooks.com

ABOUT JOFFE BOOKS

Joffe Books is one of the UK’s leading independent publishers, specializing in crime fiction, with a huge international audience. We really care about our authors and our readers, and have built a company defined by those relationships. We sold more than 3 million books last year and we're looking to get even more books into the hands of readers with your help. For the last three years we have been nominated for Independent Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards, and this year we were also shortlisted for the Diversity and Inclusivity Award at the Independent Publishers Awards. One of our key initiatives is the Joffe Books Prize. The prize, launched in 2021 as a direct response to the paucity of diverse voices being published in crime fiction, invites submissions from un-agented authors from Black, Asian, Indigenous and minority ethnic backgrounds. The Joffe Books Prize seeks to discover a new crime fiction writer to join our bestselling list. This year the judges include Oyinkan Braithwaite and Ella Diamond Kahn.