Editorial Assistant, History - Bloomsbury Academic

Editorial Assistant, History - Bloomsbury Academic

The opportunity

Bloomsbury is a leading international publisher with strengths in trade, children’s, professional and academic publishing. We are currently looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic and hardworking Editorial Assistant to provide administrative and organisational support for our Academic History list.

The successful candidate will assist and report to the Publisher for World History, supporting them to achieve agreed revenue and profitability on the list and developing strong working relationships with authors. We publish a range of history titles for scholarly and student audiences, including bestselling titles such as History of Africa, Climate Change in Human History and Slavery in the Age of Memory. This is an excellent opportunity to learn first-hand about a broad range of activities across the publishing business and develop the key skills required for a career in publishing. The successful candidate will join a friendly team based in our central London offices.

The role
To provide administrative support to the Publisher for World History in the effective management of print and electronic products throughout the publication process.  This includes liaising with authors to ensure manuscripts are delivered on time, preparing manuscripts for production, sending proposals and draft manuscripts for review, managing backlist titles, and other administrative duties.
 

Tasks will be varied but will include:

• Developing and maintaining strong working relationships with authors, volume editors and series editors to ensure a high standard of author care throughout the publishing process
• Keeping the publishing programme on schedule through regular liaison with authors, and by maintaining and updating the frontlist plan for any given year
• Preparing manuscripts for handover to production to agreed standards and on schedule
• Setting up new titles on Biblio (our bibliographic database), and ensuring that any changes to projects are updated promptly and in line with key dates
• Writing and editing marketing copy
• Commissioning peer reviews for projects as requested; ensuring these reviews are delivered in a timely way; recording the progress of all projects under review
• Putting together cover briefs, cover copy and briefing cover designs
• Supporting the Publisher in managing backlist, including monitoring stock levels, reprints and the Print on Demand scheme, as required
• Responding promptly and appropriately to external and internal inquiries
• Providing basic reports and sales information
• Providing administrative support for team (filing, photocopying etc)
• Creating and managing companion websites

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Will have knowledge and/or experience of relevant processes, systems and websites
• Highly organized with the ability to multi-task and prioritize
• Exceptional attention to detail and command of English spelling and grammar
• Proactive and able to take initiative
• Good time management with ability to meet deadlines
• Evidence of project management skills
• Solution-focused, calm and able to logically solve problems under pressure
• Flexible and able to work independently
• Effective teamworking, networking and building relationships
• Excellent communication (oral and written) to internal and external contacts, handling information sensitively and professionally
• Strong IT skills including competency in using Microsoft Office, Word and Excel
• Some commercial awareness and understanding of the publishing industry desirable
• Places a high value on quality of content, author care, company reputation and sustained customer relationship
• An interest in academic publishing, and in developing industry and market awareness
• Some prior publishing experience an advantage

Additional information

The role is a full-time, permanent position

Salary Pay Point or Range: £27,000

The role is based at our London office 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP

on a hybrid-working pattern of 2 days office based / 3 days home based (or fully office based if preferred).  Allocated office days for this role are Wednesdays and Thursdays

As an Assistant role, this position is eligible for Bloomsbury’s Rental Deposit Loan Scheme. To assist candidates who want to start and to establish a career in publishing, Bloomsbury offers an interest-free rental deposit to support securing somewhere to live. The rental deposit loan can be up to £3,000 and will be paid back over 2 years.

Please apply with a CV and covering letter addressed to Human Resources (Word or PDF format only) via the ‘APPLY NOW’ button detailing how you meet the requirements outlined above for this role by Wednesday 29th of January 2025.

For best results, please use a desktop to apply as some mobile browsers may not fully support the application portal.

Bloomsbury reserve the right to close the role early if we exceed the required number of applications

Bloomsbury Benefits

As well as a fantastic opportunity to join a global award-winning organisation, Bloomsbury offers the following competitive benefits package:

Working Pattern

• Hybrid working pattern of: 2 days office based / 3 days home based (or fully office based if preferred)

Holidays

• 25 days holiday
• 3.5 days Christmas company holiday

 Other Benefits

• Two paid Personal Wellness Days
• Flexible Fridays – take Friday afternoon off by working an additional 3 hours and 30 minutes earlier in the week
• Work Anywhere Fortnight - For two weeks of any calendar year. The minimum period for Working Anywhere is one week, the maximum period is two weeks.
• Season Ticket Loan
• Share Save Scheme
• AXA Healthcare Plan (Private Medical Insurance)
• Peppy Health App
• In-house Doctor
• Eye Care Voucher Scheme

Company culture – Employee Voice Meetings, Staff Networks (Bloom, Accessibility, Mental Health, Pride, and Parents, Guardians and Carers, Multi-Faith) and 14 Mental Health First Aiders trained across the UK offices, Publishing Events and access to free Publishing Resources

For additional benefits see below

Bloomsbury is a place where anyone of any background, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender identity, age, ability, or socio-economic status can thrive, feel comfortable, and be heard and accepted. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

We are willing to make any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please flag to the recruitment team if required

Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK.  

The Book Trade Charity provide financial assistance for people looking to get into the publishing industry; you can find more information and talk directly here: http://booktradeentrysupport.org