Publicity Assistant, Children's

Join Bloomsbury’s Children’s Books, The British Book Awards Children’s Publisher of the Year 2024 and home to perfect picture books, page-turning middle-grade adventures, blockbuster YA fantasy, and award-winning non-fiction. Its award-winning, diverse list includes authors and illustrators such as Katherine Rundell, Kalynn Bayron, Catherine Doyle, Jessie Burton, Tom Percival, Katya Balen, and Lex Croucher. We are also home to the most famous children’s book brand in the world: Harry Potter.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and organised team player to begin your career in publishing in this award-winning and pioneering publicity team, at a time of exciting growth for the company. You will join a highly collaborative and supportive team, reporting into the Publicity Director. As Publicity Assistant, you will be a key member of the team, providing administrative support to ensure its smooth day-to-day running. Responsibilities include the creation of internal and external communications documents, scheduling meetings, and liaising with the media and colleagues across the business. This role requires organisation, efficiency, exceptional time management, and confident communication skills. You will also assist on campaigns and events, with the opportunity to plan and execute your own.

You don’t need to have set foot in a publishing house before to grab our attention! We are looking for a proactive candidate with initiative and a love of books who will thrive in a fast-paced environment.

In return, we can offer invaluable PR experience, a wide understanding of the publishing process, and the opportunity to work with various stakeholders in the industry. You will learn first-hand how we plan and deliver industry-leading PR campaigns, gain exposure to key external stakeholders such as journalists, booksellers, and event organisers, and have the chance to nurture your own relationships.

Our work is driven by different perspectives, and we strive for our culture to be one of belonging. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities.

If you would like to apply, please send a CV and covering letter, which includes a campaign for any book, film, theatre, exhibition (e.g., any arts) that caught your eye and why, and the book you most enjoyed reading in the past year.

The role

• Provide administrative support to the Publicity Director and Children’s Publicity Team, including diary scheduling, processing invoices, taking minutes, and booking travel.
• Provide campaign support for the team, such as booking author travel, inputting spend on budget, organising mailings, accompanying authors to events and interviews, and organising events.
• Ownership of some publicity campaigns to develop skillset and knowledge of campaign work, and contribute to the wider department.
• Management of departmental processes, including awards management, festivals and conferences, creating internal comms documents, managing departmental invoices, book ordering, and more.
• Serve as the publicity contact for the public and media, via phone and email, ensuring all communication with external stakeholders is efficient, friendly, and timely.
• Be the first port of call for the publicity team for internal colleagues.

Knowledge, skills, and experience

• Excellent organisational and timekeeping skills to deliver tasks within deadlines. Ability to prioritise.
• Great attention to detail.
• Keen interest in media of all forms, such as print, broadcast, and online, including social media and new media to stay abreast of changes in the marketplace.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills required for copy editing, writing press releases, and keeping all stakeholders up-to-date and informed.
• Strong relationship-building skills, internally and externally, to establish relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Passion for reading to keep abreast of the books Bloomsbury publishes as well as the trends in the marketplace.