Senior development editor

Closing date: 19th January 2025

Salary: £37,000 - £42,000 dependent on experience (+bonus +benefits)

Location: The role will be based at our London office, Carmelite House, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.

Manage manuscripts, work with authors and navigate market trends at this leading publishing imprint.

Established in London in 1991, Laurence King is one of the world’s leading publishers of books on the creative arts. Our titles offer expert content on everything from fundamental skills to cutting-edge technology. We work with the best authors, designers, illustrators and photographers to create beautifully produced books acclaimed for their inventiveness, design and authoritative texts.

What you'll be doing

Be responsible for management of contracted manuscripts and digital products:

• Undertake in-house editorial development work, for example incorporating reviewers’ comments, carrying out structural edit, checking freelance editing and re-editing as appropriate.
• Work closely with authors, freelance editorial and design teams, and contributors to ensure the manuscript is in line with contracted proposals and costs agreed at the Acquisition Sign Off meetings.
• Brief authors and offer guidance on content, formatting, layout, submission of artwork if appropriate, and permissions.
• Organise picture lists with authors. As appropriate, engage and brief freelance picture researchers, negotiate fees and supervise their work and budgets.
• In consultation with the Commissioning Editors, brief freelance designers and negotiate fees. Work with designers on initial designs, check book plans and layouts. See design through authors’ and publishers’ approval stages. Work with designers on cover ideas and check final cover artwork.
• In consultation with the Commissioning Editors and authors, brief illustrators, line and map artworkers as appropriate. Negotiate fees, check draft and finished work, seeing it through author and publisher approval stages.
• Manage agreed schedules and costings in consultation with the Commissioning Editors and production department to ensure that schedules are achieved and books produced to budget.

Support in championing the list with sales, foreign language rights, publicity and marketing:

• Understand the needs of these departments in order to message, market and sell to different audiences.
• Work on the production of rights and sales material (e.g. blads for book fairs) and provide other material as required in a timely fashion for sales, rights and marketing schedules.
• Write catalogue copy and title information sheets to garner support from sales and marketing.

Exceed expectations in author care:

• Liaise with authors throughout the editorial process, ensuring a good relationship between each author and the business.

In collaboration with the Commissioning Editors, optimise the appeal of resources to the LK markets:

• Understand the specific market needs for each project in order to make informed decisions on aspects such as language, navigation, format and page design/layout.
• As appropriate, attend industry events and conferences to learn about the market and to promote the Laurence King brand.
• Understand the competitive landscape and how our materials fit into this landscape, so that they compare favourably with competitors’ resources.

Who we are looking for

• Organisational skills, including planning ahead and independently managing multiple complex projects
• Editorial skills, including text development and structuring
• Meticulous eye for detail
• Project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously to tight deadlines
• Cost control
• Excellent communication and people skills, including tact and diplomacy
• General computer literacy and aptitude (Microsoft Office, able to pick up new digital skills as required)
• Familiarity with Adobe Creative Cloud, in particular InDesign
• Understanding of copyright issues
• Knowledge and understanding of the relevant market
• Ability to work as part of a team and across departments
• Quality orientated
• Focused on the needs of the end user
• Adaptability
• Creativity
• Appetite for learning and improving
• Problem solver, able to identify potential problems and propose solutions for consideration
• Should have demonstrable editorial skills and competence at completing multiple projects from manuscript development to publication, to a high standard, in line with anticipated costings and to deadline
• Must be able to work in InDesign and have a sound understanding of highly illustrated colour publishing and production
• Should have a proven track record of establishing positive working relationships with authors, as well as with freelancers and internal colleagues
• Should have demonstrable experience of working proactively and independently
• Should have experience of working with both print and digital media

What we offer

• 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)
• Private medical insurance
• Generous pension schemes
• Rent deposit loans
• 2 community days per year
• Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)
• Retail discounts through Hachette rewards
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Eye care vouchers
• Wide-ranging training library
• Development programmes (including mentoring)
• Up to 70% off book purchases
• A charity bookshelf
• 12 Staff-led employee networks that are voluntary, including Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing and religious networks
• Season ticket loans
• And much more!

Our commitment

Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic, regional and cultural backgrounds.

If you are shortlisted and need us to make any adjustments to help you attend for interview, please let us know.

The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking junior roles.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.