Acquisition Editor – Author Development & Editorial Production
Company: SkillUp Exchange Inc.
Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Job Type: Full-time
Work Arrangement: In-office (with limited WFH flexibility)
Salary: ₹25,000 per month + Performance Bonus
About SkillUp Exchange
SkillUp Exchange is building a new kind of technology publishing and learning company.
We work with experienced technology professionals and practitioners to create high-quality technical books, courses, audiobooks and other learning products.
Our technology platform, AuthPlat, helps experts turn their knowledge into professionally produced technical content through structured workflows for book planning, writing, AI-assisted feedback, editing and publishing.
SkillUp Exchange is the publishing and distribution business that brings these products to readers.
As an early-stage company, we are building our publishing model from the ground up. We are looking for someone who can help us identify talented authors, develop their writing capabilities and guide them through the journey from an initial book idea to a professionally published book.
This is not a conventional editorial role limited to correcting manuscripts. It combines author acquisition, relationship management, editorial execution and author development.
About the Role
We are looking for an Acquisition Editor who can identify suitable technical authors, build relationships with them, bring them into our publishing programme and help them successfully complete their books.
The role has three primary responsibilities:
- Author Acquisition: Build a pipeline of qualified technical professionals and work towards onboarding approximately five new authors per month.
- Editorial Production: Personally edit chapters written by the authors you acquire during our initial phase, helping establish editorial standards for our first 20 books.
- Author Development: Train authors to use AuthPlat, structure their writing, respond to feedback and work towards completing a publication-ready book within six months.
You will work closely with the founder, product team and authors throughout the publishing journey.
Key Responsibilities1. Author Acquisition and Relationship Management
- Identify experienced developers, engineers, architects, technology leaders, consultants, trainers and other subject-matter experts who could write valuable technical books.
- Research prospective authors, their expertise, professional background, previous publications and potential book topics.
- Evaluate whether prospective authors have the subject knowledge, communication skills and commitment required to complete a book.
- Initiate personalised outreach through LinkedIn, email, professional networks and relevant technology communities.
- Conduct introductory conversations to understand an author's expertise, proposed book, motivation and availability.
- Explain SkillUp Exchange's publishing model, AuthPlat platform, author benefits and publishing process.
- Follow up with interested prospects and manage the pipeline from initial contact to signed publishing agreement.
- Maintain accurate records of prospects, conversations, proposals and follow-ups in the company's CRM.
- Build long-term relationships with authors who may contribute additional books, courses and audiobooks.
Initial target: Approximately five qualified authors onboarded per month.
The emphasis is on acquiring authors who can produce commercially relevant, high-quality books, rather than simply maximising the number of signed contracts.
2. Editorial Management and Chapter Editing
During the initial phase, you will personally edit chapters for the authors you acquire, helping establish editorial standards and workflows for our first 20 books.
Responsibilities include:
- Review manuscripts and chapters for clarity, structure, flow, consistency and readability.
- Edit technical content while preserving the author's expertise, intended meaning and individual voice.
- Identify gaps in explanations, examples, structure and transitions.
- Ensure content is understandable to the intended audience and follows the agreed book outline.
- Work with authors to resolve editorial feedback and improve manuscript quality.
- Use AuthPlat's editorial workflows and AI-assisted feedback to support the review process.
- Distinguish between language, structural and substantive editorial issues, escalating technical questions that require specialist judgment.
- Track chapter-level progress, outstanding feedback, revisions and approvals.
- Maintain consistent editorial standards across assigned books.
- Help document editing guidelines, checklists and quality-control processes for future editors.
You will be responsible for maintaining editorial quality while ensuring that feedback does not become an unnecessary bottleneck for authors.
As the catalogue grows, editing responsibilities may be distributed across dedicated editorial resources.
3. Author Training and Development
Many technical experts possess deep subject knowledge but may not have experience writing a structured, professionally published book.
You will help them become effective authors.
Responsibilities include:
- Train authors to use AuthPlat's onboarding, book planning, outline, writing and editorial workflows.
- Help authors turn their expertise into a structured book for a clearly defined audience.
- Guide authors in breaking books into manageable chapters and writing milestones.
- Explain how to use AI-assisted feedback productively without relying on AI to replace their expertise or editorial judgment.
- Establish expectations around writing cadence, chapter submissions, revisions and communication.
- Conduct periodic progress reviews and identify authors who are falling behind.
- Help authors overcome writing and structural difficulties before they become major delays.
- Encourage authors to respond systematically to editorial feedback.
- Identify training needs and improve onboarding materials based on recurring problems.
The objective is not merely to sign authors. It is to help them become productive, independent contributors who can complete high-quality books through a repeatable publishing process.
4. Book Project Management
Each book must progress through a defined production journey, from initial concept to publication.
You will:
- Establish an agreed book outline, target audience, scope and writing plan with each author.
- Create realistic project schedules with chapter milestones, review periods and revision deadlines.
- Track author progress through AuthPlat and the publishing pipeline.
- Monitor delays, identify risks and agree on corrective actions with authors.
- Coordinate editorial reviews, author revisions, production handoffs and final approvals.
- Maintain visibility into the status of every book in your portfolio.
- Communicate risks and delays to the founder early.
- Ensure manuscripts are ready for downstream production according to company quality standards.
Target publishing timeline: Approximately six months from author onboarding for a typical 300-page book, subject to author responsiveness, manuscript complexity, revision requirements and production dependencies.
5. Building the Acquisition and Editorial System
As an early-stage company, we need processes that can scale beyond the founder and the first few employees.
You will help develop:
- Author prospecting and qualification frameworks.
- Standardised outreach, follow-up and author onboarding processes.
- Author assessment criteria and book proposal evaluation guidelines.
- AuthPlat training materials and author onboarding checklists.
- Editorial standards, chapter-review checklists and revision workflows.
- Standard book-production timelines and progress dashboards.
- Early-warning indicators for delayed or inactive authors.
- Documentation and operating procedures for future acquisition and editorial team members.
Your role is not simply to execute an existing process. You will help build and improve the process itself.
What Success Looks Like
Your performance will be evaluated across five areas:
Author Acquisition
- Work towards onboarding approximately five suitable authors per month.
- Build a qualified pipeline of prospective technical authors.
- Maintain consistent follow-ups and accurate CRM records.
- Ensure signed authors have credible topics and realistic commitments.
Editorial Execution
- Complete assigned chapter reviews within agreed turnaround times.
- Maintain consistent editorial quality.
- Reduce avoidable revision cycles through clear and actionable feedback.
- Keep editorial backlogs visible and under control.
Author Development
- Successfully onboard authors onto AuthPlat.
- Help authors establish writing plans and milestones.
- Conduct regular progress reviews and identify delays early.
- Improve authors' ability to work independently.
Publishing Execution
- Work towards a six-month publication cycle for a typical 300-page book.
- Maintain accurate project plans and status reports.
- Help establish a repeatable production process for the first 20 books.
Process Development
- Establish documented acquisition, onboarding, editorial and project-management workflows.
- Identify recurring problems and improve processes.
- Prepare the organisation to scale author acquisition and editorial production.
What We Are Looking For
You could be a strong fit if you have:
- Excellent written and spoken English.
- Strong editing, proofreading and written communication skills.
- The ability to understand complex technical material and improve its clarity without distorting its meaning.
- Strong research skills and the ability to assess an author's expertise and professional credibility.
- Confidence communicating with experienced technology professionals and subject-matter experts.
- Strong organisational and project-management skills.
- The ability to manage several authors and manuscripts simultaneously.
- Persistence, sound judgment and attention to detail.
- A willingness to take ownership and work independently.
- Comfort working in an early-stage company where processes are still being established.
- An interest in technology, technical publishing, education or professional learning.
Experience That Would Be Valuable
Experience in one or more of the following areas would be an advantage:
- Technical editing, developmental editing or manuscript review.
- Publishing, book production or editorial project management.
- Author acquisition, commissioning or content acquisition.
- Working with technical authors, trainers, developers or subject-matter experts.
- Training, mentoring or coaching people through structured projects.
- Managing multiple long-running projects with defined milestones.
Experience in technical publishing would be an advantage, but it is not mandatory. We value transferable skills and the ability to learn.
Why Join SkillUp Exchange?
This is an opportunity to help build an author acquisition and editorial function from the ground up.
You will work directly with the founder and experienced technology professionals, develop relationships with technical experts and contribute to books and learning products that help people develop practical skills.
You will gain exposure to:
- Technical publishing and editorial production.
- Author acquisition and commissioning.
- AI-assisted writing and editorial workflows.
- Training and developing subject-matter experts.
- Book project management.
- Building repeatable publishing operations.
- Developing a growing catalogue of technical books and related learning products.
As the business grows, this role can evolve towards broader responsibility for author acquisition, editorial operations, commissioning and management of an expanded author portfolio.
Compensation and Benefits
Monthly Salary: ₹25,000
Quarterly Performance Bonus: Up to ₹35,000, based on achievement against agreed quarterly KPIs.
Performance will consider both results and quality of execution. Spam, irrelevant outreach, misleading communication or attempts to manipulate Amazon reviews will not qualify as successful performance.
Work Location and Schedule
Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra
This is primarily an in-office role because you will work closely with the founder and the rest of the team while we build the publishing operation.
- Monday to Friday: Working days (office).
- First, third and fifth Saturdays: Working.
- Second and fourth Saturdays: Off.
- Up to two work-from-home days per month.
How to Apply
Please email your resume to kunalp@skillupexchange.com, along with a short note explaining why you believe you would be good at building relationships with technology professionals.
Candidates may also be asked to complete a short practical exercise involving:
- Finding relevant technology professionals for a technical book.
- Explaining why those individuals would make suitable authors.
- Writing an introductory LinkedIn message.
- Explaining how they would build a relationship with someone who responds.
We care more about how you think, research and communicate than about having the perfect resume.
Join us in building a new approach to technology publishing.
Pay: ₹25,000.00 - ₹35,000.00 per month
Work Location: In person
