Editorial Assistant

Job Title

Editorial Assistant, Academic

Job Holder

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Reports to

Senior Production Editor

Date

July 2024

To contribute to Pre-press editorial activities of Academic titles. To take responsibility for Pre-press projects and tasks under the supervision of the Senior Production Editor, and to offer general assistance in working with authors, copyeditors, freelancers, typesetters, project vendors, indexers, designers, illustrators and others in taking projects forward and ensuring their successful publication. The job also includes proofreading text and covers of print and digital titles, and checking advance copies received from printers.

Financial:

Project management or task completion within an agreed budget and demonstrable contribution to successful print publication

Staff:

• Collaborate with other desk editors/ commissioning editors/ sales persons/ marketing colleagues and vendors

Other:

• Working on an agreed schedule after discussion with the Senior Production Editor

• Maintaining relationship with production colleagues

Editorial responsibilities

• Handle different book projects and tasks in Pre-press production
• Proofread text and cover files for both print and digital products
• Coordinate with design vendors for generating cover files
• Maintain quality standards set by the Press
• Ensure that all vendors and freelancers adhere to our quality standards
• Provide constant feedback to vendors for quality issues

• Coordinate with the Senior Production Editor on content-related issues that may need to be resolved during the course of a project

• Stick to the Press' font policies and other compliance policies

(a) Operating Environment:

Successful and error-free publication of print and digital Academic titles

(b) Framework & Boundaries:

• Pre-press workflow

• Adhering to the Press' font policy and other compliance policies

(c) Organisation:

Organization chart is understood.

(a) Subordinates:

• Manage freelance editors and other vendors

• Check their quality of work whenever required

(b) Superior(s):

• Weekly publishing updates

• Updates on a task may be required at any point in time

• Discuss timeline of all tasks and project assigned

(c) Other Contacts:

Within the company

Commissioning, marketing and sales colleagues

Outside the company

Publishing vendors, designers, illustrators

• The ability to work both independently and as part of a team

• The ability to communicate well in English, both verbally and in writing

• Strong attention to detail and the ability to work accurately and quickly to tight deadlines

• A high standard of computer literacy

• Reading comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

• Writing comprehension - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

• Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.

• Judgement and decision making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

• Familiarity with the style guides, especially the Chicago Manual of Style, desirable.

• Editorial assistants need to be train themselves quickly in whatever systems they are expected to use and whatever tasks they are expected to carry out.

• Time management – certain projects or tasks can have sharp deadlines which need to be understood well before a it is taken up for execution.

• Maintaining professional relationship and work balance with all vendors