Director of Publishing

Our client, a well-established nonprofit educational development and publishing house, is seeking a Director of Publishing. With a rich history spanning over four decades, this organization has earned a reputation for developing research-backed and evidence-based resources that are widely utilized by educators and students worldwide in the K12 market.

The Director of Publishing leads the Publishing House, ensuring editorial excellence and adherence to style guides. This role oversees the entire book publishing process from author acquisition to design and production. The Director is responsible for aligning all content with the company's values and quality standards while meeting annual front list release goals. Reporting directly to the President and Chief Executive Officer, this position plays a crucial role in shaping the organization's publishing strategy and output.

Location: Candidates must be able to commute daily into their Massachusetts office.  

Compensation - $125,000.00

Key Responsibilities:

The ideal candidate will have demonstrable ability and successful experience in:

• Overseeing all phases of book publishing including but not limited to acquisition, proposal and manuscript development and production.
• Management of various editorial processes including but not limited to content creation, developmental editing, copyediting, proofreading, and indexing.
• Adherence to Visual and Editorial Style Guides.
• Directing graphic design and desktop publishing, including style sheets and design choices.
• Project management ensuring projects are completed on time and on budget.

Major responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Leadership

• Direct oversight of all Publishing House staff.
• Hire and develop talented editorial staff.
• Collaborate with marketing to help support and develop seasonal sales strategies.
• Support other units to ensure effective launch strategies for new products.

Publishing Pipeline

• Collaborate with CEO and other internal stakeholders to design and implement a long-term publication strategy that meets expectation for building a front list.
• Lead the development of production timelines, negotiate contracts and rights with authors, oversee fact-checking and copyrights, plan and adhere to production cost and ensure on-time and on-budget delivery.
• Provide oversight and direction for curating publishable content and collaborate with Division leaders on strategic and tactical uses of the curated content.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Sales on strategy for meeting monthly and annual sales target goals for front and backlist titles.
• Provide guidelines to authors (content and product) for preparing and submitting manuscripts.

Editorial Excellence

• Ensure staff meet performance expectations and uphold core values.
• Ensure established imprint and brand identity is consistent with House, Program and Marketing Style Guides.
• Collaborate with division leaders to produce new books and ensure the company’s annual front list release goals are met.
• Make timely editorial decisions and establish clear guidelines for authors.
• Establish a procedure for reconsidering editorial decisions.

Editorial Project Management

• Lead the development of and monitor the execution for all product development from proposal to completion.
• Oversee videography, photography, and content translation into other languages. This includes selecting and managing freelancers while ensuring the quality of the video, photo, and translated content libraries.
• Oversee editorial, design, and production staff to ensure high-quality output that is on time and on budget

Author and Content Acquisition

• Develop a robust author acquisition strategy to maintain a marketable publications pipeline.
• Conduct market research to identify new product opportunities.
• Collaborate with brand leaders to identify authors, develop proposals and/or review and select manuscripts.
• Oversee the peer review of manuscripts and select manuscripts to publish that are consistent with the company’s peer review criteria and page budget.

Financial Oversight

• Work with the CEO and CFO to manage the annual budget for publications and make decisions regarding new editions.
• Monitor performance metrics in collaboration with the finance and sales teams.
• Provide oversight to the reprint process to ensure that any corrections that are needed can be made at reprint.
• Collaborate with Division heads, sales and finance to:

o  Develop strategies for meeting publication targets

o  Determine print runs and reprint quantities

o  Manage inventory controls

Communication and Social Media Support

• Support all units in achieving their editorial and production communication goals.
• Assist in producing content and digital resources needed for workshops, training, courses or unit needs.
• Work with the CEO on internal and external communication materials.
• Work with division leaders to maintain and update the company’s website and social media presence.

Additional Responsibilities

• Ability to travel is required, sometimes frequently.
• Represent the company at conferences and other public events.
• Serve on the leadership team and aid in setting and executing on organizational strategy.
• Daily office commute.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) in English, communications, journalism, publications or related field.
• Minimum of 7 years editorial experience within the K12 publishing industry, with at least 3 of those years in an editorial supervisory position.
• Deep publications expertise, including budgeting, printing, editorial and production management, and related technologies.
• Strong knowledgeable about Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) and American Psychological Association (APA).
• Strong leadership background to guide and mentor a growing team.
• Exceptional project management expertise overseeing multiple, complex projects simultaneously in a deadline-driven environment.
• Strong editing and writing skills and can support staff in a range of editing including proofreading, copyediting, line editing, and developmental editing.
• Experience with book development and production and project management.
• Ability to communicate respectfully and authoritatively for various purposes, including promoting a healthy organizational culture, providing feedback, and sharing decisions.
• Prior experience working with vendors and contractors for writing, illustration, photography, and other related supplies and services.
• Highly accountable for performance; goal oriented and flexible
• Caring for and commitment to the vision, mission, and welfare of the company.

Technical Skills:

• Experience in using CMOS and APA and implementing House Style Guide.
• Experience in or can quickly learn the fundamentals of Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, InCopy and other Creative Suite products
• Familiar with or able to quickly learn Monday, Salesforce, HubSpot, and other CRM software
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, social media, Google productivity software

More about our client:

Our client believes that educating all children is the most important work in the world. Their vision is to influence and inspire a world-class education for every student in every school, every day, and to bring hope and joy to educators and students alike.

Benefits include: Medical, Dental and Vision; Paid vacation, sick and personal time; 403B retirement and employer match; cafeteria cash and more.