Editor, Penguin Michael Joseph

Job description

In this exciting role, you’ll be responsible for guiding a range of books through the critical path to publication.

Key responsibilities:
• Working closely with authors on existing projects at different stages of publication
• Editing manuscripts for a select number of titles
• Reading submissions from agents and liaising with acquiring editors about potential
• Writing title information sheets, cover copy, and other marketing materials
• Liaising with in-house teams such as production and managing editorial, and external stakeholders such as agents
• Presenting titles at in-house meetings
• Contributing to new ideas meetings, with new projects in mind.

In this role, you can expect to be working on bestselling authors including Stephen Fry, Miranda Hart and David Mitchell, as well as new talent across all genres.

What’s important to us is that you know what it takes to make a bestseller, to work with authors closely and bring the rest of the team at Penguin Michael Joseph along with you.

As part of your cover letter, please answer the following question: Tell us about a recently published commercial non-fiction book you’ve read and why you would recommend it (in no more than 200 words).

We’d love it if you had…

We’re open to considering candidates at different stages of their career. Perhaps you’re an Assistant Editor looking to step up, or an Editor wanting hands-on experience on a different type of list. What we need is someone who is excited by the prospect of working across a range of titles and authors, who is ready to develop their own editorial taste, and can find the fun in working under pressure and to tight deadlines.

Essential criteria:
• Demonstrable editorial or shadow editorial experience, and familiarity with the lifecycle of a book
• Proven experience working with authors and agents
• Able to multitask and handle competing priorities, whilst remaining calm under pressure and without sacrificing attention to detail
• Creative and collaborative
• Demonstrable interest in commercial fiction and non-fiction publishing

Employer details

Penguin Michael Joseph is a leading commercial fiction and non-fiction imprint of Penguin Random House, publishing best-selling titles across an array of genres such as crime and thriller, romance, cookery, memoir and lifestyle. Our authors include household names like Marian Keyes, Holly Jackson, Dawn French, Jeremy Clarkson, Jamie Oliver and Stephen Fry.