Publishing Assistant & Social Media Manager

Stellar Publishing; Halifax; On-site; CAD 30,000 - 50,000; Part time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking publishing company dedicated to inspiring stargazers of all ages! As a part-time Publishing/Social Media Assistant, you'll play a crucial role in bringing exciting science books to market while managing engaging content for our YouTube channel and social media platforms. This role offers a unique opportunity to collaborate with passionate individuals and contribute to a vision that educates and entertains. If you thrive in a creative environment and are eager to learn, this position could lead to full-time opportunities as the company grows. Your energy and enthusiasm will help shape the future of stargazing education!

Qualifications

• Experience in video editing and social media content creation.
• Strong writing skills with a creative flair.

Responsibilities

• Setup film sets and edit videos for YouTube.
• Manage social media accounts and mailing lists.

Skills

Video Editing

Social Media Management

Content Creation

Photography

Writing

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Communications or related field

Relevant certifications in video editing or social media

Tools

Adobe Premiere Pro

Squarespace

Acuity Scheduling

Adobe InDesign

Job description

Stellar Publishing/Learn to Stargaze

“Books and media about space,

made by space experts—for stargazers of all ages”

Summary: Currently looking for a Part Time Publishing/Social Media Assistant for June 2025 to help grow our channels and bring several new science books to market.

Vision Statement:

We create optimistic visions of the future by educating people of all ages on both the wonders of the night sky and the possibilities of space exploration.

Social Media Strategy:

We realize our vision through the Learn to Stargaze YouTube channel, a mix of short form and long form video with the goal of helping people navigate the night sky and find joy in stargazing with a telescope or binoculars. The YouTube channel serves as the marketing engine for our books, as well as a potential source of revenue.

Products:

Our books aid beginner stargazers of all ages in a variety of different formats. In our current portfolio, we have board-books for toddlers, activity books for kids, and guidebooks for adults, all produced in partnership with Sourcebooks publishing. We also have a series of five 6^th grade texts produced in partnership with Formac publishing. And, most importantly, we have several popular in-house titles, which represent the largest share of our revenue. We occasionally produce books for other people as well (as long as they’ve either been to space or driven a Mars rover).

Location:

We work out of the Halifax Regional Municipality, near Dalhousie University. We also own Stargaze Nova Scotia, a 26-acre stargazing park near Peggy’s cove which serves as the filming location for our YouTube videos. Stargaze Nova Scotia also hosts the Abbey Ridge Observatory, which will open up several other possibilities for both science outreach and as a source of educational content.

Company Structure and Culture:

Our company has historically been very small but engages with a lot of people on a daily basis, including editors, illustrators, my agent, and our publishers (Sourcebooks and Formac). I also frequently work with astronauts, which is pretty cool, too. I typically have a single staff member (or contractor) helping with YouTube, primarily filming and editing. Historically, I have handled the book writing and production, but I’d like to change this going forward, letting my staff work on the books. I also believe in human creativity and craftsmanship, so we do not use AI for writing, editing, or design.

John (Host of Learn to Stargaze) loves giving talks about space and writing, and also enjoys attending tradeshows like Astronomy East, but travel is limited to about 4 weekend trips per year.

Our organization follows the strategies outlined in the book Getting things Done. This includes short blocks of 2-minute administrative tasks, followed by intense collaboration, and then hours-long periods of deep work (with no distractions such as emails or phone calls). We also shy away from formal meetings.

For an excellent example of what it’s like working for Stellar Publishing, watch our “Observatory Build” series, produced by Liam Smith, last year’s summer student.

https://youtu.be/uWZ9_bj_9ug?si=xJVobtxWs7Gia_T5

Part Time* Publishing/Social Media Assistant Job Opening:

We’re looking for an energetic and highly engaged publishing assistant to help in book production and creating of social media content (primarily YouTube). Secondary tasks include managing mailing lists and responding to company emails. Basically, we’re looking for someone to help accelerate and build upon the vision and strategy described above.

Roles and Responsibilities:

·Setup film sets, including cameras, microphones, and lighting.

·Editing of both long and short form video (Premiere Pro).

·Post to YouTube, Instagram, Facebook.

·Manage our mailing list (Squarespace).

·Manage our scheduling tool (Acuity)

·Layout book interiors using InDesign.

·Help with book content (for example, I currently need help to photograph 50 samples with a microscope).

·Handle relationship with potential sponsors.

In your application please include links including a:

·Writing sample: Share a link to an article, story, reddit post, GIT Hub entry, etc that showcases your writing and thinking style.

·Design sample: Share a link to a project you’ve worked on that showcases your design skills. This could be a book, advertisement, or signage that you’ve worked on. Please indicate which software you used.

·Video sample: Share a link to an online video that you edited or produced.

·Bonus: Share your artwork (I’m constantly looking for artists to do quick sketches).

Part time hours: 9am-1pm Monday to Friday +occasional evenings/weekends for filming

*Option to move to full time as workload allows

Selection criteria:

I have a LOT of fun conducting the day-to-day operations of this business. I’m going to hire someone who can share in the joy of the creative process. I’ll be looking for someone who can maintain a high level of energy and engagement. I believe that most technical skills can be taught, but willingness to learn, work style (i.e. general productivity), and the energy you bring to your job will be the deciding factor. The person in the role may appear in Learn To Stargaze videos, so screen presence will be a factor as well.

“Interview” process:

Based on the writing, design, and video samples included in your application, I will select several candidates. Each candidate will help me film and edit a YouTube short over a period of one or two days. During this time, you will be paid as an independent contractor.

I will hire the individual who performs the best (and has the most fun) during the video production process.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

John Read

Host of Learn to Stargaze,

Author/Astronomer/Space System Expert