Assistant Editor, Fiction (12 month FTC)

HarperCollins; Greater London; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

HarperCollins UK is seeking an editorial assistant to support our General Fiction team, working with the Publishing Directors and Commissioning Editor. You’ll help edit and production tasks, manage author communications, and handle administrative duties to keep titles on track.

We’re looking for practical editing experience in a commercially focused publishing environment, a passion for popular fiction, and strong organisational and communication skills to thrive in a busy list.

Qualifications

• Experience in Trade Editorial or equivalent publishing experience.
• Strong organisational skills and ability to multitask under pressure.
• Excellent editing and copy-editing capabilities for commercial fiction.
• Proactive communication with authors, editors, and departments.

Responsibilities

• Provide editorial support to Publishing Directors and Commissioning Editor.
• Oversee production tasks, including file handling and liaising with freelancers.
• Perform structural and line edits in collaboration with editors.
• Check copy-edits, prepare proofs, and manage cover/launch briefs.
• Input metadata and ensure accuracy across platforms.
• Draft author questionnaires and reading group questions.
• Support administrative duties within the General Fiction team.

Skills

Trade Editorial

Project-management

Author liaison

Editing & copy writing

Reliability & initiative

Communication

Attention to detail

Tools

MS Word

Excel

Outlook

Job description

We have a brilliant opportunity to work with our bestselling General Fiction list, working to support our two Publishing Directors and a Commissioning Editor, as part of our busy, friendly General Fiction team. It’s a role that offers a broad range of responsibilities, with a focus on editorial support for some of our key brand authors, production support for the busy list, and some direct contact with authors and management of their publishing. The role also includes administrative tasks across the General Fiction team and an ability to prioritise is key. We’re looking for someone with practical editing experience in a commercially focused publishing team, who is passionate about popular fiction, romance and great storytelling.

Key Responsibilities:

Editorial:

• Working closely with the Publishing Directors to give editorial support on their authors
• Managing all aspects of production on their titles and seeing them through the production process, including booking freelancers
• Doing structural and line edits as needed or alongside the Publishing Directors and working with authors
• Checking copy-edits, resolving queries and collating page proofs
• Completing ebook editorial checks
• Writing and preparing cover and launch briefs, and cover copy
• Creating Advance Information sheets to key sales deadlines, monitoring and updating them
• Inputting metadata across all relevant titles and monitoring it – including checking Amazon - to ensure it remains relevant and up to date
• Proof-reading cover runouts, author presentations, short stories and other texts, as well as sales and marketing material, e.g. catalogues, rights sheets, presenters
• Creating author questionnaires, reading group questions and other extra content
• Reading and reporting speedily on submissions shared by the Publisher or Publishing Director

Administration:

• Liaison on Publishing Directors’ behalf with authors, agents, and other departments
• Provide advance/sample materials to internal divisions
• Organising purchase orders and processing invoices
• Supplying TCM figures, international sales figures and overall sales analysis
• Raising new contracts
• Ordering gratis copies for authors
• Taking minutes when necessary at inhouse meetings
• Sending out proofs for advance quotes

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise:

• Previous experience in Trade Editorial
• Project-management experience – effective at multi-tasking, with the ability to cope in a pressurised environment
• Direct liaison with authors, agents, and other departments within the publishing company
• Editing and writing copy experience
• Reliable and demonstrates initiative
• Effective communicator at all levels
• A keen eye for detail
• Advanced MS Word and Intermediate Excel and Outlook

About HarperCollins UK

With a history stretching back over 200 years, HarperCollins is the second largest consumer book publisher in the world. Here at HarperCollins UK, we publish around 1,500 books a year for readers of all ages and interests.

Our bestsellers include Bernard Cornwell, Adele Parks, Jonathan Franzen, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Memoirs of British prime ministers. Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy. George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. And legendary titles by legacy authors J.R.R. Tolkien, Agatha Christie and C.S. Lewis.

We’re home to the most iconic bears, Paddington, Rupert and Winnie-the-Pooh, and Judith Kerr, Rob Biddulph and Michael Morpurgo, Mr Men & Little Miss, Thomas & Friends and Minecraft for our younger readers.

We have offices in London, Honley, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin. In London, we’re in The News Building with News UK. Keeping our historic connection to Glasgow, we’re also based in the Robroyson district where each week, our distribution centre sends up to 3 million books around the world.