Editorial Assistant

Jobtailor; Greater London; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking an Editorial Assistant to join the Fiction editorial department in Greater London. You will provide administrative and editorial support to the Publishing Directors, assist with desk editing, prelims, copyedits, and proofs, and read submissions with reader reports.

You will manage freelance editorial bookings, update meeting minutes, create metadata, organise proofs, and help with coordination across production teams.

Qualifications

• Some administrative and organisation experience.
• An effective multi-tasker, with experience of coping in a pressurised environment.
• Digitally savvy
• A passion for HQ titles and commercial fiction books, particularly romance
• Excellent command of the English language
• Effective communicator at all levels
• Excellent attention to detail
• Voracious reader of commercial fiction
• Advanced MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Some experience working with Adobe is desirable
• Excellent organisational skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Reliable, with the ability to use own initiative
• Flexible, proactive and a team player

Responsibilities

• Assist with editorial and administrative tasks to support the Fiction department.
• Provide admin and editorial support to the Publishing Director and Editorial Directors.
• Assist with desk editing, prelims, copyedits, proofreading, and proofreading changes.
• Read submissions and submit reader reports.
• Update weekly team editorial meeting minutes.
• Coordinate freelance editorial bookings and schedules.
• Proofread jacket, catalogue, AI and divisional copy.
• Organise back matter and endmatter.
• Write or adapt copy as required.
• Perform ebook editorial checks and voucher proof checking.
• Liaise with production teams to meet critical paths.
• Act as first point of contact for editorial queries.
• Create and update metadata.
• Create and circulate digital bound proofs.
• Raise purchase orders and send books to authors and agents.
• Organise author/publication gifts and day-to-day communications.

Skills

Administrative experience

Multi-tasking

Digital literacy

Excellent English

Effective communication

Attention to detail

Reliability

Team player

Flexibility

MS Office proficiency

Tools

Adobe

PowerPoint

Excel

Word

Job description

• Facilitate the smooth running of the Fiction editorial department
• Provide administrative and editorial support to the Publishing Director and Editorial Director, and Publishers when requested
• Assist with desk editing, preparing prelims, coordinating copyedits, proofreading, collation and amendments
• Read submissions and submit reader reports
• Update weekly team editorial meeting minutes
• Manage freelance editorial bookings and schedules
• Proofread jacket, catalogue, AI and divisional copy
• Organise back ads and extra endmatter
• Write or adapt copy as required
• Perform ebook editorial checks and voucher proof checking
• Liaise with production teams and editors to help meet critical paths
• Act as first point of contact for general editorial queries
• Create and update metadata
• Create and circulate digital bound proofs
• Raise purchase orders and send books to authors and agents
• Organise author/publication gifts and handle day-to-day communications
• Update presentations and assist with bound proof mailings
• Maintain HQ bookshelves and perform monthly stock checks
• Handle book and author orders
• Create PowerPoint presentations
• Book visitors and meeting rooms and organise meeting technology
• Take minutes and organise agendas for weekly Title/Subtitle meetings
• Organise prize submissions
• Assist with author/freelance database management
• Support Publishers and Publishing Directors with other tasks as required

Requirements

• Some administrative and organisation experience
• An effective multi-tasker, with experience of coping in a pressurised environment
• Digitally savvy
• A passion for HQ titles and commercial fiction books, particularly romance
• Excellent command of the English language
• Effective communicator at all levels
• Excellent attention to detail
• Voracious reader of commercial fiction
• Advanced MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Some experience working with Adobe is desirable
• Excellent organisational skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Reliable, with the ability to use own initiative
• Flexible, proactive and a team player

Demonstrates strong organizational and administrative skills to support editorial processes, including proofreading, copyediting, and managing schedules. Proficient in advanced MS Office applications and effective communication, with a passion for commercial fiction.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Advanced MS Word
• Advanced MS Excel
• Advanced MS PowerPoint
• Proofreading
• Copyediting

Hard Skills

• Proofreading
• Copyediting
• Desk Editing
• Preparing Prelims
• Collation
• Amendments
• Creating Metadata
• Ebook Editorial Checks
• Writing or Adapting Copy
• Organizing Prize Submissions

Soft Skills

• Effective Communication
• Attention to Detail
• Multi-tasking
• Reliability
• Flexibility

Industry Keywords

• Editorial Support
• Publishing
• Commercial Fiction
• Reader Reports
• Freelance Editorial Management

Tools & Technologies

• Adobe
• PowerPoint
• Excel
• Word