Publicity Assistant, Children's

Bloomsbury Publishing plc; London; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

Join Bloomsbury’s award-winning Children’s Books team as a Publicity Assistant, where you'll provide key administrative support and manage publicity campaigns. This role offers invaluable PR experience and the opportunity to work with a variety of industry stakeholders, ideal for a proactive candidate passionate about books.

Qualifications

• Excellent organisational and timekeeping skills to deliver tasks within deadline.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills for copy editing and press releases.
• Keen interest in media of all forms and trends in the publishing industry.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to the Publicity Director and Children’s Publicity Team.
• Manage departmental processes including awards and travel arrangements.
• Serve as the publicity contact for communicating with external stakeholders.

Skills

Organisational skills

Communication

Time management

Attention to detail

Relationship building

Job description

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Join Bloomsbury’s Children’s Books, The British Book Awards Children’s Publisher of the Year 2024 and home to perfect picture books, page-turning middle-grade adventures, blockbuster YA fantasy and award-winning non-fiction. Its award-winning, diverse list includes authors and illustrators such as Katherine Rundell, Kalynn Bayron, Catherine Doyle, Jessie Burton, Tom Percival, Katya Balen and Lex Croucher. We are also home to the most famous children’s book brand in the world: Harry Potter.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and organised team player and invite you to begin your career in publishing in this award-winning and pioneering publicity team, at a time of exciting growth for the company. You will join a highly collaborative and supportive team, reporting into the Publicity Director. As Publicity Assistant, you will be a key member of the team, providing administrative support to ensure its smooth day-to-day running. With responsibilities including the creation of internal and external communications documents, scheduling meetings and liaising with the media and colleagues across the business, this role requires organisation, efficiency, exceptional time management and confident communication skills. You will also assist on campaigns and events, with the opportunity to plan and execute your own.

You don’t need to have set foot in a publishing house before to grab our attention! We are looking for a proactive candidate with initiative and a love of books who will thrive in a fast-paced environment.

In return, we can offer invaluable PR experience, a wide understanding of the publishing process and the opportunity to work with a variety of stakeholders in the industry. You will learn first-hand how we plan and deliver industry-leading PR campaigns, you will get exposure to key external stakeholders such as journalists, booksellers and event organisers and the chance to nurture your own relationships.

Our work is driven by different perspectives and we strive for our culture to be one of belonging. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities.

If you would like to apply, please send a CV and covering letter, which includes a campaign for any book, film, theatre, exhibition (e.g. any arts) that caught your eye and why, and the book you most enjoyed reading in the past year.

The role

• Provide administrative support to the Publicity Director and Children’s Publicity Team, including diary scheduling, processing invoices, taking minutes, booking travel
• Provide campaign support where appropriate for the team, such as booking author travel, inputting spend on budget, organising mailings, accompanying authors to events and interviews and organising events
• Ownership of some publicity campaigns, to develop skillset and knowledge of campaign work, and contribute to the wider department
• Management of departmental processes, including awards management, festivals and conferences, creating internal comms documents, managing departmental invoices, book ordering and more
• Serve as the publicity contact for the public and media, via phone and email so that all communication with external stakeholders is efficient, friendly and given in a timely manner
• Be the first port of call for the publicity team for internal colleagues

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Excellent organisational and timekeeping skills to deliver tasks within deadline. Ability to prioritise
• Great attention to detail
• Keen interest in media of all forms, such as print, broadcast and online. Including social media and new media to be abreast of changes in the market place
• Strong verbal and written communication skills required for copy editing, writing of press releases etc., and for keeping all stakeholders up-to-date and informed
• Strong relationship building skills, internally and externally, to build on and establish relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Passion for reading to keep abreast of the books Bloomsbury publish as well as the trends in the market place