Publishing Production & Design Assistant

University of Texas at Austin; United States; On-site; USD 43,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Texas at Austin seeks a Production & Composition Assistant to support the UT Press in supervising acquisition, design, production, promotion, sales, and distribution of books and publishing rights. You will help manage art evaluation, typesetting in InDesign, and coordination with authors, designers, vendors, and printers.

The role requires a bachelor’s degree, strong eye for detail, and ability to work across multiple projects.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree. Proficient in Photoshop, InDesign, Word, and Excel.
• An excellent eye for detail and commitment to producing the highest quality books.
• Highly organized with the ability to work on multiple on-going projects.
• Self-motivated and proactive with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and within a group.
• Ability to lift a heavy carton of books.
• Candidates will be asked to perform a software test in InDesign and Photoshop during the course of the interview.

Responsibilities

• Art Evaluations: Log and organize images in Filemaker database.
• Rename all image files using UT Press naming conventions, making adjustments/corrections to art, optimizing images for printing, and any other issues pertaining to art programs.
• The art evaluation process includes collaboration across all departments as well as with the author.
• Book Composition and Typesetting: Use InDesign to typeset books from manuscript to first pages; present sample pages; typeset books based on press templates; input page corrections; typeset new material for revised or updated editions; adapt jacket mechanicals to paperback reprints; and make corrections to covers and interiors as needed.
• General Responsibilities: Process invoices, create purchase orders, and contribute to production plans; pack and ship materials; update business cards and office stationery; participate in the training and supervision of student employees and/or fellows; contribute to related department functions as assigned by supervisor.
• Project Management: Create cast-offs to estimate the final page count on books after typesetting; monitor and update schedules in FileMaker database; send books out for typesetting based on press templates; present sample page designs; and communicate with authors, designers, vendors, and printers as needed in coordination with other staff.
• Archive files and submit invoices when projects are complete.
• Managing approximately 25 e-books annually. Including sending materials to conversion vendors and quality-checking results. Archiving materials on Box. Processing approximately 65 print-on-demand titles per year.

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

InDesign

Photoshop

Word

Excel

Job description

University of Texas at Austin seeks a Production & Composition Assistant to support the UT Press in supervising acquisition, design, production, promotion, sales, and distribution of books and publishing rights. You will help manage art evaluation, typesetting in InDesign, and coordination with authors, designers, vendors, and printers.

The role requires a bachelor’s degree, strong eye for detail, and ability to work across multiple projects.