Children & Entertainment Editor

Editor, Children’s Books, Entertainment Group

 Sourcebooks, an independent publishing house located in Naperville, IL, is creating significant growth because our employees share a belief that books change lives, that hard work and cooperation create momentum, and that new marketplace realities require an entrepreneurial, innovative, and flexible mentality. If you share those beliefs, come drive innovation and growth with us!

We are seeking an outstanding individual to join our editorial department as an Editor for children’s books in our Entertainment Group. The Editor will generate book ideas and oversee the creation of a variety of print and digital products from inception to completion by working hand-in-hand with licensors, partners and Sourcebooks’ editorial and design teams. The Editor will serve as the editorial brand manager and product coordinator/liaison on all print and digital products in the licensed and regionalized division.  Our Entertainment Group is a hands-on, entrepreneurial team in which members work closely to accomplish all steps of widely varying projects on typically short schedules. In short, it may be the most fun you’ll ever have in publishing!

We are looking for a creative editor with seven to ten years’ experience who is ready to create and manage opportunities for growth.

 An outstanding Editor will:

• Be responsible for long-range planning on individual titles and series management/development for licensed and regionalized products
• Analyze marketplace needs and competition
• Establish project list and schedule for each season
• Oversee scheduling with Content Delivery and manufacturing groups
• Develop and maintain professional contact with key business partners and other sources of content or market leverage
• Track and communicate to management all projects’ progress (benchmarking and scheduling)
• Develop manuscripts for content, structure, correctness, readability, and positioning, vet all books for accuracy and quality
• Manage effective and thorough communication between Sourcebooks and licensors, and internally with the development team on all assigned products.
• Maintain licensor correspondence files on projects developed for retail. Key contact for prepublication licensor editorial correspondence.
• At each required step, work with licensors’ approval system to ensure prompt completion of deadlines.
• Review projects at all stages of development for quality and consistency with licensor guidelines and provide feedback to ensure quality meets all licensor expectations, guidelines, and contractual requirements.
• Proactively communicate and track all deadlines with licensors to ensure overall project workflow benchmarks are maintained.
• Initiate creative project concepts for potential publication that lead to the creation of new licensed and regionalized products.
• Collaborate with licensor brand managers, and with external artists as necessary.
• Facilitate the exchange/transfer of assets from licensor to development team during the creation stage of the process.
• Collaborate on visual layouts with in-house production and design staff.
• Guide concepts through internal review and approvals, then pitch to licensor and guide through licensor approvals.
• Create or cause to be created bookmap and manuscript execution of concept(s), including use of approved brand art, in line with approved concept and licensor guidelines.
• Recruit and hire writers, artists, voice talent, and other contributors as necessary, including drafting, reviewing, and negotiating freelance contracts.
• As necessary, recruit, hire and direct artists and designers in creation of new art in conjunction with licensor guidelines.

The ideal candidate will:

• Be a self-starter. Exhibiting initiative, leadership, and a strong desire to grow in book and product development.
• Play well with others. Seriously, we’re a hard-working team who also happen to be pretty nice.
• Juggle and coordinate. We want a clear communicator who is detail-oriented, organized and can keep short- and long-term projects on schedules while following through on deadlines.  
• Love books. This is a must.
• Grammar guru. Excellent grammar skills and the ability to catch mistakes big and small are essential for this role.

This position is located in our home office in Naperville, Illinois, in the western suburbs of Chicago.  Please submit a cover letter indicating your interest and qualifications for the role.

About Sourcebooks

Sourcebooks is working on creating the next evolution of a book publishing company. We thrive on our collaborative culture and are guided by the talents, passions and innovations of more than 115 enthusiastic book-loving employees who are dedicated to finding new ways to connect with authors, readers, and ideas. We publish over 300 new titles each year, and are honored to have 40+ New York Times bestsellers. You would be joining an organization that won the 2013 Publishing Innovator of the Year award and is led by Dominique Raccah, Publishers Weekly Person of the Year 2016, and FutureBooks’ Most Inspiring Digital Person of 2013.  We are doing some great things and plan to do more! Check out what we are about on www.sourcebooks.com and putmeinthestory.com.

Sourcebooks is an equal opportunity employer. We invite resumes from all interested parties including women, minorities, veterans and persons with disabilities.