HQ Digital is the digital-first list of HQ, specialising in innovative digital publishing across the commercial fiction market, from contemporary fiction, romance, historical fiction to crime and thrillers. Combining rapid growth with commercial success, we’re proud to have launched stellar careers for a host of digital bestselling authors both in the UK and internationally, including Rebecca Raisin, Portia Macintosh, Faith Martin and Neil Lancaster.
This commissioning role requires a clear understanding of the digital fiction market, the ability to spot trends and publishing opportunities, and the chance to work with a growing, ambitious team. You will be curating your own list of fiction authors and working with the Publishing Director to help grow our thriving digital list.
You’ll be responsible for your own titles from acquisition to publication in every format, and work with key teams within HarperCollins to create effective digital publishing strategies, successful launches and build long-term sales. You’ll develop strong author and agent relationships and have a keen appetite for commercial fiction and the ability to spot emerging trends in the market.
This role will suit candidates who have both initiative and energy, and who are excited to think creatively about digital publishing.
Editorial:
- Commission, edit, desk-edit and publish titles successfully and profitably for the HQ Digital list
- Read and respond to submissions
- Foster strong relationships with authors, providing regular updates on publishing strategy and sales
- Build relationships with agents, with a view to bringing in the best talent to HQ Digital
- Project manage titles from acquisition through to publication, including production work
- Liaise with in-house digital teams on digital promotions
- Brief covers and liaise with designers
- Copywriting and checking sales/marketing material
- Raise and check contracts as required
- Reading widely across the commercial fiction market, ensuring strong market knowledge and market-focused publishing strategies
Digital:
- Overseeing metadata/AIs for your authors/titles, working to ensure these are best in class and ready in line with critical path. Liaising with the pricing/analytics team to get the best out of the titles that are working across the division – whether adjusting BISAC codes, subtitles, keywords, or even looking at new covers or copy. Regularly checking Amazon feeds to see if there are any glitches/problems and flagging them as necessary.
- Working on backlist reissues as required and agreeing on strategy in conjunction with the digital team and Publishing Director.
- Supporting Marketing to create innovative digital campaigns which aim to get titles to the top of the charts.
- Attending weekly pricing and metadata sessions, cultivating close links with the pricing/analytics team, and working closely with them on new projects as they come up.
- Highlighting key titles to the team that need a focus in digital
Sales:
- Ensure a strong awareness of what digital retailers require in terms of packaging and positioning
- Create content for customer presentations and other presentations where necessary
- Ensure that Sales, International Sales, Audio, Digital Sales and Rights teams have all the advance sales information that they require
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Previous commissioning experience is required
- Strong knowledge of the digital fiction market and emerging trends
- A creative, energetic team player who enjoys collaborating with wider teams to deliver bestseller success
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills to express technical and creative vision clearly
- A creative, energetic team player who enjoys collaborating with wider teams to deliver bestseller success
- Excellent organisational skills and experience of working to deadlines
- Advanced MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint
- The role may contain other duties not specified here.
If you wish to discuss anything regarding this position and/or your application to this role, please reach out directly to
[email protected] with subject heading ‘Vacancy Query’ plus the job title and we will aim to get back to you within 5 working days.
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.
