Production Controller - The Book Guild

Trobador Publishing's sister company, The Book Guild, is looking for a Production Controller to join a busy book production department, producing beautiful books and working with authors directly. With the imprint currently undertaking an innovative rebrand, this is an exciting time to join the team and play an instrumental part in the future of the company.

The Production Controller role is key to the production process, guiding projects through from contract to delivery, and includes liaising with and being a pivotal part of the dedicated Book Guild team. As well as project managing all Book Guild books through the editorial, typesetting, cover design and printing process, you will be responsible for ensuring that all our titles are produced on time and to schedule. You’ll be the main point of contact with your own list of authors, coordinating each publishing project and advising authors on options. 

In addition to the project management work, a key part of your role will be around the creative aspects that go into the production of the book. From typesetting to proof corrections, you’ll be responsible for a wide range of Adobe-based activities, including making sure that the book’s interior and exterior are cohesive by ensuring the same fonts and styles are used from front to back. You will also have the freedom to explore book cover enhancements and how these can be applied to enhance a given design.

Reporting to the Production Manager and working closely with The Book Guild's Publishing Manager, you’ll be given responsibility early on, liaising with authors over digital and phone communication to ensure that their publishing journey is efficiently managed and as good an experience for the author as possible.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include:

• Responsible for the authors and projects assigned to you, from the point of contract receipt, right through to the book's delivery to the warehouse.
• Coordinating the production of books with specialist team members – including editorial, typesets and cover design – from manuscript to delivery.
• Managing the production process of multiple book projects simultaneously, liaising with other members of the team as part of this process. You can expect to be sending up to 15 books a month to print.
• Communicating with other departments to ensure the smooth running of the publishing, marketing and distribution processes.
• Taking on a wide range of Adobe suite-based actions, including typesetting and proof corrections.
• You’ll be front and centre as part of the Book Guild team, and be heavily involved with how we grow the brand into the future.
• You will work closely with the Book Guild Publishing Manager to not only receive new authors into the production process but also to help market the brand to the world. This may involve time spent promoting Book Guild books on social media, attending trade shows and events or coming up with new ideas of how we can grow the brand.

Requirements

Key requirements for this role are:

• Someone who can offer excellent customer service.
• Organisation and multitasking is key to this role. With approximately 70 titles in production as your responsibility at any given time, you will need to be able to prioritise work effectively and drive your projects forward at pace.
• An eye for detail and a good level of grammar and spelling.
• Excellent communication skills and an ability to explain complex or technical processes or topics to authors effectively.
• An ability to work well within a team, and comfortable asking for help.

Nice to haves

Some things that it would be nice for candidates to have, but which are not essential, are:

• Ability to use Apple Mac computers
• Experience working directly with customers
• Adobe InDesign experience
• Experience with the book production process

Salary: £24,000