Are you a fiction commissioning editor with an appetite for finding and championing the best non-London voices? Are you keen to work with an array of authors across rom-com, crime, bookclub, historical fiction and more? Do you have a track record of discovering and acquiring novels that keep you hooked to the last word and are ready to take them to the top of the charts? If you enjoy creative, diverse publishing from idea generation to all-in auctions, this fiction commissioner role in our Manchester-based team might be for you. We want to hear from you if you’re someone who knows what makes a story stand out, who enjoys keeping up with market trends and innovations, who has strong industry contacts and is passionate about building brand bestsellers, spotting future stars and finding talent and serving readers in all corners of the country.

As part of the application process, we kindly ask that you provide a tailored cover letter along with your CV on the same document. Your cover letter is an opportunity to showcase your qualifications, enthusiasm, and alignment with the requirements of the role.

Overview of the Role:

You will be a key member of the HarperNorth team, building a list of fiction authors and working on them through the whole editorial process through to publication in physical and digital editions. You will be commissioning your own titles for the list, in line with the acquisition strategy of the imprint, and should already have experience of acquiring as well as experience of driving titles through to publication and beyond, positioning them successfully and steering them strategically. You will have a wide range of industry contacts that you can connect to and build on, and the ability to build strong relationships with key internal and external stakeholders as well a history of great author care. The successful candidate will be attuned to the fiction market, having an awareness of trends and titles across the heart of the market as well as a passion for the books that HarperNorth publishes.

About HarperNorth:

HarperNorth, established in 2020, finds, nurtures and grows northern writing talent and brings the best voices to the widest national and international audiences.  With a track-record of top-ten bestsellers and award-nominated authors, HarperNorth offers a dedicated editorial, marketing and publicity function rooted in the north. As a close-knit team, HarperNorth offers the opportunity for team members to contribute to discussions across the imprint, ensuring constant learning and development opportunities. Based in the centre of Manchester, HarperNorth publishes bestselling fiction and non-fiction across the market. From crime to rom-com and memoir to history, we are looking for the best writers to reach the broadest possible readership. 

Responsibilities:

• Acquiring titles in line with HarperNorth’s acquisition strategy, adding fiction voices to the stable.

• Taking ownership of your own list of authors, seeing them through from first draft/outline right the way through to publication for both physical and digital editions.

• Overseeing some existing HarperNorth authors, maintaining communication with authors and agents and developing publishing strategies.

• Contributing to and building on creative/strategy conversations and developing IP projects and editor-originated publishing.

• Negotiating deal memos and progressing contracts for acquisitions.

• Liaising closely with the production team to keep books in line with critical path, acting as primary point of contact for everything Production-related on relevant authors.

• Understanding and wider reading of competitor titles, resulting in strong market knowledge and audience-focused publishing strategies, across the heartland of the fiction market.

• Briefing standout covers and jackets, liaising with designers, seeing visuals through from start to finish, particularly keeping in mind deadlines for retailer sell-in.

• Creating strategy documents for key titles and presenting these to the wider team as required.

• Briefing publicity and marketing to build innovative campaigns and maximise PR opportunities

• Ownership of metadata/AIs for individual authors, ensuring this fits with emerging trend and is in line with critical path.

• Drafting cover/catalogue/copy as required.

• Liaising with the pricing/analytics team to get the best out of the titles.

• Briefing and checking sales/marketing material, e.g. catalogues, sales presenters, as necessary.

• Continuing to build and foster relationships with agents, acting as one of HarperNorth’s key ambassadors within the industry, cultivating the established relationships we have already, developing new ones and identifying more agencies to work with.

• Liaising with teams across the business including sales, marketing, publicity, rights and production.

Attending launches, industry events and festivals as needed.

Skills Required:

• Previous experience of commissioning and working on fiction titles

• Owning, devising and implementing publishing strategy at a title/author level

• Experience working at editor level or above

• Demonstrable market knowledge

• Understanding of end-to-end editing processes

• Experience of working directly with authors and agents

• Contract negotiation (desirable)

• Creative origination and IP (desirable)

• Metadata and bibliographic data awareness (desirable)

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Global thinker - someone able to think 'beyond the book' and help us develop digital, international and audio sales

• Hungry to own and drive own workload

• Idea generator and takes initiative

• Problem-solver 

• Extremely organised and detail-orientated

• Flexible – able to work evenings and weekends occasionally when required to attend launches/events

Benefits

• Hybrid working model (3 days in the office)

• 28 days holiday plus bank holidays (option to buy and sell holiday days) 

• Enhanced pay for maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave 

• Private healthcare cover and life assurance 

• Summer Hours  

• Free access to HeadSpace, employee assistance programme (24 hour helpline), mental health first aiders, and a wellbeing portal 

• Season ticket loans (from day 1 for entry level) and cycle to work scheme 

• Relocation Rent Support Loan  

• Employee networks: HC All In (open forum), Elevate (for ethnic minority colleagues), HarperParents, Menopause at Work, Pride at HC, Social Mobility Network and Neurodiversity at Work

• Unlimited training on our Learning and Development portal, management courses (up to MA level) and mentoring programmes 

• Virtual GP and eyecare vouchers 

• Gym membership discount 

• Onsite physiotherapy (London only) 

• Charitable donation matching and 2 volunteering days 

• We're a certified Carbon Neutral company

• Green Electric/Hybrid Car Benefit Scheme (salary sacrifice)

• With Trees for Life we plant a tree in the Highlands of Scotland for every permanent hire

• Free e-books and audiobooks, digital newspaper subscriptions and discounts on books 

• Subsidised canteen and retail discounts 

• Onsite prayer room 

  At HarperCollins, we value authenticity and integrity in our recruitment process. To ensure a fair and accurate evaluation of all applications, we ask that all responses to assessment questions reflect your own thoughts, experiences, and capabilities.  This allows us to fairly assess your knowledge, skills, and experience to determine how they align with the role. We value diverse perspectives and genuine contributions, even if answers are not perfect. The use of AI tools or external assistance to generate responses is discouraged unless explicitly permitted for specific tasks.

  If you wish to discuss anything regarding this position and/or your application to this role, please reach out directly to stephanie.jemmett@harpercollins.co.uk with subject heading ‘Vacancy Query’ plus the job title and we will aim to get back to you within 5 working days.

  Please note, if you are interested in the role you would need to submit your application via Applied. We do not accept email applications.