Introduction to the Role

Specialising in commercial fiction and innovative digital publishing, HQ publishes a wide range of fiction titles including crime, thriller, contemporary fiction, saga, historical and book club, alongside our curated boutique non-fiction list, and thriving digital-first imprint. Combining rapid growth with commercial success, HQ has a stellar record in launching fiction debuts such as BA Paris’s Behind Closed Doors, Michele Campbell’s It’s Always the Husband and Christina Dalcher’s Vox, along with an array of outstanding brand bestsellers such as Adele Parks, Linwood Barclay and Sarah Morgan.

As Editorial Assistant, you will facilitate the smooth running of the department and provide administrative and editorial support to the editorial director and senior commissioning editor. As an efficient and hard-working member of the team you will, amongst other things:

Maintain the smooth running of the division alongside the other assistants, managing the division’s roster of meetings and collating minutes as required;

• Assist with desk editing;

• Liaise with external freelancers on bookings and purchase orders;

• Ensure that books meet critical path in conjunction with the HQ production team;

• Read and report on a range of fiction submissions;

• Communicate with authors and agents on a regular basis;

• Offer significant support to the editorial director and senior commissioning editor as necessary.

In addition to this, there will be regular opportunities for the successful candidate to develop their editorial skills, working on edits alongside the editorial director and senior commissioning editor, assisting with creative briefs for books, and writing cover copy and AI sheets. In time, the editorial assistant will take on their own authors under the supervision of their line manager.

This role is ideally suited to an organised and detail-focused candidate who has both initiative and energy and is looking for their first entry-level role in commercial publishing. They will have a keen interest in all genres of commercial fiction, read widely, and be excited at the prospect of applying creative flair to the editorial process, ensuring that our publishing continues to stand out at the forefront of a competitive market.

The key things we are looking for in this candidate are:

• Administrative and organisation experience

• An effective multi-tasker, with experience of coping in a pressurised environment

• Digitally savvy

• · Excellent attention to detail

• Voracious reader of commercial fiction

• Advanced MS Word

• Excel

• Powerpoint

• Excellent organisational skills

• Great attention to detail

If this sounds like you we would love to hear from you! Please apply today!