Category Archives: Industry Spotlight

by | August 19, 2019 · 2:53 pm

BIC Breakfast: Towards a Greener Book Industry

In the UK we are becoming increasingly concerned about climate change and more and more of us are thinking about how we might take some responsibility for making our world greener. I attended the BIC (Book Industry Communication) Breakfast to hear about what’s happening in the publishing industry.

Carnstone’s Book Chain Project speakers outlined how they’ve been working with 28 publishers to review issues in the supply chain. There are 3 main areas they’ve looked at:

Labour & Environment

Labour standards and work conditions at printers need to be regularly assessed. There is the issue of modern slavery particularly in the Far East and the onus is on publishers to monitor this.

Chemical Safety & Materials

There’s a lot that publishers can do to in terms of materials choices. However, it’s not as simple as stopping using glitter as children’s publishers need to supply the demands of the market (and it turns out biodegradable glitter really isn’t?!)

Forest Sourcing

Publishers can look at using sustainable wood for pulp eg buy from mills that source wood from plantations in place of supporting deforestation.

Neil Springall, Head of Operaions, Penguin Random House Distribution clearly feels we all have a moral duty to start making changes and drove a plan to focus on a reduction of plastic use at PRH. He had some great quotes including: “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” Robert Swan

Incredibly over 40% of all global plastic usage is in packaging. Publishers mainly use plastic for shrink wrapping and carton filling to protect books.

After only a few months, PRH have already achieved a 47% reduction and are aiming for 75% soon.

One major change has been a move to ‘multi use pallet lids’ – these are an expensive product but save both on huge amounts of shrink wrap and labour time. They now employ 4 people full-time to shred all their cardboard which is then used as packaging material in place of plastic. Brilliant!


Another issue is reducing mileage for transporting books between printers, distribution centres and bookshops. This lead nicely onto the final speaker…

Dave Thompson of Publiship gave a round-up of shipping and gave some fascinating facts – did you know that:

  • 90% of world trade is moved by sea
  • Shipping containers were only introduced in the 1950s and widespread adoption from the ‘60s is the largest contributor to globalisation (and not the net!)

There have been improvements in engineering over recent years helping reduce emissions but container ships still emit enormous levels of Carbon Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Dioxide (international shipping accounts for 2.1% of all CO2 emissions). Publishers need to get books from their printers to countries around the world and there are other options:

Clearly, shipping is the best option and ‘slow steaming’ (takes c. 1 week longer) saves huge amounts of fuel and emissions.

I also learnt about Ballast – ships take on huge amounts of water to stabilise as they use up fuel / when empty of their cargo. They load the ballast water in the source port then discharge at the destination port with issues that they’re potentially discharging polluted water and predatory sea creatures. Fortunately there are laws in place to help avoid this now. Thanks to Alaina-Marie Bassett of BIC for organizing such an interesting event. If you’d like to learn more about BIC see @BIC1UK and www.bic.org.uk



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by | June 3, 2019 · 9:22 am

Who are Jessica Kingsley Publishers?

We had a fantastic evening at the Book Machine: Meets Jessica Kingsley Publishers event yesterday! It was great to hear from the panel on how JKP works, how they develop their list, how they market to their audience and what makes them different from other publishers.

JKP made its name through publishing specialist literature on autism. As awareness grew, their list grew and they are now market leaders. JKP identify niche markets and identify the needs of a specific group of people.

Here we have summarised what each of the speakers had to say about their role within JKP.

Lisa Clark – Editorial Director

Lisa has been at JKP since 2007.

JKP published their first book on autism in 2006. The list now comprises of 650 books from picture books for children to parenting memoirs and is an internationally recognised list.  

How does JKP maintain and develop an established list? It is important that they stay ahead of the curve and maintain creativity. It is key for editors to stay in touch with the community by meeting people constantly, attending events and being present online. Editors do this by tuning in to the debates on twitter so they can identify emerging topics. This network brings authors to JKP.

JKP champions strength and difference. Editors identify sensitivity to readership, to language for example, so that they can maintain strong relationships with communities. Lisa says that this sensitivity is what makes JKP stand out compared to other publishers who dabble in and out of these markets.

They champion autistic thinking and provide support for the challenges. 8/10 of top e-books last year were from the autism list and they are now looking to create more digital content.

What drew Lisa to JKP? Lisa fell into her role but cannot imagine herself leaving, after being at JKP for 12 years.

Andrew James, Senior Commissioning Editor

Andrew manages the gender and diversity list. The list has filled gaps in the market and now successfully dominates it. This year JKP will publish their first book on the overlap between autism and transgender people. Andrew says that other publishers might see some topics as too niche but for JKP they are a goldmine!

To build a list takes a lot of research; editors cannot go in blind, instead they need to understand the language and terminology, issues faced by communities and current debates. They also look at how other publishers have approached the topic, what they did wrong and what they did right.

JKP publishes in a vertical way; they publish resources for children, teens and adults. This means that they have left no opportunity for other publishers to muscle in on their market.

Andrew says that the authors are the experts! The authors know what the market wants. JKP does not work with agents instead they commission from inside the community.

The challenge is to stay ahead of the pack and identify new audiences to reach out to. JKP avoids trends and has moved away from memoirs and introductory books.

Andrew also stays on top of what is new on social media, what is being written about on blogs. YouTube is also a platform for people to share and speak about their experiences.

What drew Andrew to JKP? Andrew used to work in academic publishing but he got sick of monographs. Andrew loves that in the morning he can be working on a children’s book and in the afternoon he can be working on a professional book. Andrew is also passionate about LGBT rights.

Sarah Plows – Marketing Manager

The marketing team is made up of 6 marketing executives who each have responsibility for a certain list and market towards a certain group.

The marketing team immerse themselves in the needs and concerns of their customers. They do this by communicating at every point through email, conferences, over the phone and by reading specialist press and twitter. This allows the team to be aware of sensitivities.

Their long-term strategy for the niche market is to build their mailing list (230,000 contacts) of already engaged customers who have made a commitment to the brand. They can then use email marketing to target these contacts.

Content marketing is also important; the blog has 200,000 hits a year. The team ensures the content is as discoverable as possible, for example by framing headings as questions that people may use in google searches.

The marketing team also leverage their author relationships and connections. Their authors may have links to professional organisations, some authors work for NGO’s.

What drew Sarah to JKP? Sarah loves that JKP has a wide remit to be innovative and take risks. Publishing a diverse range for a diverse audience and meeting audience needs is rewarding for Sarah.

Lily Bowden – Senior Publicity and Marketing Executive

Lily says that autism, gender and mental health currently have the most publicity appeal. 

“Own voices” is a buzz term at the moment with authors sharing their own experiences. It is important for Lily to put the author’s voice at the forefront of her pitches and to find something relatable within own voices stories.

Lily treats her authors as a fount of knowledge, they are the experts and the best people to learn from and talk to. This not only generates trust with the authors that their story will be told in the right way but also gives Lily confidence to pitch their story.

Lily has learned that it is ok to miss the big opportunities. It can feel counter intuitive to miss publicity opportunities but it is her job to make sure they are the right fit for her authors. A learning experience was with 2 authors, 1 who was transgender and both on the autism spectrum who were invited to the ITV show This Morning, it was an uncomfortable and awkward interview.

Lily finds allies in the media, for example journalists and publications sensitive to the cause or already producing content about current issues. This means that stories will not be twisted to fit a house style, but instead their profile will be raised organically because journalists are on board and supporting the authors.

What drew Lily to JKP? Lily loves the variety and being able to work on books that teach you something. Lily hopes she has been made a better and more liberal person.

Pippa Adams – Special Sales and Rights Assistant

Sales for niche publishers differs in that they do a lot of work with NGOs and support groups rather than to the big supermarkets and retailers. JKP builds and maintains relationships with specialist booksellers and suppliers.

JKP’s books are stocked by specialist retailers who are in close contact with the communities they work with. The booksellers may not be huge but it is important to build strong relationships with them so that their books reach communities that these booksellers engage with every day.

Pippa also builds relationships with academic professionals and library suppliers.

Pippa uses her authors as a resource. For example, an author may head up an organisation that could present an opportunity for book sales. Local authority and government spending can be opaque in terms of how the money is being spent, however authors may have contacts, which allows Pippa to spot trends.

With regards to translation rights, the back list is very important. As different countries become more aware, there are spikes of interest. For example, recently this has been the case in Russia with autism. As knowledge grows and spreads, opportunities come organically.

What drew Pippa to JKP? Pippa previously worked in educational publishing in the Middle East and became aware of JKP as her younger brother has autism. When the opportunity to work in the UK and when JKP were looking she jumped at the chance. From a rights and sales perspective, she enjoys knowing that she is spreading something good and not just books.

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by | April 16, 2019 · 2:37 pm

Sales and Customer Service

I joined Atwood Tate in February 2018 and specialise in recruiting for Sales, Production, Production Editorial, Rights, Contracts, Project Management, Design, Distribution & Operations roles.  In this blog, I will be explaining jobs in Sales and Customer Service sectors within publishing.

Sales

What is a sales role in publishing?

Sales roles are diverse – from Sales Assistant, Sales Executive, Sales Representation roles which bring in new business to an Account Manager role looking after a designated group of client/company products, i.e an Account Manager for children titles in the US market for an international leading trade book publisher.  For sales roles, it is also usually divided into a specific list of titles and accounts: normal accounts (bookshops/direct customers) and special sales (supermarkets/retail stores/ wholesalers). 

What does a sales role involve?

Your job is to understand the front list titles, prepare new titles presentation, build and maintain relationships with customers/clients, represent your publisher and persuade your target audience to sell your titles or products.

What skills do you need to succeed in a sales role?

Communication and presentation skills. You need to be results and target driven and have a good head for numbers. Excellent negotiating skills are a must.  You will also need to keep up with latest market trends, observe the market, feed it back to your publisher and make strategic plans to keep the business going. 

Is there good progression in sales?

Sales roles are very diverse so they are always full of opportunity and progression.  You can make a lateral move or you move upwards and onwards.  The contacts and relationships you will build up throughout the years will also become one of you biggest assets when you look for a new opportunity – so make sure you stay in touch with everybody!

Customer Service

What is a customer service role?

Customer service is fundamentally a role to support the operations of a sales department.  You will update metadata on the company database, websites or other online platforms.  You will also handle queries from booksellers/clients/direct customers, issue invoice and follow up on the finances.  Other responsibilities may include logistics management, stock queries, and resolving problems.

What skills do you need in a customer service role?

As for the nature of the role, you will be a tech-savvy person.  Preparing sales materials for your colleagues, updating the database and processing orders will be your main duties so a good eye for detail, good communications skills and a high ability to solve problems will be essential.  

How do you progress in a sales/customer service role?

You can start as a Sales Coordinator and then move towards managing accounts and eventually overseeing a sales operations team.  Keep up with the latest technology and software, be an expert in what you do.  If you eventually wanted to have a fresh challenge, you could look into operations or project management roles.

If you have any questions about Sales or Customer Services roles in publishing, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Clare Chan, Senior Publishing Recruitment Consultant

Tel:        0203 574 4428 Email: clarechan@atwoodtate.co.uk

Specialist areas: Sales, Production, Production Editorial, Rights, Contracts, Project Management, Design, Distribution & Operations roles.

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by | January 10, 2019 · 12:28 pm

Industry Spotlight: Temping

What is temping?

Publishers contact us to book temps when they need an extra pair of hands to help them meet a deadline or when they are extra busy. These roles are also urgent with almost immediate starts. Our clients also need temps to cover sick leave or to cover whilst a new permanent team member is being recruited.  They may even consider the temp! Temp roles can range from 2 days up to 6 months and can be extended further and even lead to a permanent role.  

Temping with Atwood Tate

The Temps/Freelancers team cover roles across the entire publishing industry including trade and educational, Academic, Science as well as professional and B2B, digital and print.  They also cover administration, finance, HR, marketing, and sales.

The team are:

Kellie Millar (Temps/Freelancers Manager) kelliemillar@atwoodtate.co.uk

Novia Kingshott (Senior Recruitment Consultant) NoviaKingshott@atwoodtate.co.uk

Anna Slevin (Temps/Freelancers Administrator) annaslevin@atwoodtate.co.uk

Anna is a former Atwood Tate temp herself and had a few admin placements in Accounts Payable and Publications Teams. As she can testify temps are paid weekly on Fridays and receive holiday pay which goes into a “pot” they draw from when they go on annual leave. Temps can be paid by hour or have a day rate depending on the job.

Our clients aren’t all publishers but have a busy publishing team. These also include a royal academic society, a charity or even a standards or ratings publisher. A lot of the time when temping, skills are readily transferrable and employers are more flexible regarding your work background. Marketing roles are particularly easy to transfer across or specialist knowledge such as science or law can be very useful in editorial for those specialist subject publishers.

How will temping benefit me and is an extension guaranteed?

Sometimes temps cover a role more senior or more junior than they would typically expect. This could be in a different area to one they have worked in before or one they do because they love what the publisher works on and the job. Temping is great for exploring the industry and various companies.

Temp roles will often say “extensions possible” this is because roles can be extended for more days and weeks or a contract on the publisher’s payroll could be offered. There are no guarantees but it does happen and you are more than welcome to apply for internal vacancies while working for that publisher which may not be available to the general public.

Candidates do come to Atwood Tate specifically wanting temp or freelance work but quite often they are looking for a permanent job but don’t yet have the required experience so the Temps team can help to get that ‘foot in the door’. Once a candidate has a bit more experience in publishing, the Permanent Team can help look for a permanent role in publishing. Kellie and Novia can help you to build up that in-house experience.

What is the recruitment process for temping?

A role comes in. We tell you about it / You express interest. We put you forward. If the client chooses your CV you can start working immediately or there may be a telephone interview or even a face to face interview. Interviews are less formal and shorter with temp roles.  

As a Temp: work hard + submit timesheets + be paid on Fridays = WORK IN PUBLISHING!!!

(You also learn a lot no matter how well you know the role and get to work with some really lovely people.)

With contributions from Anna Slevin

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by | October 29, 2018 · 3:34 pm

Industry Spotlight: STM Publishing

Welcome to Atwood Tate’s industry spotlight series, where we go behind the scenes of each of our recruitment desks to give you the scoop on working with Atwood Tate. This week Clare returns, focusing on roles in STM publishingSTM word cloud

 

What does ‘STM’ means in publishing?

STM publishing refers to scholarly, Scientific, Technical, Medical and professional publishers.  In Atwood Tate, we work with a wide range of publishers from academic and scientific publishers, learned societies, open-access publishers and professional bodies to reach out to publishing professionals.  The content is often journals or books based, for journals, there are open-access journals and subscription journals.

What will be the academic requirement?

The majority of roles we work on require a scientific degree.  It is not often that a Master’s or PhD is required but for senior editorial positions, especially working on a particular scientific subject, it is likely that a specific academic background will be needed. However, for roles that are more operational or with a strategic focus, companies might be more flexible on educational background.  Some candidates have, for example, an English degree who now work in a managerial STM publishing role so never say never!

What roles do we work on within STM publishing?

We work on roles from junior to senior level.  From Editorial or Publication Assistant, to middleweight Production Editor or Commissioning Editor; senior level Managing Editor or Publishing Operations Manager and so on.  STM publishing is a big area and it is full of potential to transfer your expertise.

Is there good progression in STM Publishing?

STM publishing is fast growing and blooming quickly so there will definitely be good progression.  Through working with different portfolio of journals and academia, you will grow your network and gain a wider knowledge of STM publishing.  Currently, a lot of STM publishers are expanding and restructuring so there are definitely opportunities to grow your career in the field.

If you are looking for a job in STM Publishing, get in touch with Clare at clarechan@atwoodtate.co.uk.

Atwood Tate is a member of ALPSP (The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers).

Keep an eye out for ScholarlySocial @ScholarlySocial which has networking meetings.

 

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by | September 24, 2018 · 10:23 am

Industry Spotlight: Marketing and Publicity

Welcome to Atwood Tate’s industry spotlight series, where we go behind the scenes of each of our recruitment desks to give you the scoop on working with Atwood Tate. This week, Olivia returns, focusing on Marketing and Publicity roles.

marketing strategy image

Marketing

What do Marketers in publishing do?

Marketers are responsible for promoting a publisher’s products or services to their target audience, whether that be to individual consumers (B2C) or other businesses (B2B). Marketing can broadly be split into traditional (e.g. print advertisements, newsletters, flyers, brochures) and digital (e.g. social media, email, websites, paid search, SEO). The majority of marketing roles in publishing combine the two or are digital focused, so it’s advisable to keep your digital skills up to date.

Marketers have many different channels and techniques at their disposal and roles will vary depending on the nature of the product or service and target audience. For example, if you are marketing books to teachers you are likely to produce a lot of visually appealing marketing collateral and do a lot of direct mail campaigns. On the other hand, if you are marketing a medical journal to doctors you will likely target them with intellectually stimulating email campaigns.

Do you need a marketing qualification to work in marketing?

Absolutely not. It’s something employers might find desirable but a lot of people start out in an entry level role and build up from there. Some people choose a qualification once they’ve built up some experience and decided on an area to specialise in. The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM) both provide qualifications which can be studied for alongside a full-time job. Your employer may even cover the cost of the course.

Where can a marketing job take me?

Marketing is great in that the skills and knowledge you develop are very transferable and will be useful for so many employers and different industries. There are a wealth of marketing roles in publishing. Some people choose to stay in one area of publishing for most of their career while others move around different sectors, which is possible to do, especially if you have particular skills or a specialism which is in high demand.

As there are so many marketing roles there are lots of opportunities for career progression and chances to move into management positions or very specialised roles.

publicist author interview

Publicity/PR

What do Publicists in publishing do?

Publicists are responsible for managing relationships with authors and dealing with their agents. Their job is to secure press coverage for books in the print, broadcast and online media so they are expected to build strong press relationships. They are also responsible for organising and attending events with authors, such as book launches and signings, interviews, author tours and appearances at literary festivals. Publicists need to stay informed about new trends and developments in their area of publishing and they often attend editorial meetings and contribute to pitches for new acquisitions.

Is PR all about parties and schmoozing with authors?

Yes, you might get the chance to work with high-profile and celebrity authors. You may also work with new and debut authors, which can be just as exciting and rewarding. Regardless of author list, there’s a lot of hard work and relationship building which goes into making any campaign successful.

Do you need a big network of media contacts?

Initially no. In junior roles you will be assisting PR Managers with their campaigns and general admin. As time goes on, you will start to build up a network of contacts. If you are working on particular titles, this may become quite specialised. For example, if you’re working with cookery authors, you will build up contacts with cookery magazines and food bloggers.

What skills do you need to succeed in marketing and publicity?

Marketing and publicity roles are closely linked and require similar skill sets. Anyone who wants to succeed in one of these roles needs superb communication and relationship building skills. They are busy jobs so excellent organisation skills are also essential. Creativity is also important. Some publishers work with small budgets, so you have to be innovative and resourceful to come up with new and inventive ideas. Keeping up to date with trends in the market is also key.

Marketers in particular often need to have strong copywriting skills and a good eye for detail. Photoshop and InDesign experience is a plus, especially if working in a collateral heavy role. Software skills are important as there are marketing programs you will be expected to use, such as CRM, email, social media, marketing automation software and analytics tools. There are a wealth of programs which do different things so it’s good if you can pick them up quickly. Video and audio content creation skills are increasingly desired in publishing, especially when working with online products.

If you are looking for a job in Marketing or Publicity, get in touch with Olivia at Olivia@atwoodtate.co.uk.

 

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by | September 3, 2018 · 9:58 am

Industry Spotlight: Production and Operations

Welcome to Atwood Tate’s industry spotlight series, where we go behind the scenes of each of our recruitment desks to give you the scoop on working with Atwood Tate. This week’s entry is with Clare Chan, who works on Science, Technical, Medical, Distribution, Operations and Production roles across London, the Home Counties and East Anglia. In this entry, Clare will be breaking down how to get into Production, Distribution and Operations in the publishing sector.

Production

production

What does ‘production’ mean in publishing?

There is a wide range of production roles in publishing, most commonly Production Assistant, Production Controller, Production Editor and Production Manager. Production itself can be varied– covering printed and digital books, printed and digital journals and more. The skill set of a Production Manager in trade books versus a professional publisher can be very different, so it is all down to the content of what is being published to determine what kind of production knowledge you should have or what duties you will be doing in the role. So a role in children’s books will probably be highly illustrated and need someone with a good eye for detail and 4 colour experience.

What will be the academic requirement?

There isn’t a specific requirement to get into production roles.  You will need to demonstrate substantial project and supplier management as well as excellent communication skills because the majority of the suppliers will be offshore.  You will also need to have good software skills, i.e. Excel spreadsheets, InDesign and Adobe CS, Biblio3 (especially for trade book publishers) or XML publishing (for digital publishing).

What background will the clients be looking for?

Your previous experience plays a significant role when it comes to applying for production jobs.  Production roles are not as fluid as one would think when it comes to switching roles.  For instance, if you wanted to become a Production Controller in a children’s book publisher, you should have novelty book production experience and also knowledge of European toy safety legislation.  And if you are to work for a journals publisher, you will be working as a Production Editor and dealing with external typesetters to get the journals published which often also requires copy-editing skills.  More details about Production Editor will be discussed in my next blog when I explore STM editorial roles – keep your eyes open for that!

Is there good progression in production?

There is a good progression and a clear career strucutre and you will also become a production specialist as you build up solid knowledge from previous experience. One thing to bear in mind is that production technology is ever changing so keeping up with new software and technology is essential.  The book industry is a great example: decades ago, it was all about off-set printing, but now we have digital printing as well as e-book and audiobook production.

What key skills do you need?

A good learning attitude is a must.  Good communication skills, project management, time management, account management as you will manage different suppliers (most often overseas) and there could be pressing deadlines from time to time so being organised is important too. Numerical skills are also important as you’ll could be working with Excel, calculating and negotiating costs for reprints and shipping etc.

Distribution and Operations

operations

What roles are there in the Distribution and Operations in publishing?

We deal with a range of distribution and operations roles. Examples of roles we recruit for include Inventory Assistant, Inventory Coordinator, Stock Controller, Supply Chain Manager, and Head of Operations. Distribution and Operations plays an essential part in a publishing house, monitoring the inventory and arrange reprint or stock movement when needed.

What skills or knowledge will the clients be looking for?

Analytical skills and excellent software knowledge. You will be using Excel spreadsheets a lot, including Excel formulas. Depending on the publishers, you might also need to have certain software knowledge.  Communication and organisation skills are also essential as you will be coordinating with in-house colleagues from Design, Editorial, Rights, Sales & Marketing as well as external suppliers.

Is there good progression?

Similar to Production roles, Distribution and Operations are also a specialist roles with good progression.  You may eventually lead the team and be promoted to Inventory Manager and Head of Operations.  Keeping up with the latest data management technology will also lead you a long way in the field.  Candidates with Production experience may move laterally into Distribution and Operations for a change in their career path. There are always new opportunities!

If you have any questions about Production, Distribution or Operations roles, feel free to get in touch with Clare at clarechan@atwoodtate.co.uk!

 

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by | August 13, 2018 · 11:42 am

Industry Spotlight: Regional Publishing (Oxford Office)

Welcome to Atwood Tate’s industry spotlight series, where we go behind the scenes of each of our recruitment desks to give you the scoop on working with Atwood Tate. This week’s entry is with Claire Carrington-Smith and Faye Jones, who work across all locations excluding London,the Home Counties and East Anglia. They cover all sectors except B2B.

Introduction

Welcome to the Oxford desk, which is looked after by Claire Carrington-Smith, Senior Publishing Recruitment Consultant and Faye Jones, Trainee Publishing Recruitment Consultant. We cover all roles in all sectors outside London, Home Counties and East Anglia (except B2B) so we are a busy desk over in our small office in lovely Summertown in Oxford.

Today we are going to focus in on regional publishing and give you some insight into what sectors we cover and the kind of roles that are available outside of London.

Are there publishing jobs outside of London and Oxford?

Yes! There are publishers working outside of London and Oxford in all areas of publishing around the UK and Internationally.

We have work with publishers based in areas that you would not necessarily associate with publishing and we are currently working on roles based in Northamptonshire, Wales and Sweden.

Most UK trade publishers are based in London and many candidates who want to start their career in publishers move there and do not necessarily think of Oxford or other areas of the UK. Many Educational and Academic publishers are in Oxford so if you want to get into either of those sectors Oxford is the place to be.

We do have some roles that are homeworking and this can be a big help for candidates with a long commute.

What areas of Publishing do you cover on the Oxford desk?

We cover a wide range of publishing sectors but in Oxford we mainly work on roles within educational, academic and professional publishing, however we do get the occasional role within Trade publishing but these roles do not come up very often.

We have worked on STM, Charity and production services roles and do get work with publishers within these sectors regularly as well.

What kinds of roles do you cover?

In Oxford, we cover everything, and we can be working on an editorial, production and marketing role at the same time in different areas of Oxford and the UK as a whole, so we are quite diverse in the roles that we cover.

We work with many smaller independent publishers who have between 15 and 25 members of staff. We do not get many publicity roles because we do not work with that many trade publishers.

Who do you work with?

We cover all roles and in all sectors outside London, Home Counties and East Anglia. We regularly work with Educational and academic publishers in and out of Oxford and we often visit our regular clients to talk about candidates and any future roles coming up.

We do work with some publishers on international roles and are looking forward to working on more roles outside the UK in future.

How does the Oxford desk differ from London?

The Oxford desk is not specialised in one specific area of publishing, meaning that we get to work on all roles with a variety of different publishers. In some ways, our job is more difficult as we are often searching for candidates that are not interested in moving outside of London or having a long commute into work, which is completely understandable. In other ways, our job is really enjoyable because we get to expand our knowledge on the publishing industry as a whole and look at developments within all publishing roles and sectors.

Do you have any advice for candidates looking to move out of London?

If you’re looking to work in publishing outside of London you need to be flexible with the sector that you want to go into as well as the location. Some of the publishers that we work with are not based in the south east of England and if you want to secure a job in publishing outside of Oxford or London you will need to think about relocating.

Being flexible on the location, job sector and sometimes the salary can be beneficial when looking for a job outside of London, the more flexible you are the better!

If you have any questions about publishing outside of London get in contact with the consultants in Oxford, Claire Carrington-Smith and Faye Jones.

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by | July 30, 2018 · 1:59 pm

Industry Spotlight: Sales and Customer Service

 

Welcome to Atwood Tate’s industry spotlight series, where we go behind the scenes of each of our recruitment desks to give you the scoop on working with Atwood Tate. This week’s entry is with Olivia Constantinides, who works on Sales, Marketing, Publicity and Customer Service roles in London and East Anglia. She covers all sectors, except B2B.

In this spotlight Olivia will focus on Sales and Customer Service roles and will tell you more about what these jobs involve and the types of skills they require. At a later date she will cover Marketing and Publicity positions.

Types of roles

Sales roles in publishing are really diverse. Whether you’re an Account Manager looking after existing customers or a Business Development Manager focused on bringing in new business, your job is to build relationships with customers and persuade them to buy your company’s products or services.

One of the great things about working in sales is that you get to handle the finished product, whether that be a children’s book, a scientific journal or an online learning platform. You also get a real insight into the market and what the customer wants or needs. This knowledge is invaluable for the business as a whole and can be used to influence what is published in the future and how products are marketed to customers.

Some sales roles will include elements of customer service and if you’re selling digital products or software, you may train customers how to use it.

Customer service roles are closely linked to sales and involve dealing with the customer post-sales, usually over phone or email. Common responsibilities include answering order or stock related queries or resolving problems and complaints.

Do sales roles involve lots of cold calling?

A common misconception is that sales roles involve endless cold calling. It’s not usually like that in publishing. You might be selling books to bookshops or retailers, or software to universities, libraries and hospitals. Therefore you’ll need to meet customers face to face and adopt a softer and more consultative sales approach.

What is the pay like in sales?

Sales salaries often exceed those of other roles. In addition to your basic annual salary you will likely receive a bonus or commission based on the amount you sell and revenue that you bring in for the company. This might be paid out monthly, quarterly or annually. It is sometimes uncapped so your earning capacity is limitless.

Is there good room for progression?

There is really good room for progression in sales. You could start out in a sales support or administrative role and gradually progress to managing your own accounts and then eventually overseeing a team of sales people.

One of the advantages of sales roles is that the skills you develop are really transferable so you could find yourself working for a variety of publishers and selling to a variety of customers. Skilled sales people will always be in demand.

Whilst there aren’t nearly as many customer service roles out there, there is still good room for progression and you could end up managing a team of Customer Service advisors and overseeing the strategy for the department. Like sales, the skills you develop are very transferable and customer service people often find themselves working for a range of organisations.

Do you get to travel?

Sales roles will usually involve some element of travel but the amount will depend largely on the role. You might look after a specific territory, which could be as big as London or the whole of the UK. Some roles can cover regions as large as Europe, the Middle East, Latin America or Asia. International sales people may find they are travelling at least 50% of their time. If you like being out and about, a field based or international sales role would suit you.

On the other hand, some roles are more office based, with most sales being conducted over the phone or via email and only occasional visits to customers being needed. You may find the opportunities to travel increase as you progress into more senior positions.

Customer service roles are usually office based but depending on the company you work for, you may take occasional trips to visit colleagues in other offices, which could be in the UK or overseas.

 

What key skills do you need to succeed?

To succeed in sales you need excellent communication and presentation skills. You need to be results and target driven with a good head for numbers and a knack for negotiating. You also need to be driven, determined and ambitious.

For customer service roles, excellent communication skills are also vital along with the ability to problem solve and empathise with customers.

If you’re considering a sales or customer service role in publishing or already work in the industry and are looking for your next opportunity, contact Olivia at olivia@atwoodtate.co.uk.

 

Atwood Tate recruits across all levels and all functions so if you are looking for a new role in publishing please get in touch with us at info@atwoodtate.co.uk. We also have a very active temps and freelance desk, so if you are open to short term contracts or are looking to boost your freelance career, you can reach Alison at alisonredfearn@atwoodtate.co.uk.

 

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by | July 23, 2018 · 1:37 pm

Industry Spotlight: E-learning, Educational and Academic

 

Welcome to Atwood Tate’s industry spotlight series, where we go behind the scenes of each of our recruitment desks to give you the scoop on working with Atwood Tate. Our next entry is with our  fantastic editorial desk, manned by Christina Dimitriadi and Charlotte Tope.

Introduction

Welcome to the busy Editorial Desk where Christina, our Senior Recruitment Consultant and recent addition Charlotte, man the editorial fort. We look after all of the editorial roles that come in, for the Educational, E-learning, Assessment & Testing, Academic, Professional and Trade sectors in London and East Anglia. Pretty much all sectors minus STM, which our lovely consultant Clare Chan takes care off, and B2B which you read about in our last desk spotlight blog (if you missed it you can check it out here).

Today, we are going to focus on the Educational, E-learning and Academic sectors, tell you more about what they are, how they differ and what roles we cover. In a future post we will cover trade and the professional sectors.

Educational Publishing

Educational Publishing is one of the largest sectors of publishing in the UK and it covers the whole spectrum, from curriculum publishers for primary and secondary schools to higher education publishers for university level. Educational publishing is dedicated to the creation and publication of textbooks and curriculum material for schools and higher education institutions. This includes the development of any additional content needed to support the course; such as workbooks, digital software, interactive websites and teacher’s guides. We work with candidates from their first roles up to the latest stages of their career development and positions you will be seeing advertised will range including Editorial Assistants, Project Editors, Commissioning Editors, Managing Editors, Product Managers, Heads of Editorial Content and Publishers.

ELT

A growing division of educational publishing is ELT which stands for English Language Teaching and focuses on the development of print and digital resources for students learning English as a second language. This can be primary school students up to adults learning English for professional or academic purposes. For positions in the ELT editorial sector we will be usually looking for candidates with an excellent command of the English language, very strong editorial skills, and some ELT teaching experience. People coming from a teaching background have a very valuable insight of knowing first-hand which products do or don’t work in the classroom. Any relevant ELT qualification can also be an advantage, such as CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) or DELTA (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

E-Learning, Assessment and Testing

We also work with a range of publishers and providers of online courses for teaching, research, studying and assessment. This is an exciting aspect of educational publishing that has been rapidly expanding in the digital age and we are seeing more products moving away from the traditional text heavy books or paper products to new and innovative forms of online learning content, interactive courses, modules and assessments. The jobs we cover here would range from traditional editorial roles to Digital Content Developers, Instructional Designers and Product Managers. Our candidates will usually have a solid print or digital publishing or ed-tech background and they would focus on the technical development of the product/course, for example its usability and performance as an educational resource.

Academic Publishing

Academic publishing is intended to communicate the latest research and developments to the academic community. We work with a rage of smaller and larger publishers and societies who publish scholarly journals, books, eBooks, text books and reference works for researchers, students and academic libraries. It is common for universities and museums to publish academic books, aimed particularly at academics and we also work with academic associations, who share information with their members or the public. Depending on the discipline, academic publishing can be split into two sectors, humanities and social sciences (HSS) and scientific, technical and medical (STM). A common term you will hear when applying for academic journals roles is the peer review process, which is a procedure of reviewing and evaluating the quality and validity of articles prior to publication. You can read more about the process here and on the websites of the majority of academic publishers. Common roles you will see us looking for are Editorial Assistants, Publications Editors, Commissioning Editors and Publishers.

 

We hope this blog gives you a good idea of the sectors we work within and what roles we cover. More desk spotlights are scheduled to come so do keep an eye on our website. For more information on editorial roles in educational, e-learning and academic publishing feel free to contact Christina at christina@atwoodtate.co.uk or Charlotte and charlottetope@atwoodtate.co.uk.

Atwood Tate recruits across all levels and all functions so if you are looking for a new role in publishing please get in touch with us at info@atwoodtate.co.uk. We also have a very active temps and freelance desk so of you are open to short term contracts or are looking to boost your freelance career, you can reach Alison at alisonredfearn@atwoodtate.co.uk.

 

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