The Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) seeks a Vendor Relations Manager responsible for managing the day-to-day relationships with the association’s national vendor accounts with the goal of optimizing advertising and sponsorship sales.
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United Methodist Publishing House
The Sales Manager – Inside Sales & Customer Service is responsible for selling Abingdon Press products via outbound phone and/or e-mail campaigns to Trade customers and managing the Abingdon Press customer service team. The incumbent works cross functionally with UMPH departments to effectively and efficiently implement all customer service processes and relationships for Trade sales, working especially with the Director of Trade Sales for Abingdon Press. The incumbent is responsible for overseeing all timely and accurate communication to meet the expectations of each customer. The incumbent provides liaison support for Abingdon Press Trade Sales with distribution and accounting communication regarding sales operations and logistics needs on a regular basis. The incumbent also manages the Trade Customer Service team. Additionally, the incumbent develops and implements a strategy to increase sales through CBA (independent Christian bookstores), academic, and international customers via inbound and outbound sales calls.
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I was the final judge for a novel contest the year this manuscript came in to be judged. Right from the first reading, I knew this book was going to be among the top finalists. When it came time to sort through the top ten, then the top five, and finally to rank the top four entries in order, Cosette’s Tribe rose straight to the top.
It was truly an honor to be able to read this work. The literary magazine that administers the prize still to this day talks about the author and this, her first novel. Don’t miss this…and I’m waiting for the author’s next book!
5 stars!
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, is seeking an Editor to work within its Hearst Editorial department. We are seeking a creative, innovative, and passionate, yet responsible risk taker who is looking to make an impact within the department as well as the organization. We require excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
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Timber Press is a publisher located in Portland, Oregon. Our mission is to share the wonders of the natural world by publishing books from experts in the fields of gardening, horticulture, and natural history.
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This week I posted about some interesting results of the annual What Kids are Reading report in dystopian fiction. The report also showed some interesting trends in other fantasy areas among young readers in the UK.
Cassandra Clare had one book in the top 20 last year. This year her showing counted five titles among secondary-school children’s most popular books. What’s all the fuss about? Her urban fantasy Mortal Instruments series, in which human-angel hybrids walk the earth.
In primary schools, the most popular title was David Walliams’s Demon Dentist.
In that same category Liz Pichon took second place with Everything’s Amazing (Sort of), part of a comic series.
And of course no list would be complete without something from JK Rowling. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets took third place.
The report found that UK pupils’ most popular reads were either heavily dystopian fantasies or “irreverent, larger than life anti-hero comedies” like the Wimpy Kid stories and Dahl’s The Twits .
Of special note was that while the overall top 20 split equally between comedy and fantasy, by secondary school the most popular were nearly exclusively darker conflicts from an epic fantasy genre.
The report’s author, Keith Topping, is a professor of educational and social research at Dundee University. He noted a “sharp contrast” in the difficulty of books read by primary and secondary pupils.
“Primary-school pupils, particularly in years one to five, show a strong preference for challenging books that are significantly beyond their natural reading age,” he said.
But “we then see a marked difference in year seven, where favoured books are no longer above chronological age, but six months below it and in ensuing years the difficulty of books plateaus or declines,” he added.
So don’t be afraid to challenge younger readers.
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, is seeking an Editor to work within its Hearst Editorial department. We are seeking a creative, innovative, and passionate, yet responsible risk taker who is looking to make an impact within the department as well as the organization. We require excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
Click here for details.
Laissez Faire’s Living Well is seeking a Health Division Publisher – someone who is a marketer, writer and experienced direct response professional in the publishing business to become the head of a health group and grow a new business. The ideal candidate will be an IDEAS driven marketer and possess skills necessary to lead a team and push marketing and editorial ideas into the marketplace in a direct response environment.
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Oxford University Press is looking for a Senior Publicist to handle all aspects of publicity for Oxford University Press’s Trade & Impact titles, Journal articles, and Online products. Senior Publicist will also be responsible for coordinating multi-city author tours, creating and executing publicity campaigns, and securing national/regional/local publicity. Publicist will be in direct contact with authors and media regarding publicity.
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Oh, woe, dystopian is dead. How often have I heard that lately, and how wrong is it?
The annual What Kids Are Reading report found that dystopian fantasy and larger-than-life comedies dominate among young readers in the UK.
It notes that JRR Tolkien’s fantasy novels, which almost always rose to the top of the annual lineup, has been replaced by a deluge of dark dystopias and urban fantasies.
The report studies the reading habits of half a million children in over 2,700 UK schools. After six years of running the survey, this is the first time Tolkien’s titles haven’t featured in the top 10 places.
The most popular title for this year’s survey was John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, followed by two (wait for it) dystopian stories: Suzanne Collins’s Catching Fire and Veronica Roth’s Divergent.
Dystopia is alive and well…OK, perhaps oppressed and in need of an uprising, but well enough, shall we say.
And what plays overseas, I’ve found, often plays well with American readers.
Globe Pequot, located in Guilford, Connecticut, a trade division of Rowman & Littlefield is seeking an entry-level Assistant Editor for its imprint. This position will provide editorial and administrative support to the publisher and acquiring editors of non-fiction trade titles to the Editorial department.
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After I got used to how the author handled the dialog and internal monolog, I really fell into the world she’d created. I was as fascinated by the boy as the primary character. I felt like I was there, in that world, looking through the protagonist’s eyes. This is a real triumph for any author. I WILL be reading more by Hulme!
5 stars!
For more fiction that deals with indigenous people, check out Message Stick, winner of two national awards.
Globe Pequot, located in Guilford, Connecticut, a trade division of Rowman & Littlefield is seeking a Marketing and Publicity Assistant for providing support to the marketing and publicity department functions for general trade and category publishing program in support of budgeted revenue objectives. Execute title and category marketing plans that drive multi-channel sales and increase brand exposure/awareness, in consultation with Marketing Director and in collaboration with Sales, PR, and the Marketing team.
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This work proves that Gaiman is a master storyteller. I don’t say those kinds of things lightly so this is unique praise. The work is compelling throughout and the ending…well, it couldn’t have happened any other way and yet so few authors would have thought to end it this way.
5 stars!
Interested in other novels that propel characters into fairytale worlds? Try He Drinks Poison, a paranormal thriller shortlisted for several national awards.
Very early in my writing career, I attended a large conference on the West Coast. One of the panels lined up representatives from 5 publishers, some of the largest houses in the world beside some of the most highly regarded smaller houses.
One question came up from the audience about pitches. The attendee said, “I’ve heard I’m supposed to put sales information and comparisons in my pitch. But what exactly are you looking for and where can I find that information?”
The first response from a pubishing executive at a large house was, “I don’t know but perhaps someone else can answer this.”
The acquisitions editor from the smaller house said, “I don’t know either.”
And so on down the line.
Yes, every one of the five individuals responsible for finding the next gem in the slush pile said, “I don’t know.”
One tried to be helpful by adding, “But I know it when I see it.”
Well, you might have guessed that the mood in the room grew very ugly. The remainder of the 45-minute session was spent blasting the panel with outrage or asking ever-more sarcastic questions about how on earth authors were supposed to break in if even the folks at the top didn’t know what they were looking for in a pitch.
I was as angry as the rest. WTF, anyway?
Soon after that conference, I calmed down. I realized the most important lesson in my career:
You must know the market before you approach publishers and agents. You must hold their hands and guide them through the process of understanding why your book is a good financial risk for them to take.
You are the best advocate for your own work. Own it, and own your skill.
Writer's Resource/Sunspot Lit 