Hodder & Stoughton
Publicity Manager / Senior Publicity Manager
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Who we are and what we do
For the past 150 years and counting, Hodder & Stoughton has proudly published quality, bestselling fiction and non-fiction across some of the biggest brands in the world, and across a multitude of genres. Our authors include Stephen King, John Grisham, David Nicholls, Callie Hart, Liz Tomforde, Abi Dare, Michael Morpurgo, Lucy Worsley, Kaliane Bradley, and Pierce Brown, to name but a few. We have enjoyed countless bestsellers, celebrated hundreds of awards, and welcomed authors and colleagues from every part of the world through our doors. This year, we celebrate our literary imprint, Sceptre's 40th Birthday, and the launch of our new romance list, Midnight. A passion for creativity, inclusivity, and drive for ambition are imprinted on everything we have done throughout the past century and a half, and on what we do now.
Hodder & Stoughton is a division of Hachette, one of the largest publishing groups in the UK, with 10 publishing divisions and over 60 imprints. Everyone here is proud to be in the business of opening doors and minds.
For this role specifically:
More about Hodder Press and Sceptre
Expert thinking. Distinctive voices. Hodder Press is the home of authoritative narrative non-fiction at Hodder & Stoughton. We love high-quality non-fiction that asks big questions, challenges perspectives, and brings an expert view to essential topics.
Sceptre’s mission is to publish books that matter and that will stand the test of time; books that engage both heart and mind; books for readers looking not only to be entertained but to have their horizons broadened, knowledge deepened, perspectives shifted, and imaginations fired.
What you'll be doing
Successful candidate will be responsible for:
- All publicity activities on their allocation from acquisitions, through to planning, implementation, publication, and beyond. This role will cover a variety of titles across the Hodder & Stoughton imprints with a particular focus on Sceptre and Hodder Press
- Producing high profile campaigns that directly influence sales and awareness of our list
- Sometimes working collaboratively alongside other publicists on joint campaigns, tours, and planning
- Liaising with all departments, working especially closely with their marketing and editorial counterparts on campaigns
- Maintaining excellent literary media contacts through media meetings, networking, event outreach, and targeted pitching
- Sharing contacts and expertise back with the wider PR team
- Working closely with authors by being a champion for their work, providing outstanding author care, and maintaining excellent relationships with agents and key external stakeholders
- Managing a title budget diligently and effectively
- Liaise with our talented international teams on global campaigns
- Creating and accompanying on author tours that both maintain excellent existing relationships with bookshops and cultural institutions as well as reaching new audiences and bringing our books to fresh readerships
- Maintaining engagement with key online communities
- Contributing towards wider conversations relating to literary titles which may include acquisitions feedback, pitch documents, and meetings
- Work on key corelist titles, as well as frontlist
- Contribution to Hodder & Stoughton company culture and Hachette-wide networks is important
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A Senior Publicity Manager would do all of the above plus be responsible for:
- Managing more complex comms and stakeholders
- Independent sales-driving campaigns
- Some imprint-level responsibilities and strategic planning, alongside Sceptre and Hodder Press leads
- Line management TBD dependent on experience or team mentoring
The above list is not exclusive or exhaustive and the job holder may be required to undertake such other duties as may reasonably be required.
Who we are looking for
We are seeking an experienced, passionate, and creative publicist to join the award-winning Hodder & Stoughton publicity team, with a focus on our literary fiction and non-fiction publishing.
This role offers an exciting opportunity to work on literary titles within the infrastructure of a successful commercial publisher and would suit a dynamic candidate used to working in a fast-paced environment, with campaign delivery being the primary focus.
Applicants should be great self-starters, able to prioritise tasks, and have demonstrable examples of excellent relevant solo campaign work.
We are looking for applicants who have a passion for literary fiction and non-fiction and have experience of delivering sales-driving campaigns, ideally across literary narrative non-fiction, expert-led non-fiction (e.g., science, history, big ideas), debut novels, fiction in translation, and literary bestsellers.
Having a fantastic range of existing literary media contacts in all of these spaces would be ideal, and/or a willingness to continue to quickly expand your network, keeping up with new ways to reach readers.
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We’d love to hear from candidates who enjoy working collaboratively, calmly, and flexibly in a busy PR team, and who love working with others in tightknit publishing teams. Great communication skills, ability to build campaigns based on data, and a general sense of pace and adaptability are vital, to consistently deliver impactful campaigns, publicity events, and tours for a range of authors.
What we offer
Our staff are our greatest asset, and our benefits reflect this:
- 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)
- Private medical insurance
- Dental insurance
- Generous pension schemes
- Rent deposit loans
- 2 community days per year
- Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)
- Retail discounts through Hachette rewards
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Eye care vouchers
- Wide-ranging training library
- Development programmes (including mentoring)
- Up to 70% off book purchases
- A charity bookshelf
- An active range of staff-led employee networks that are voluntary, including AgeWise, Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing, Women in Tech, and religious networks
- Season ticket loans
- And much more!
The role will be based at our London or Sheffield office, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.
Our commitment
Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality, and socio-economic, regional, and cultural backgrounds.
We want everyone to have the opportunity to perform at their best during our recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, you can let us know at the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application. We’ll make sure you’re supported throughout the process.
The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking junior roles. For more information visit www.booktradeentrysupport.org.
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