Ebook Production Assistant

Job Description:

The Ebook Department at Norton is a collaborative team that handles all ebook operations in the company, including production, quality assurance, distribution, and archiving. This role supports the department with trade ebook production/QA and development of higher-education digital textbooks; monitors conversion schedules and follows up with affiliate publishers and Norton production staff on time-sensitive projects; updates department databases with the latest production information; and occasionally steps in to help with distributions to e-retailers. This position reports to the Digital Content Production and Distribution Manager.

Essential Job Responsibilities Include:

• Track ebook production schedules in collaboration with the distribution coordinator and department manager, ensuring adherence to sensitive dates.
• Route instructions and files to/from outsourcing vendors, answering vendor queries.
• Run quality assurance on trade ebooks in EPUB, and occasionally Mobi/KF8, formats.
• Communicate with Norton production and editorial staff for the timely delivery of ebook production materials.
• Liaise with Norton affiliate publishers who produce/distribute ebooks through our Ebook Department, and keep clients abreast of their project statuses.
• Make routine corrections to existing ebook files and help keep ebook distribution and archiving operations up-to-date.
• Occasionally assist the distribution coordinator in tracking and distributing ebooks through our online distribution hub, and help document the steps in database tracking.
• Assist the department manager in routine tasks.

Experience and Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Employment eligibility to work with W. W. Norton & Company in the US is required.
• 1-2 years of ebook production experience desired, though not required.
• Must be highly organized, disciplined, and self-motivated in a fast-paced environment.
• Must have excellent verbal and written communications skills in a position that demands collaboration across different departments.
• Must have good time management skills and be capable of prioritizing among responsibilities, activities, and side projects.
• Must be detail-oriented, making sure that all aspects of the daily activities are handled with accuracy and minimal mistakes.
• Must be self-directed and independent.
• Must have a demonstrated interest in the challenges and opportunities of an ever-changing and quickly evolving publishing industry.
• Must be able to work full business hours from Norton’s New York City headquarters.

Technical Skills:

• Working knowledge of HTML, XML, and CSS is required
• Current knowledge of ebook formats (EPUB 3 in particular) highly desired
• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite, especially InDesign and Photoshop a plus
• Proficiency with database and project management systems like FileMaker Pro, JIRA, and Confluence a plus
• Experience managing large volumes of files and maintaining version control a plus