Business Knowledge: Understands business implications of decisions; Displays orientation to profitability; Aligns work with strategic goals.
Judgment: Displays willingness to make decisions; Exhibits sound and accurate judgment; Supports and explains reasoning for decisions; Includes appropriate people in decision-making process; Makes timely decisions. All employees should use their best judgment when making decisions on behalf of C&T. For example, all employees are responsible for keeping their supervisor informed regarding key decisions that affect the company. These include, but are not limited to: budget discrepancies; schedule discrepancies (OT approval or negatively impacting other team members); non-standard issues (defined as not in employee job description; non-compliance with company policy (Ex. not working regularly scheduled hours).
Planning/Organizing: Prioritizes and plans work activities; Uses time efficiently; Plans for additional resources; Develops realistic action plans.
Quality: Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; Looks for ways to improve and promote quality; Applies feedback to improve performance; Monitors own work to ensure quality.
Quantity: Meets productivity standards; Completes work in timely manner; Strives to increase productivity; Works quickly.
Dependability: Follows instructions, responds to management direction; Takes responsibility for own actions; Keeps commitments; Commits to long hours of work when necessary to reach goals; Completes tasks on time or notifies appropriate person with an alternate plan. For example, every employee is responsible for meeting his/her assigned task deadlines, including scheduled start and finish dates.
Initiative: Volunteers readily; Seeks increased responsibilities; Takes independent actions and calculated risks; Looks for and takes advantage of opportunities; Asks for and offers help when needed.
Problem Solving: Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner; Gathers and analyzes information skillfully; Develops alternative solutions; Works well in group problem solving situations; Uses reason even when dealing with emotional topics.
Attendance/Punctuality: Is consistently at work and on time; Ensures work responsibilities are covered when absent; Arrives at meetings and appointments on time.
Sales, Marketing & HR Assistant
We have an immediate opening for a Sales, Marketing & HR assistant based in our Concord, CA office.
Statement of position goal: As a member of the Sales and Marketing teams, this role primarily supports the Sales and Marketing teams' efforts. Assists Publisher with Human Resources administration. This role reports to the Sales Director.
Responsibilities
Sales Assisting (40%)
Provide customer service and order entry support for sales
Manage distribution of monthly advance book copies for sales contacts
Enter promo orders, including books, catalogs, etc
Manage the Print On Demand effort--all aspects
Maintain department product library, route and file trade publications
Reception and phone coverage when needed
Marketing Assisting (40%)
Responsible for monthly galley production and distribution
Provide support with Publicity and Communications campaigns and programs which may include data entry, filing, kit and model assembly, trade show preparations, and other tasks as assigned by Marketing Manager and/or team
PatternSpot.com support: back-up person to check support emails/voicemails in Communication Manager's absence; check for new designers
Publicity support -- create press releases for galley mailings; manage distribution of monthly review copies; enter book reviews into database and onto Amazon when appropriate; mail blog prizes
Human Resources Assisting (20%)
Initiate new employees on basic office and staff information
Please send resume with cover letter explaining why you are the perfect person for this fun, fast-paced and challenging position.
Starting Salary $30,000 plus bonus and a comprehensive benefits package.
Email resume to Sandy Balin: sandyb at ctpub dot com
Manufacturing/Purchasing Manager
Join an established Craft book publishing company and be a part of an exciting, growing product development and manufacturing team. The right candidate will have an interest in product development, love to problem-solve, know how and when to ask the right questions, enjoy multi-tasking, and most of all have a great sense of humor. This position is in our Concord, CA office.
Desired experience:
5 years experience in manufacturing/purchasing
Sourced for craft industry in the past
Familiar with importing, customs and product government regulations
Strong negotiation skills, attention to detail
Excellent communicator in person, on phone, and in writing (within and outside the organization)
Ability to travel for press checks and sourcing and trade shows
Ability to think outside the box and generate creative solutions
Familiarity/experience with printing and graphics production processes required
Existing print and product vendor relationships a plus
Speaking Chinese/Mandarin/Hindi a plus
Experience with Microsoft Office - Excel and Word
Familiarity with back-end business systems, PO systems
Job Description
Statement of position goal
As a lead role in the product development/manufacturing/purchasing team, this role manages the research and purchasing of book printing and a wide variety of products for C&T Publishing. Oversee the day-to-day manufacturing duties for all books and products—including management of schedules, vendor relations, freight forwarding, etc. so that our high-quality books and products arrive on time, on budget, and according to agreed-upon specifications.
Responsibilities
Manufacturing:
Negotiate and generate all POs and send out all RFQs
Manage terms and conditions with all of our vendors
Source, verify, and develop new vendors, establish terms and conditions and relationships
Responsible for maintaining or exceeding C&T and Stash Books brand product quality
Review, communicate, and approve all manufacturing schedules
Work with PCs to verify all proofs and advances are received
Prepare all needed reports including below minimums, on order, and on hand
Track all product assemblies (labels, bags, product) to ensure that all parts are in stock and available as required
Product Development:
Support PD Manager in all aspects of product development: sourcing, negotiating, product specifications, quality control, and manufacturing
Research and develop new products
Verify all samples meet approved quality standards
Quality control all delivered products to ensure that they meet PO specifications
Attend sourcing shows to generate new product ideas
Develop a list of vetted vendors
Systems & Processes
Responsible for managing data in two back end business systems, Acumen and FileMaker Pro
Create a new/better system for all related job responsibilities
Cover letter including salary requirements and resume to:
Amy Marson, Publisher: amym at ctpub dot com
Acquisitions Editor
C&T Publishing has an immediate opening for Acquisitions Editor based in our Concord, CA office. (While local candidates will be given priority, this position could be available for a remote workflow.)
The Acquisitions Editor provides strategic direction for our publishing program, acquiring more than 55 printed titles annually. Additionally, s/he ensures that all titles are contracted in keeping with the acquisition team's publishing strategy.
The Acquisitions Editor develops new authors, manages existing relationships to develop new book opportunities, develops series concepts, leverages repackaging opportunities of existing content, assists in the development of digital publishing, and manages the proposal submission and consideration process. Unlike other publishing models, the C&T Acquisitions Editor does not develop the books past contracting or follow the titles through the publishing process.
The successful candidate will have the ability to contribute new ideas for our acquisitions system. S/he will be a trend-spotter, having the unique ability to know what’s next. S/he will have outstanding oral and written communication skills, with a well-developed ability to network. S/he will be goal oriented and creative as well as detail oriented and able to juggle multiple details while maintaining a big-picture strategic view. S/he will thrive working in a self-directed manner while still being an excellent team player and leader.
Minimum 4 years publishing experience, 2 years acquisitions experience required. Quilting and/or craft market experience a big plus.
Essential accountabilities include:
Develop proposals, consider unsolicited proposals, and solicit proposals to meet acquisitions goals and deadlines.
Manage proposal routing process and lead interaction on acquisitions efforts with team.
Participate in developing publishing strategy including digital publishing and ancillary product components.
Research competitive titles and suggest marketing opportunities for acquired titles.
Prepare and present competitive market research for current market conditions.
Additional accountabilities include:
At all times effectively represent C&T Publishing to authors and contributors.
Keep abreast of market conditions, trends, and needs through interaction with industry professionals.
Travel to six (approx.) annual tradeshows and conferences. Be the acquisitions face of C&T Publishing at all attended events.
Speak to groups of potential authors about the publishing process.
Complete Job Description
Acquisitions Editor
The Acquisitions Editor is responsible for all C&T and Stash Books acquisition activities and strategizes with the acquisitions team for all non-book related products.
Statement of position goal: To acquire all the best titles, only the best, all the time. Work with the editorial, sales, marketing, and management teams to bring the best possible titles to the company. Successfully manage the effort (and titles) from inception through contract and editor assignments, including formulating and fine-tuning content of all publications based on team feedback, to accept books that will meet or exceed sales goals. Successfully spot, communicate and go after trends that will become hot in the quilting industry. Represent C&T in a professional manner and be an easily available liaison with existing authors, potential authors, and consumers. Contribute well-thought-out and strategic feedback to the company’s selection and refinement of all products and services.
Ongoing position goals:
Must be able to spot and communicate trends for all imprints in a consistent and well thought out manner.
Oversee acquisitions process so that the path from lead/contact to contract is both thorough and efficient.
Bring in the required number of titles to achieve revenue requirements (spring and fall) that reflect the mix model requirements, including co-published titles.
Slot books sufficiently in advance to allow for appropriate (per book) prepackage development.
Successfully interface with authors/prospective authors/industry peers/do-publishers via phone/email/in person.
Maintain contact with and maintain understanding of consumers (and trends).
Mold manuscript from proposal to editor assignments including defining content in appendix with routing feedback to sell the most possible copies.
Create and manage all contact with new authors from proposal through DE assignment.
Offer critical feedback/influence on all of the company’s products and services
Expand our efforts to solicit proposals
Duties and responsibilities:
Internal Meetings
Attend Slot Machine (acquisitions) meetings, submit and lead agenda items as necessary
Present trend and industry news as appropriate to Acquisitions team
Attend Editorial meetings to interface with editors on acquisitions issues, share acquisitions efforts with Editorial, and look for acquisitions possibilities.
Attend Sales and Marketing meetings to present proposals, to interface with sales and marketing on acquisitions issues.
Attend other meetings as needed, including Photo Planning Meeting, Kickoff Meeting, Focus Meeting and often smaller irregular meetings with Editors, Photo Studio and Designer for some Stash Books titles.
Proposal Oversight
Ensure Proposal Guidelines are up to date.
Log in proposals including managing the related work of the project manager (paper and database work). This includes letting prospective authors know proposal has arrived-usually via email or phone call.
Log-in co-publishing opportunities.
Ensure that all tracking systems are up-to-date: Proposals acknowledged in timely fashion and routing system proceeds efficiently.
Present proposals to editorial.
Get more information from author or industry research when needed.
Assign proposal editors for all routing titles.
Extensively research and document competitive data including Bookscan data and/or any other relevant facts/reader comments/feedback, complete all routing notes in the database, offer routing feedback/vote.
Manage routing process when needed to move proposals along.
Present titles to Sales Team and Slot Machine
Manage the sending back of rejected proposals, rejection letters, and ensure rejection phone calls/emails are generated in a timely manner.
Acquisitions Outreach
Attend Trade and Consumer shows as needed
Develop long-term industry and author relationships that will support and improve all C&T brands
Walk the floor of trade and consumer shows to mine for information and be easily visible and available to potential new authors.
Formulate game plan for making new industry partner contacts at all Quilt Market shows.
Assist in the planning and presenting of schoolhouse sessions at both spring and fall Quilt Markets.
Follow up from show contacts within 5 working days of show.
Conduct meetings with authors, potential authors, and industry contacts.
Be C&T’s & Stash Books representative at a wide variety of industry events.
Give presentations to various groups on writing a book, working with C&T.
Maintain and increase market knowledge by reading industry publications, regularly contacting a variety of industry colleagues, etc.
Trend spot utilizing online and print fashion, design and interior design resources
Explore new markets, attending shows, reviewing publications, searching the internet, making new contacts.
Share the market knowledge with slot machine and company in general
Perform author outreach program (broadcast emails and postcards), including maintaining Author Check-in log for keeping in touch with existing authors.
Authors
Brainstorm/research appendices with editors
Write appendices
Perform and document in the database acceptance phone calls and follow up communication with the author. Send yippee letter.
Send Author Guidelines, photo logs, packing lists, checklist, Illustrator and/or Photo guidelines where relevant, Author Resources Website link and other vital paperwork to authors.
Address all acquisition inquiries
Notify or manage the notification of potential author of acceptance or rejection, by phone or letter.
Database
Manage the entry of all proposals and co-pubs into the database.
Manage the creation of prepackage schedule for appendices.
Other
Manage and report on status of Slotting by Revenue spreadsheet
Assign package dates based on author time frame and auto ship
Maintain current research of C&T competitors and on industry trends in general. Use this information to assist Slot Machine in developing a long-term acquisition strategy.
Assist Creative Director in establishing a yearly acquisitions budget.
Contribute regularly to the Stash Books Blog and the Stash Books Twitter account.
Create Book Design Memo for Stash Books titles where appropriate.
Acquire and manage submissions for collaborative titles including Design Collectives and other theme books. Goal: 1 per season.
Maintain reference/competitive title library for The Creative Department specific to Stash Books and other imprints as they are developed.
Create and present quarterly Sales Analysis to Slot Machine.
Manage the contract negotiations for co-publishing titles.
Cover letter including salary requirements and resume to:
Gailen Runge, Creative Director: gailenr at ctpub dot com
Photo Stylists and Photoshoot Locations Wanted
Our company is actively looking for new locations for photoshoots for our Stash Books imprint titles. These are how-to books featuring quilts and soft crafts (purses and other accessories, home accessories, etc.) and in design they are stylish and modern. We photograph the projects with lifestyle photography similar to what you see in Pottery Barn catalogs. We've used retro kitchens, beach houses, modern industrial lofts, spanish style interiors, and more country/homey looks.
We're also looking for new Photo Stylists for our shoots who might have a fresh aesthetic.
Location Hosts will be compensated $50 to $200 depending on the length of the photoshoot and will get two copies of the book.
If you're curious about the type of photography we're shooting, you can check out some photos from the Stash Books titles on our blog, under the "upcoming books" category.
As a group, our Stash Books imprint is selling tremendously well in the conventional book trade (Barnes and Noble, on Amazon, etc.) and is proving to be popular to the international market. Titles are being translated into Finish, German, and Italian so far.
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and you'd like to join the fun and host a shoot or help with styling, please send an email/snapshots to: dianep at ctpub dot com
Interns Wanted
C&T is in need of an intern from any of the following fields of study:
marketing or general business
creative writing, journalism
public relations
computer studies, database, excel
website design, web 2.0, graphics
arts & crafts design
We offer a great and educational atmosphere for students to learn the ins and outs of the publishing world. Please email your resume to megans at ctpub dot com.
