Editor, Del Rey (Open to Remote)

Job Description
Del Rey Books, a premiere publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, is excited to hire an Editor to join our team. The Editor will acquire 10-12 titles per year with an emphasis on commercial genre fiction with a speculative edge. The Editor will be responsible for articulating and executing a handcrafted vision for each title, from acquisition and creative development of the book to close collaboration with our design, art, production, and promotional teams on its publication.

The Editor will serve as their authors’ main point of contact, providing dedicated author care, and also serve as their books’ in-house project manager and champion. We expect the Editor to have an imaginative and capacious sense of the aesthetic possibilities and potential audience for genre fiction, and to acquire fiction that is representative of the diversity of the speculative fiction community.

An industry leader in speculative fiction, Del Rey is the proud home of the world’s most acclaimed storytellers in the genre, which include George R.R. Martin, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Pierce Brown, Naomi Novik, Cassandra Clare, Kiersten White, Karen Lord, Danielle Jensen, Heather Fawcett, and Max Brooks.

Specific responsibilities include:

Actively solicit and evaluate potential acquisitions purposefully and strategically, with a clear publication vision and sense of target audiences for each project in mind
Cultivate relationships with a wide network of literary agents and authors
Work closely with authors and agents in creative development of manuscripts, from conceptualization to developmental and structural work to line edits
Collaborate with the Del Rey editorial team on evaluating submissions, contribute to shaping the imprint’s editorial strategy, and identify potential growth opportunities in the marketplace
Shepherd each book through the publication process, from acquisition to transmittal to publication including: writing copy, sales materials, and loglines, soliciting blurbs, identifying the book’s target audience and articulating envisioning the book’s messaging and packaging strategy, and serving as the liaison between the author and agent and our support and promotional teams
Serve as the book’s chief project manager, conscientiously hitting deadlines while piloting the book to publication, and as the book’s primary advocate, both in and out of house.
Qualifications
At least 3 years’ editorial experience in acquiring and editing commercial and/or genre fiction and a strong interest in:
Growing our list of romance, fantasy, and fanfiction titles and,
A passion for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative fiction, and a knowledge of its subgenres and communities
A readiness to establish and grow a network of agent relationships
An immersion in pop culture and an enthusiasm for identifying and anticipating cultural trends
An ability to articulate a clear, audience-focused publication strategy for each project and to make a persuasive case for its place on the list and in the marketplace
A deep understanding of storytelling and an ability to work closely with authors to shape manuscripts through multiple drafts on the conceptual, structural, and line level
Experience in steering a manuscript from acquisition to publication while collaborating closely and effectively with marketers, publicists, art directors, designers, managing editors, and production managers
Outstanding ability to communicate, verbally and in writing, with precision, persuasiveness, and passion
Proven ability to meet deadlines, balance multiple priorities, and serve as a proactive project manager
Commitment to nurturing strong relationships with agents and authors and providing best-in-class author care.