Ebook Producer - W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

W. W. Norton & Company is seeking an organized, collaborative, and methodical Ebook Producer to join our college and high school Ebook Production team in the Digital Publishing, Production, and Design group, reporting to the Manager of Ebook Production. The Ebook Production team is responsible for the making of Norton’s college, high school, and custom educational ebooks. The Ebook Producer is a mid-level role that coordinates the scheduling, production, and corrections of a growing list of interactive, interdisciplinary ebooks in Norton’s acclaimed textbook list, including The Norton Anthologies, The Enjoyment of Music, Give Me Liberty, Interactive Psychology, Molecular Biology of the Cell, the Norton Critical Editions, among many other iconic books.

Norton is a highly collaborative company. This job involves daily teamwork among ebook production, print production, media, editorial, manuscript, design, metadata, distribution, and ecommerce colleagues as you usher content from manuscript through project planning, design, digital development, quality assurance, and publication as a digital textbook.

The best candidates will demonstrate strong technical acumen and project management skills, will be seeking a career in digital publishing or digital products, and will inspire confidence through transparent and honest communication, particularly in fully remote work settings. Ebook Producers manage projects of high profile and complexity, which require strong technical knowledge, and often advise on the development direction of Norton’s educational content and digital products.

Essential Job Responsibilities Include:

• Create and track ebook production schedules in collaboration with Media Editors, Project Editors, Media Producers, and the Manager of Ebook Production, ensuring adherence to sensitive dates.
• Speak for Ebook Production at project launch meetings with Media Editors, Designers, Production Managers, and Project Editors to plan the development, design, and production workflow of new ebook editions for your assigned titles.
• Communicate with print Production Managers, Editorial, and Media Editorial colleagues to ensure the timely delivery of materials to Ebook Production.
• Set up projects for ebook development in version control repositories. Norton uses git (on the GitLab platform) to manage ebook content development.
• Prepare files for ebook development by converting them to Norton’s digital formats, including the cleanup of HTML, optimization of images, metadata setup, and proper semantic tagging of the content for accessibility.
• Write and deliver instructions and files to/from outsourcing vendors, answering vendor questions as they arise, for sample chapters and full ebook projects.
• Move ebook files through the planned production workflow, coordinating with Design, Project Editors, and Media Editors throughout multiple rounds of quality assurance and corrections.
• Coordinate with the Website & Ecommerce team to ensure the accurate and timely publication of ebook files to Norton’s student-facing platforms.
• Coordinate with the Metadata & Distribution team to ensure the timely distribution of ebook files to retailers like VitalSource, RedShelf, Amazon (Kindle), and others.
• Deliver the final ebook production files to the Digital Publishing Archive.
• Manage and implement post-publication corrections to existing ebook files, and help keep published, retailer, and archival versions up to date.
• Produce digital preview versions of our textbooks to be used in pre-publication sales and marketing efforts.

Please note - this job description is not designed to cover all activities required of the employee.

Required Qualifications:

• 1-2 years of ebook production experience
• Experience collaborating with teams on projects with strict timelines, particularly in remote settings
• Experience managing many files simultaneously while maintaining version control
• Ability to pick up new technologies and tools quickly
• Highly organized, disciplined, independent, and self-motivated
• Excellent responsiveness, with clear verbal and written communication
• Good time-management, smartly prioritizing among commitments and responsibilities
• Detail-oriented, ensuring daily activities are handled with accuracy
• Interest in the challenges and opportunities of a quickly evolving publishing industry
• While this position is fully remote, occasional travel may be required.
• Interest in accessibility and UX best practices for digital publications
• Employment eligibility to work with W.W. Norton & Company in the US is required.
• Must be able to work full business hours.

Technical Skills:

• Strong working knowledge of HTML structural semantics and CSS (links to samples will strengthen your application)
• Working knowledge of git (GitLab, GitHub, etc.)
• Current knowledge of ebook technical standards (EPUB 3.3)
• Comfort with a command line interface (macOS/Windows/Linux Terminal)
• Working knowledge of Adobe InDesign and Photoshop
• Familiarity with database, project management, and collaboration tools like Smartsheet, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Jira
• Knowledge of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines strongly desired
• Knowledge of MathML and MathJax strongly desired
• Knowledge of JavaScript and LaTeX a plus
• Knowledge of Microsoft Word style libraries and Typefi a plus

Compensation and Benefits

Currently available benefits include:

• Total compensation for this position is $50,000-$58,000. All salaries and salary ranges posted by Norton may vary depending on experience, skills, location and like considerations.
• Generous paid time off, paid holidays, and summer Friday afternoons beginning in July
• Generous health benefits, including PPO, EPO, and High Deductible medical insurance options, vision insurance, dental insurance, flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care, gym membership reimbursement, and more. Coverage for spouses, domestic partners, and dependent children is available.
• Profit-Sharing and 401(k) benefit plans with discretionary contribution matching by employer
• Disability and life insurances
• FMLA, parental and other leave
• Employee Assistance Program (for mental health, financial planning, and other needs)
• Employee discounts on Norton books
• Company-provided laptop
• Limited matching of employee donations to select non-profit organizations

All policies and benefits described are subject to change at any time.