Part-time Publishing Project Manager to join mediastudies.press

mediastudies.press, a nonprofit, scholar-led publisher of books and a journal, is searching for a half-day-a-week Publishing Production Manager to help with our low-volume diamond OA book program (two to four books per year). The remote position, supervised by the press’s co-directors, has flexible hours, with the aim to average four hours per week in support of the press’s book production. The position pays $25 per hour.

mediastudies.press is a small, U.S.-based mission-driven nonprofit publisher of open access books, founded in 2019. We publish high-quality, peer-reviewed books in the media, communication and film studies fields, across four series: (1) History of Media Studies; (2) Media Manifold; (3) Open Readers; and (4) Public Domain. Our books are published online, PDF, ePub, and in paperback.

We are looking for someone who is excited about our scholar-led mission and invested in learning about (and helping to build) our indie, diamond OA publishing process. The press’s two co-directors volunteer their time, on the conviction that a different book publishing ecosystem is possible. We work with a thoughtful Board of Directors and Advisory Board, and participate in the growing community of scholar-led publishers. See our memberships and affiliations, our blog, and our open access principles for an our window into our values and commitments. We operate with transparent financials—see our 2023 Annual Report and month-by-month revenues and expenses. The Open Book Collective, a mission-aligned funding exchange, is crucial to making what we do possible.

The Role

The Publishing Project Manager will work closely with the co-directors to refine and pitch in with the book production cycle, from the point of proposal through to publication. We hope and expect that the individual will contribute to the press’s reflections about its direction and future.

• Hours: Part time (4 hours a week, on average), flexible working pattern

• Start date: Flexible

• Duration: For an initial term of 1 year, with the possibility of extension

• Rate: $25 per hour

• Location: Remote; based within timezone compatible with regular US meetings

Key Responsibilities

The Publishing Project Manager will

• help to manage and refine the press’s book-production processes

• help to establish and manage book publicity efforts, including journal outreach and remote launch-event planning

Key Skills

In addition to commitment to the press’s mission and diamond-OA scholar-led book publishing, the successful applicant will have:

• knowledge of, or eagerness to learn about, the step-by-step details of scholarly book publishing (including metadata nerd-dom!)

• knowledge of, or eagerness to learn about, issues around scholarly publishing, including open access, commercial capture, and funding mechanisms and challenges

• proficiency in, or willingness to learn, Adobe InDesign for book typesetting

• proficiency in, or willingness to learn, Airtable for book project-management

• proficiency in, or willingness to learn, PubPub, the web-based platform used by the press

• proficiency in, or willingness to learn, Thoth, the press’s metadata and distribution platform

Application Process

If you are interested in applying for this position, please complete this form (which includes a requested resume upload).

We expect interviews to take place in February, with the aim for a March 2025 start date.

Please direct any questions to Jeff Pooley and Dave Park at [email protected].