Publicity Assistant, Putnam (Hybrid)

Penguin Random House•New York, NY

9h•Hybrid

About The Position

Publicity at Putnam, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, seeks a Publicity Assistant to join the team. Home to award-winning, critically acclaimed, and bestselling fiction and nonfiction authors, this is a fantastic opportunity to work with distinguished authors on a wide variety of books. The Publicity Assistant will work with the Vice President, Publicity Director in supporting the book publicity process. In this role, the assistant will provide administrative support for department-wide initiatives and provide publicity support for all titles. This will include maintaining budgets, organizing seasonal meeting materials, creating media lists, crafting press materials, maintaining publicity clips, coordinating author events and tour logistics. We are looking for creative and fresh voices who care about getting the next best book in the hands of readers. The Publicity Assistant should be highly motivated, enthusiastic about publishing, and enjoy reading broadly and often. This is necessary to be day one ready to champion our books while working alongside a collaborative, fun, and engaged group. In addition, you’ll work closely with colleagues in other departments within the division, especially our Marketing and Editorial groups as well as the Publishing Office and Sales. The publicity assistant will be a detail-oriented self-starter, a strong written and verbal communicator, and an organized multitasker.

Requirements

A self-starter fluent in multitasking with impeccable attention to detail
A deadline-oriented administrator who is comfortable handling many projects at once
An excellent written and verbal communicator who is enthusiastic about collaborating with authors, agents, media professionals, and external and internal stakeholders, and who is not afraid to speak up, ask questions, and share opinions
Comfortable working in a fast-paced, collaborative team environment and possesses a proactive and independent approach to problem-solving
Familiarity with media, news, and online organizations, particularly those that regularly feature books and authors.
Proficient in MS Office, particularly MS Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and Canva, and enjoys mastering new systems and databases

Nice To Haves

A keen eye for emerging trends in media and the news cycle is a plus
Experience in publicity or publishing is a plus but not required to succeed in this role—we value an organized and passionate team player with a strong interest in books and publicity.

Responsibilities

Providing general administrative support, including mailings, processing invoices, billings, expense reports, note-taking, etc.
Coordinating travel and other arrangements for major author tours and creating detailed campaign tour schedules
Drafting press materials, including press releases, pitch and galley letters, author Q&As, interview alerts, quote sheets, etc.
Liaising with organizations and bookstores to arrange author events
Responding to various calls/emails from media, authors, and booksellers
Communicating between the Marketing, Editorial, and Production departments
Maintaining media clips, press contacts, and detailed logs of publicity projects in an internal database system
Performing online research to acquire publicity contacts
Attending book events, virtually or in person, depending on current affairs
Assisting the coordination of logistics for meetings, including coordinating calendar schedules, booking virtual space on Microsoft Teams or Zoom, preparing meeting materials, and taking notes
Attends and participates in virtual meetings with colleagues, authors and other external contacts when necessary
Providing administrative support for department-wide initiatives like meeting scheduling, maintaining budgets, drafting pitches and emails, drafting submissions to trade publications, conducting research ahead of author meetings, and awards submissions.