Posted May 7, 2008

Acquisitions Assistant
Support Staff, Level 4
Job # mit-00005356

Assist one senior editor in managing large and prestigious publication lists that include professional monographs, textbooks, and trade books and in the fields of environmental studies, bioethics, and political science. Duties include handling normal clerical functions such as photocopying, correspondence, and payments; managing the peer review process for new projects; doing research on competing titles and documents, e.g., proposals, turnovers, and sales sheets; working with authors to prepare their text and artwork for production; assisting the editors and their authors as their liaison with other departments; and organizing meetings and other functions as requested. This is a great opportunity for someone to learn the book acquisitions process at a major university press.

QUALIFICATIONS: Excellent oral and written communication skills, basic computer competency, excellent organizational skills, and the ability to coordinate and prioritize multiple task demands. Bachelor's degree required. Publishing experience a plus.

To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter through the MIT HR Department website.

Posted February 22, 2008

Summer 2008 Internship Positions Available!

The MIT Press seeks enthusiastic summer interns in various departments. These unpaid internships are a chance for people who love books to learn about publishing and see how a busy university press functions. Successful interns will make valuable contacts and gain experience at one of the nation's largest university presses.

Internships are available in Editorial, Design, Production, and Publicity, as well as Journals Production and Rights and Permissions. These are unpaid, part-time internships from May/June through August. Hours will be negotiated, but candidates should be able to commit at least 10 hours per week.

QUALIFICATIONS: The ideal intern candidates will have: a strong desire to learn about publishing, basic computer skills, excellent communication and organizational skills, the ability to work well individually and as a member of a group, an eye for detail, good judgment, a positive attitude, and a willingness to take initiative.

Editorial: The Editorial internship will provide experience with a variety of editorial projects including checking revised page proofs, editing indexes, proofreading jacket copy, reviewing prepress proofs, and handling corrections for reprints. The intern will also learn some support functions including applying for Library of Congress cataloging-in-publication data. Miscellaneous office duties such as photocopying and filing may be required occasionally. Editorial experience and familiarity with Chicago style are preferred.

Publicity: Publicity interns will learn about marketing and promoting books to the media. Their primary responsibilities include: scanning and distributing book reviews, maintaining and updating the reviews database, assisting with galley and press release mailings, purging and archiving marketing files, researching journals and other media, inputting reviewer checklists and requests, and other general clerical assistance. Office and/or publishing experience, as well as familiarity with Filemaker or other database software, is a plus, but not required.

Electronic Marketing: Depending on an intern's skill level, he/she may also be asked to assist the Electronic Marketing Manager with data entry and maintenance, scanning and clean up of book covers for use on the website, and information updates on the website. Familiarity with internet protocols, html, FTP clients, and Photoshop is desirable, but not required.

Design: Design interns' responsibilities include the design and completion of a book cover or covers. Other activities will be to help with design department administration and production work (such as returning art packages, scanning, and checking proofs). Candidate must have a BFA or Graphic Design Certificate, or formal training in the field of graphic design. We will consider graphic design students at the junior or senior level who demonstrate a solid understanding of typography. Candidates must be proficient in Adobe InDesign, with a working knowledge of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Because of the nature of the work they will be doing (cover design), we require a resume, cover letter, and design samples. The internship is unpaid but interns will end up with printed samples of book jackets for their portfolios.

Production: A Production intern will be involved in learning the entire process of production and manufacturing by helping with daily Production tasks, such as opening, distributing, and packaging up daily mail, helping with reprints (organization, estimates, budgets, proofs), entering POs in Bookmaster, and various copying and filing. In order to give a rounded knowledge of the department, interns will shadow members of the department and, if timing allows, attend a printing and manufacturing plant tour or Book Builder’s of Boston event(s).

Journals

Production: The Journals Production intern will learn the ropes of producing and manufacturing journals by shadowing production coordinators, attending production team meetings, working with senior production staff to organize and populate the Journals Production wiki pages, and assisting the Production Manager on back content in the administrative area of the MIT Press Journal site. Experience using Word, Exel, and Filemaker is preferred, and confidence in learning unfamiliar software applications is required.

Subsidiary Rights and Permissions: The primary responsibility of the Subsidiary Rights and Permissions intern will be to help handle institutional licenses. The intern will also be expected to help with organization and filing as well as a variety of daily tasks. Some contact with authors or editors will be required, either through email or by phone, for issues pertaining to copyright and publication agreements. The intern will also be responsible for packaging and shipping journals to the Library of Congress, so the ability to handle some light lifting is required.

To apply for an internship, please send us your resume and cover letter indicating the department(s) you are interested in applying to. E-mail application to: Internship Coordinator, mitp-interns@mit.edu.