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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for E-Publishing Manager

💰 $75,000 - $110,000

PublishingDigital MediaContent ManagementMarketingOperations

🎯 Role Definition

The E-Publishing Manager is a strategic and operational leader who oversees the entire lifecycle of an organization's digital publications, primarily ebooks, but also including audiobooks and other digital formats. This pivotal role bridges the gap between editorial content, production technology, marketing, and sales. You will be responsible for managing the digital production workflow, ensuring the quality and integrity of all digital products, optimizing metadata for maximum discoverability, and managing relationships with a global network of distribution partners and vendors. The ideal candidate is a detail-oriented project manager with a deep understanding of the digital publishing ecosystem, industry standards, and emerging technologies, capable of analyzing performance data to drive strategy and revenue growth.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Digital Production Coordinator / Editor
  • Ebook Specialist / Coordinator
  • Senior Editor with a strong digital focus

Advancement To:

  • Director of Digital Publishing / Digital Strategy
  • Head of Publishing Operations
  • Associate Publisher, Digital

Lateral Moves:

  • Content Strategy Manager
  • Digital Marketing Manager
  • Digital Asset Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Manage the end-to-end digital production workflow, from manuscript handoff to final asset distribution, for all ebook and digital content projects.
  • Oversee the conversion of print-ready files into various digital formats, including EPUB, MOBI, and accessible PDFs, ensuring high quality and consistency across all platforms.
  • Develop, implement, and enforce rigorous quality assurance (QA) protocols to test and validate digital files against industry standards and retailer-specific requirements.
  • Masterfully create, manage, and disseminate ONIX metadata feeds, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and strategic optimization for enhanced discoverability and sales performance.
  • Act as the primary point of contact and relationship manager for third-party conversion houses, technology vendors, and digital distribution partners.
  • Strategically manage the distribution of digital products to a global network of retail, library, and subscription channels, including Amazon KDP, Apple Books, Kobo, and OverDrive.
  • Analyze sales data, market trends, and channel performance reports to provide actionable insights and strategic recommendations to editorial, marketing, and sales teams.
  • Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues related to file formatting, metadata delivery, and platform-specific ingestion errors in a timely manner.
  • Collaborate closely with internal departments, including editorial, design, and marketing, to ensure a cohesive and efficient digital publishing process.
  • Stay at the forefront of emerging technologies, standards (e.g., EPUB 3, accessibility), and trends within the digital publishing landscape to drive innovation.
  • Oversee the company's backlist digitization strategy, identifying and prioritizing titles for conversion to expand the digital catalog.
  • Manage the organization and maintenance of all digital assets within the Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, ensuring proper archiving and retrieval.
  • Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation for all digital workflows, best practices, and metadata standards to ensure team consistency and efficiency.
  • Optimize product detail pages on key retail sites through A/B testing of cover art, descriptive copy, and keywords to improve customer conversion.
  • Manage the application and strategy for Digital Rights Management (DRM) across various products and platforms.
  • Supervise the creation of enhanced ebooks with interactive elements, video, and audio, coordinating with developers and designers as needed.
  • Monitor competitor activities and digital pricing strategies to ensure our products are positioned competitively in the marketplace.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to answer key business questions related to digital performance.
  • Contribute to the organization's broader data strategy and roadmap by providing insights on publishing-specific data needs.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate their digital content needs and goals into technical and operational requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies, particularly when collaborating with internal technology or data engineering teams on new projects.
  • Assist in negotiating contracts and commercial terms with new digital vendors, platforms, and technology providers.
  • Champion and ensure compliance with digital accessibility standards (such as WCAG) across all electronic publications.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Ebook Formats: Expert-level knowledge of EPUB (2 & 3) and MOBI standards, including the underlying HTML/CSS and XML structure.
  • Metadata Management: Deep proficiency with the ONIX metadata standard and experience managing and delivering complex data feeds to trading partners.
  • Publishing Platforms: Hands-on experience with major e-retailer dashboards and distribution platforms like Amazon KDP, Apple Books Connect, IngramSpark, and CoreSource.
  • Adobe Creative Suite: High proficiency in Adobe InDesign, particularly its role in the ebook creation workflow, as well as Photoshop and Acrobat Pro.
  • Data Analysis: Strong ability to use tools like Microsoft Excel (PivotTables, VLOOKUPs), Google Analytics, or business intelligence software (e.g., Tableau) to analyze sales and market data.
  • Digital Asset Management (DAM): Familiarity with DAM systems and principles for organizing, storing, and retrieving digital files.
  • Quality Assurance Tools: Experience using QA software and validation tools like EPUBCheck to diagnose and fix file errors.

Soft Skills

  • Project Management: Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously, set priorities, and meet tight deadlines.
  • Attention to Detail: Meticulous and thorough, with a keen eye for identifying minor errors in code, metadata, or design that can impact product quality.
  • Problem-Solving: A resourceful and analytical thinker who can effectively troubleshoot technical challenges and operational bottlenecks.
  • Communication & Collaboration: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and foster collaboration across departments.
  • Vendor Management: Proven ability to manage relationships, set expectations, and ensure quality and timeliness from external partners and vendors.
  • Strategic Thinking: Ability to see the bigger picture, connecting daily tasks to broader business objectives and using data to inform strategic decisions.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's Degree

Preferred Education:

  • Master's Degree or a specialized certificate in publishing.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Publishing or Digital Media
  • English, Communications, or Journalism
  • Library and Information Science
  • Marketing

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 5-8 years of direct experience in a digital publishing, ebook production, or digital operations role within the publishing industry.

Preferred:

  • Experience managing a large catalog of digital titles across multiple global retail and library channels.
  • Demonstrable success in using metadata and data analysis to directly impact ebook sales and discoverability.
  • Experience with managing audiobook production and distribution workflows is a significant plus.
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