How to hire the right people for your publishing house

How to Hire the Right People for Your Publishing House

by

Table of Contents

Introduction

Running a publishing house can sometimes feel like steering a ship through choppy waters while juggling flaming swords. You’re dealing with deadlines, manuscripts, authors with fragile egos, printers, distributors, and the ever-fickle market. Amidst all this chaos, one thing can make or break your success: your team.

Hiring the right people for your publishing house isn’t just about filling chairs. It’s about finding individuals who can think creatively, manage complex projects, handle pressure, and—above all—love the maddening beauty of the written word. A publishing house, after all, isn’t a typical business. It’s a peculiar blend of art and commerce, where passion must coexist with practicality.

If you’re looking to build a team that’ll help your publishing house thrive, it’s time to look beyond the standard hiring checklists. You need people who can read between the lines, literally and figuratively. This article will walk you through how to spot, attract, and hire the right people for your publishing operation.

Understand Your Publishing House’s DNA First

Before you even post a job listing, take a deep breath and ask yourself: “What kind of publishing house are we?” Are you a small indie press championing debut novelists? A scholarly publisher dealing with rigorous academic material? A mass-market powerhouse cranking out bestsellers?

Your publishing house’s identity determines the type of talent you need. If you’re an academic publisher, you’ll need detail-obsessed editors, citation wizards, and people who can wrangle dense academic prose into something resembling readability. If you’re an indie fiction press, you’ll want editors who are passionate about discovering fresh voices and marketers who can craft narratives as engaging as the books themselves.

This internal clarity is your starting point. Without it, you’ll end up hiring the wrong people who might have stellar résumés but simply don’t align with your mission or work culture. Hiring is as much about culture fit as it is about skills, particularly in publishing, where personal passion often fuels professional excellence.

Define Each Role Clearly (No, Really)

Publishing job titles can be notoriously vague. “Editor” can mean a dozen different things depending on the context. Is this person overseeing structural edits, copyediting, or proofreading? Are they managing other editors and liaising with authors? Or are they an acquisitions editor scouting for new titles to acquire?

When hiring, clarity is everything. Break down the responsibilities of the role explicitly. Instead of “We’re looking for an editor,” specify:

  • “We need a developmental editor who can work closely with fiction authors to refine story structure and character arcs.”
  • “We’re seeking an acquisitions editor who can identify marketable titles in the young adult space.”

This specificity doesn’t just help you but also assists candidates in self-selecting. It’s far better to have 30 highly relevant applications than 300 generic ones.

Prioritize Passion, Then Skill

Publishing isn’t a field for people merely chasing a paycheck. You need people who geek out about books, who obsess over grammar rules, who get a thrill out of spotting a manuscript with potential.

That doesn’t mean skills are unimportant. A copy editor still needs to know the Chicago Manual of Style like the back of their hand, and a publicist must know how to pitch effectively. But publishing is littered with candidates who are technically skilled yet utterly disengaged from the actual work.

During interviews, ask about their reading habits. What are they reading right now? Which authors or genres excite them? Watch their eyes light up or not. Passion is hard to fake. And in publishing, it’s indispensable.

Test Them, Subtly and Directly

Publishing is a craft. Much like you wouldn’t hire a chef without tasting their food, you shouldn’t hire a publishing professional without seeing their work in action.

For editors, send them a short editing test. This could be a sample manuscript that requires developmental feedback, line editing, or proofreading, depending on the role. For marketing or publicity roles, ask for a sample campaign proposal or a mock press release.

The test shouldn’t be exploitative or overly long, but it should be enough to reveal their approach and attention to detail. Do they understand your house’s voice? Can they spot obvious errors? Are they creative yet practical?

These small tests often reveal more than an entire interview.

Don’t Underestimate Soft Skills

In publishing, everything revolves around relationships between editors and authors, between publicists and the media, and between sales representatives and bookstores.

Hiring someone brilliant on paper but difficult to work with in person can derail your entire operation. Look for people who can navigate the often emotionally charged publishing process with tact and diplomacy.

Ask situational questions:

  • “Tell me about a time you had to deliver tough feedback to an author.”
  • “How do you handle competing deadlines with limited resources?”
  • “Describe a situation where a project didn’t go as planned. What did you do?”

Their answers will show you how they handle pressure, conflict, and collaboration.

Hire for Growth, Not Just the Present

It’s tempting to hire someone solely for the role you need filled right now. But publishing is evolving rapidly. AI tools are changing editing workflows. Social media keeps shifting marketing strategies. Audiobooks and digital formats continue to surge.

Look for candidates who aren’t just comfortable with change. They embrace it. People who are curious, adaptable, and willing to learn new tools will serve your publishing house better in the long run than someone rigidly attached to “the old way.”

During interviews, ask about their familiarity with emerging publishing technologies. What tools do they use for project management, editing, or marketing? How do they stay updated with industry changes?

This mindset can save you from costly re-hiring later.

Offer More Than Just a Job

Publishing isn’t known for sky-high salaries. If you’re competing with tech companies or finance firms on pay alone, you’ll likely lose. But you can compete in other ways.

Many publishing professionals care deeply about flexibility, creative freedom, and meaningful work. Offer hybrid or remote options if possible. Provide opportunities for professional development, whether through conferences, courses, or mentorship programs.

Make your publishing house a place where employees can grow and do work they’re proud of. The more you foster a supportive, dynamic environment, the easier it becomes to attract top-tier talent.

Beware of Cultural Clones

It’s easy to fall into the trap of hiring people who look, think, and act just like your existing team. Publishing has long been criticized for being insular and lacking diversity, whether in terms of race, gender, socioeconomic background, or even professional experience.

Broaden your recruitment pool. Consider candidates from adjacent industries, such as journalism, marketing, or digital content creation. Their fresh perspectives can spark innovation.

Actively recruit from underrepresented communities. Diverse voices aren’t just a PR win; they’re an asset in helping your publishing house discover stories that resonate with a broader audience.

Don’t Skip the References (But Read Between the Lines)

References are tricky. No candidate will provide references who’ll trash them. Still, references can provide valuable context if you know how to ask the right questions.

Instead of simply asking, “Would you hire them again?” ask for specifics:

  • “How did they handle conflict?”
  • “How do they respond to feedback?”
  • “What’s one area where they could improve?”

Also, listen carefully to tone and hesitation. Sometimes, what a reference doesn’t say is as revealing as what they do.

Onboarding Matters as Much as Hiring

Even the best hire can falter without proper onboarding. Publishing houses are notorious for throwing new hires into the deep end and hoping they swim. Resist the urge.

Create a structured onboarding plan:

  • Introduce them to the key people they’ll work with.
  • Walk them through your publishing pipeline.
  • Share your editorial guidelines and internal tools.
  • Assign a mentor or buddy for the first few months.

A good onboarding process doesn’t just speed up productivity. It makes new hires feel welcomed and valued, which increases retention.

When in Doubt, Wait

Sometimes, you’ll go through rounds of interviews and still not feel confident about any candidate. Here’s some hard-earned advice: it’s better to wait than to hire the wrong person out of desperation.

A bad hire in publishing can have long-lasting effects. They could botch a high-stakes book release, alienate key authors, or create workflow chaos that takes months to fix.

Keep searching. Sometimes the right person shows up when you least expect it. And in the meantime, patch the gaps with freelancers, contractors, or short-term help.

Conclusion

Hiring for a publishing house isn’t just a matter of ticking boxes on a job description. It’s about finding people who blend passion with skill, creativity with discipline, and vision with adaptability.

You want editors who lose sleep over plot holes, marketers who dream in hashtags and headlines, and designers who can make even the dullest cover scream “Pick me up!” You need people who’ll challenge your assumptions, bring fresh perspectives, and—most importantly—stick around for the long haul.

When you hire the right people, magic happens. Books get better. Authors feel supported. Readers keep coming back for more. And your publishing house isn’t just another business anymore. It’s a place where great stories begin.

Leave a comment