Acquisitions Editor at Large (Freelance)

Crooked Lane Books and Alcove Press are looking for ambitious, connected, and energetic freelance Acquisitions Editors at Large to join our team. The ideal candidates must be experts in and champions of genre and commercial fiction, with active pipelines in either mysteries, thrillers, and suspense, or romantasy, fantasy, and horror. They know what readers want, and are constantly collaborating with authors and agents to deliver it. An entrepreneurial spirit, sense of ownership, and close relationships with agents are essential. This role reports directly to the Publisher. It is designed to provide high flexibility for established veterans who want to stay connected to the market and pick bestsellers without the burden of administrative overhead.

Essential responsibilities:

• Evaluate, acquire, and developmentally edit a minimum of 8 titles per year with strong sales potential across either imprint.
• Build and maintain a robust network of literary agents and authors to find or develop the very best commercial/genre fiction properties.
• Conduct sales, marketplace, and reader research as it relates to potential titles to ensure that every title meets reader expectations and reaches its intended audience.
• Prepare comparable title research, title P&Ls, and tentative publishing visions to pitch chosen projects at weekly acquisitions meetings via video conference.
• Shape offers with an understanding of the market and profit-and-loss statements, and negotiate core business terms for author agreements with the publisher’s support.
• Act as the primary structural and developmental editor for your acquired titles when mutually agreed upon.
• Consult on title choices and cover design concepts to ensure the final book successfully matches the publishing vision you established at acquisition.

About you:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher.
• 3-5+ years of experience in an acquisitions role at a trade publishing house.
• Ability to identify commercial trends and acquire and/or conceive of high-profile projects.
• Established, active network of literary agents.
• Established track record of publishing successful commercial genre fiction.
• Exceptional writing, structural editing, and presentation skills.
• Experience with Excel, including sales tracks and title P&Ls.
• Ability to prioritize and multitask several projects concurrently and demonstrate strong attention to detail and follow-up.

Please apply by emailing your resume and cover letter to View email address on shelf-awareness.com