Applications being accepted for MSU Press editorial assistantship

This graduate research assistantship position entails 20 hours per week for the 2020-2021 academic year, assisting the acquisitions editors at MSU Press. It offers hands-on experience in managing book projects from prospect research to proposal evaluation through the hand-off to production, along with exposure to production and marketing processes. MSU Press publishes 40 books annually in communication and rhetoric, sociology, anthropology, Native American studies, higher education, African literature and film, and African, European, and US history. The press also publishes 13 academic and literary journals.

The editorial assistant will work primarily in the acquisitions department. Tasks include:

  • Corresponding with authors and series editors;
  • Managing the peer-review process;
  • Preparing editorial board packets;
  • Vetting manuscripts prior to transfer to production;
  • Preparing manuscript transfer and new title forms and presenting new projects to the editorial team;
  • Assisting with prospect research and evaluating proposals and manuscripts; and
  • Other office work as assigned.

The editorial assistant will attend regular meetings with the acquisitions editors, the editorial, design, and production team, and the marketing staff. The editorial assistant will work at the press for 20 hours per week, Monday through Friday, between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, on a regular schedule to be determined. No evening or weekend work and no travel are required.

Required qualifications:

  • Currently enrolled in a PhD program at MSU and maintaining at least a 3.0 GPA, preferably one related to the areas we publish in; and
  • Competent with MS Office programs and internet research.

Experience in publishing a plus but not required.

Graduate assistantships include a bi-weekly stipend, tuition waiver in the amount of 9 credits for fall and spring semesters, and health insurance. Prior to the appointment, a criminal background check is required.

To apply, please submit a resume and letter of interest with a sign-off from your department chair and/or major professor to Catherine Cocks, MSU Press editor-in-chief, camcat@msu.press, by April 20, 2020.