Book Designer, Formatter & Publishing Production Specialist

About the Role We are looking for an experienced and highly detail-oriented Book Designer, Formatter & Publishing Production Specialist to work across a growing catalogue of books. The role involves transforming completed manuscripts into professionally designed, publication-ready books for print, Kindle/eBook and digital PDF formats. Projects may include: Children's books Illustrated books Activity books Workbooks Journals Educational books Psychology and self-development books Language-learning books Gift and seasonal books Non-fiction books Some projects may also require original illustration, illustration editing, image sourcing or coordination with external illustrators. We are looking for someone with genuine publishing-production experience rather than someone who only formats manuscripts using templates. Key Responsibilities 1. Book Interior Design & Formatting Transform manuscripts into professionally designed book interiors. Responsibilities include: Page layout and composition Typography and font selection Heading and subheading hierarchy Paragraph and text styles Margins, gutters and bleed Page numbering Headers and footers Chapter opening pages Contents pages Tables and charts Callout boxes Exercises and worksheets Journaling and writing spaces Image placement Captions References and end matter Consistent visual hierarchy throughout the book The final design should be visually sophisticated, highly readable and appropriate for the book's target audience. 2. Print Book Production Prepare publication-ready files for paperback and hardcover production. This includes: Amazon KDP print specifications Correct trim sizes Bleed and non-bleed layouts Safe margins and gutters High-resolution images Print-quality PDF export Font embedding Preflight checks KDP Previewer corrections Final technical quality control Experience with other print-on-demand or publishing platforms is advantageous. 3. Kindle & eBook Formatting Create professional Kindle/eBook editions where required. This may include: Reflowable EPUB Fixed-layout EPUB where appropriate Kindle-compatible formatting Navigation and linked contents Chapter navigation Image optimisation Hyperlinks Device compatibility Kindle Previewer testing Troubleshooting formatting problems The candidate should understand that print layouts cannot simply be exported directly into Kindle format. 4. Digital PDF Editions Create high-quality PDF versions for: Downloadable books Workbooks Educational resources Courses Digital journals Professional resources Printable activities Where appropriate, PDFs may require: Clickable navigation Hyperlinks Interactive elements Fillable fields Print-friendly versions Screen-optimised versions 5. Cover Design & Production Depending on the project, responsibilities may include: Front-cover design Back-cover design Spine design Full paperback/hardcover wraps Kindle/eBook covers Typography Barcode positioning KDP template preparation Print-ready cover files Strong understanding of commercial book-cover design and genre conventions is highly desirable. 6. Illustration Some projects may require illustration skills. This could include: Children's book illustrations Educational illustrations Activity-book artwork Decorative illustrations Simple diagrams Character development Page embellishments Illustration editing Preparing existing illustrations for print Maintaining character and visual consistency throughout a book Candidates who illustrate should provide a separate illustration portfolio demonstrating their range and consistency. Illustration experience is highly desirable but not essential if your book-design and formatting skills are exceptional. 7. Working With Illustrators Where illustrations are created by another artist, the designer may be responsible for: Providing specifications to the illustrator Determining dimensions and placement Reviewing resolution and colour requirements Integrating artwork into layouts Identifying missing or unsuitable artwork Maintaining visual consistency Preparing final illustrated pages for publication 8. Amazon A+ Content & Supporting Assets Experience creating additional publishing assets is desirable, including: Amazon A+ Content Book mock-ups Series graphics Comparison graphics Author/publisher graphics Promotional book images Website book graphics Quality Control Before submitting any project, you will be expected to complete a detailed pre-publication check covering: Title and subtitle Author name Copyright information ISBN/barcode Contents Page order Blank pages Page numbering Fonts Typography Alignment Spacing Margins Bleed Image resolution Illustration placement Headers and footers References Links Cover dimensions Spine width Print specifications Kindle navigation PDF functionality Attention to detail is critical. Required Skills Essential Adobe InDesign Professional book layout and typography Print book formatting Amazon KDP Print-ready PDF preparation Strong visual-design skills Image preparation and resolution management Preflight and quality-control processes Ability to follow detailed publishing specifications Highly Desirable EPUB/Kindle formatting Kindle Previewer Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Cover design Children's book design Workbook/activity-book design Illustration Amazon A+ Content Interactive/fillable PDF creation Experience with hardcover and paperback production Canva may be used as a supplementary tool, but Canva-only experience is not sufficient for this position. What We Are Looking For The successful candidate should be: Extremely detail-oriented Visually sophisticated Technically competent Reliable with deadlines Comfortable managing revisions Able to identify problems without waiting to be told Capable of working across different book genres and audiences Able to maintain consistency across large manuscripts Familiar with professional publishing standards We particularly value someone who can look at a manuscript and recommend how it should be designed, rather than simply asking us to specify every formatting decision. Application Requirements Please provide: 5–10 examples of books you personally designed or formatted. Examples showing complete interior spreads — not covers alone. At least one longer non-fiction or educational book. Examples of children's, workbook or illustrated books if available. Examples of Kindle/eBook files you have produced. Examples of digital or interactive PDFs if available. Your cover-design portfolio. Your illustration portfolio, if applicable. Links to published Amazon books you have worked on. A list of the software you use. For each example, clearly explain: What you personally created — cover, interior, formatting, illustration, Kindle conversion, PDF production or complete production. Shortlisted Candidate Test Shortlisted candidates may receive a small sample manuscript and be asked to create several representative pages. We will assess: Typography | hierarchy | page composition | readability | visual judgement | attention to detail | technical accuracy We are looking for a long-term collaborator who can help us consistently produce professional, commercially competitive and publication-ready books across print and digital formats.