Publishing sales executive

Reports to: Head of Publishing Sales


Play a key role in bringing publishing distribution in-house, with opportunities to develop your experience across sales and account management.

We are a passionate group of people on a mission to bring about healing, growth, calm and self-understanding. We derive our ideas from psychology, psychotherapy, philosophy, art and culture. As our name, The School of Life, suggests, we are here to teach people how life can be lived and what can make it truly worthwhile, effective and fulfilling. We do this via our articles, books, app, films, therapeutic services and corporate offering.

Our books and non-book products reach readers through three distribution partners: Consortium for the US, Canada and all digital sales; Simon & Schuster in Australia, live since July 2026; and, until 31 December 2026, Faber Alliance for the UK and export. From 1 January 2027, those UK and export relationships come in-house, run directly by our Head of Publishing Sales.

This new role exists to make that move work, and to keep it working afterwards. You'll run the day-to-day machinery of our publishing sales: title data, distributor liaison and sales reporting, so that every book reaches every channel on time and is correctly described. Over time the role widens into account support, reporting and a set of smaller accounts you'll sell into yourself.

Key Responsibilities

Title and bibliographic data management

• Maintain accurate, up-to-date title information in our title management system, correct and complete ahead of every publication date.
• Make sure the same title and metadata information is reflected consistently on Nielsen and on Ingram’s CoreSource platform, so every channel works from the same accurate data.
• Liaise with editorial and production colleagues so new titles are set up in good time, and resolve data discrepancies as they arise.

Distributor and supply chain administration

• Act as the day-to-day administrative point of contact for our distributors (Consortium, Simon & Schuster Australia and, until the end of 2026, Faber Alliance), providing title information, artwork and metadata as needed.
  Work closely with warehouse and production colleagues so stock reaches distributors in good time ahead of publication and reprint schedules.
  Help ensure a smooth handover of UK and export distributor administration as it moves in-house from Faber Alliance.
• Sales reporting
• Support the Head of Publishing Sales in producing regular sales reporting, tracking performance and growth across territories and accounts.
• Help maintain and improve our sales reporting processes as more of this work moves in-house.

Account support and selling

• Provide administrative and communications support across our key accounts, including Waterstones, Libri and our other main retail and wholesale partners.
• Take direct day-to-day ownership of a number of smaller accounts, managing communications, orders and queries.
• Carry out store visits and buyer meetings for these accounts, feeding back market intelligence to the wider sales team.
• Support the preparation of seasonal sales materials and presentations.

General

• Respond to day-to-day queries from accounts, distributors and internal colleagues.
  Contribute administrative and data support to cross-functional projects as needed, such as title relaunch initiatives.
• The exact split of accounts and responsibilities between the Head of Publishing Sales and this role is still being finalised, and will be confirmed with the successful candidate during onboarding.

Candidate Profile

Essentials

• At least one previous role in publishing sales, sales administration, or a closely related area of a publishing house. This is not an entry-level role, and you should already understand how the book trade works.
• Good working knowledge of UK book trade data and processes, for example Nielsen BookData/BookScan, ONIX metadata and distributor relationships.
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple accounts, deadlines and data sources accurately at the same time.
• A confident, professional communicator, comfortable liaising directly with distributors, retail and wholesale buyers, and internal colleagues.
• Strong Excel and general data-handling skills, and comfort working with sales and stock reporting.
• A self-starter who can manage an administrative workload independently while flagging issues early.
  An interest in The School of Life’s list and mission
  Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

Nice to have

• Direct experience with a title management system, and/or Nielsen Title Editor and Ingram CoreSource.
• Some experience of direct selling or account management, for example through store visits or buyer meetings.
• A willingness to learn, evolve and adapt
• Outgoing and driven work ethic with ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Excited about team and personal growth
• Thrive in a fast-paced, ever-evolving environment

What you’ll get from us..

• To work with a diverse team of brilliant minds!
• A culture focused on growth & personal development
• £500 per year learning budget
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays
• Up to 5 days per year unpaid holiday
• 1 extra holiday day per year of service
• 2 free TSOL products per quarter
• 50% discount across all School of Life Products
• Participation in The School of Life personal development sessions
• Enhanced Maternity pay
• Socials & Lunches

The School of Life is committed to creating a diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.