New York and Toronto

Editorial 

When a book proposal comes in, the editorial department decides as a group whether to accept it, gather more information, or pass. An editor is a champion for a manuscript and guides the process of turning it into a book. Editors need to know what's good, what can sell, and what's a fit with their imprint. They develop expertise in a particular niche and become authorities in that area. Editors are always on the lookout for the right project and how to build it.


Art & Design
Designing books — covers, jackets, and interiors — is a collaborative effort. An art director reads the book and meets with the editors and marketing people. Together they decide whether to use illustrations or photographs, whether the book calls for a hip and trendy look or more traditional material. Art directors commission or locate appropriate artwork, plan the design, select the typeface, and make it all happen. In doing so, they often work with galleries, artists, and photographers.

Marketing
Marketing touches on all aspects of publishing and book selling. People in marketing attend editorial meetings, read book proposals, and review early book jackets. Marketers communicate with sales people to learn what's happening in their territories and to help them promote and share their enthusiasm about books and writers. The marketing department decides how to promote books to booksellers and whether to invest in publicity, advertising, store displays, or online approaches. It is a continuing challenge to find that great new way to market an author and a story. 

Publicity
Publicists generate exposure and "buzz" for new books. This might take the form of newspaper, television or radio reviews, interviews, and stories about forthcoming books, authors, readings, and other author events. Publicists also act as spokespersons for the company and develop strong relations with the media. Publicity is a wonderful career for people who love to read, love to talk, and excel at building relationships. It's fast moving and there is constant stimulation of new subjects and new writers. 

Sales
Salespeople manage Random House's relationship with the community of booksellers around the country. They take Random House's huge list of books and adapt it to individual bookseller needs. The sales department takes the hopes and needs of the authors and editors and makes them a reality. The sales department works to make sure that books are available to readers in every place where books are sold: supermarkets, malls, independent bookstores, price clubs, catalogs, and the Internet. The objective is to make sure Random House's books are in stores and are well promoted wherever they are. 

Publishing Operations 
Publishing operations includes the many departments and processes that turn the finished, edited manuscript into the book that arrives at our distribution center. Publishing operations starts with managing editorial/title administration, which works closely with the publishing divisions to shepherd a title through the publishing process. People in production and interior design work with the editorial staff to translate the author and editor's vision to printers and outside suppliers. Inventory managers work with sales and publishing to decide how many books to print and when to print them. It's a collaborative effort.

Fulfillment
Our Westminster distribution center, located near Baltimore, Maryland, is the nation's largest and most technologically advanced book distribution center of its kind. We have recently expanded the facility to 1.3 million square feet, redesigned all workflows and processes, and implemented a new warehouse management system. Every day Random House ships more than 1.25 million books from the United States to customers around the world. This complex operation receives, stores, picks, packs, and ships those books to our customers. Fulfillment is also responsible for processing orders and providing customer service. Our fulfillment staff does everything possible to provide our customers with the highest quality of service. They are always on the lookout for improvements in the timeliness, accuracy, and quality of our shipments. The business environment is always changing, so projects vary greatly from day to day or year to year. 

Finance
People in finance work on expense management, cost of goods, production, inventory, sales forecasting, promotional programs, pricing, salaries, bonus plans -  anything that has a financial impact on the company. Finance is the liaison to every other department, explaining the corporate perspective and serving as a communication link or translator. No one works in a vacuum. Finance professionals learn how all the divisions benefit one another and gain a broad understanding of the larger picture. 

Information Technology 
As a media company and the world's largest trade book publisher, Random House depends on systems and technology support for virtually every aspect of the company's operations. IT professionals develop and support the vital infrastructure--the networks, e-mail systems, servers, and voice and data systems. However, at Random House it is more than infrastructure and applications support--it is a strategic focus and has become a source of competitive advantage. Random House has expanded its state-of-the-art technology infrastructure to meet the demands of the evolving publishing marketplace. Emerging technologies are changing the dynamics of book publishing. In addition to ongoing work with distribution, finance, production, customer service, sales and marketing, information technology is building systems to manage digital assets and service the electronic book and print-on-demand marketplaces.

Human Resources 
Attracting and rewarding the best talent is important to Random House and we recognize that our continued success depends on our ability to keep the people we hire involved and challenged. Human Resources supports this important mission by: developing and maintaining compensation and employee benefit programs that attract and motivate employees; developing talent and leadership through performance assessments, training opportunities and challenging work; and reinforcing corporate business standards such as our core values and code of conduct. The department has generalists who support the various Random House divisions and specialists who know specific disciplines such as compensation and benefits or employee relations. Our role is to help the company achieve its business objectives by partnering with our clients in managing a core asset of the business -- its people.