Marketing and Publicity Director

Marketing and Publicity Director – Books & Retail

Department: Consumer Business

Reports To: Vice President, Books & Retail

Position Summary:

The Marketing and Publicity Director leads the Books and Retail marketing function as a commercial growth driver. This role owns retail and B2B marketing, equips the sales organization with high-impact tools and programming, and drives consumer demand generation for titles where pull marketing is a meaningful lever. Amazon and online retail marketing are excluded from this remit.

This leader is accountable for major retail promotions, trade advertising, retailer partnerships, trade show marketing, sales support materials, email marketing, publicity, influencer outreach, and the quality of all consumer-facing and retailer-facing marketing assets. The role also leads marketing to national accounts, booksellers, librarians, and teachers — strengthening sell-in, institutional demand, hand-selling support, and sell-through.

The Marketing and Publicity Director partners closely with Sales, Amazon, Product Development, Design, Brand, and other stakeholders to ensure marketing is commercially sharp, creatively strong, and aligned to business priorities. This role is accountable for marketing performance across priority titles and channels and plays a key role in strengthening POS results, retail execution, and long-term brand and series momentum.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Own the Books and Retail marketing function across retail marketing, B2B marketing, sales enablement, publicity, and selective consumer demand generation.
• Develop and execute annual marketing plans across frontlist, backlist, key series, and priority initiatives — aligning resources to the highest-value commercial opportunities.
• Lead development of high-impact sales tools and programs, including sell-in materials, merchandising support, retailer email programs, sales conference programming, and launch support.
• Own major retail promotions, trade advertising, retailer partnerships, and trade show marketing that strengthen sell-in, visibility, and sell-through.
• Lead B2B marketing to national accounts, booksellers, librarians, and teachers — increasing awareness, institutional demand, conversion to orders, and hand-selling support.
• Own publicity and campaign activity for select titles, including PR strategy, media outreach, review coverage, influencer and creator partnerships, and buzz-building.
• Lead demand generation for titles where placement alone is not the primary sales driver — focusing resources on books with strong upside that require consumer pull.
• Partner with Sales and Amazon to support POS growth for key titles and the broader list through coordinated, commercially focused marketing activity.
• Partner with Product Development and Design to contribute to title positioning, packaging, cover direction, and concept shaping.
• Ensure all marketing assets — copy, visuals, positioning, and campaign materials — are high quality, commercially effective, and aligned to channel needs.
• Oversee creative production and design execution for marketing assets, ensuring quality, speed, and alignment to priorities.
• Establish, monitor, and act on key marketing KPIs across campaigns, promotions, B2B programs, publicity, email, title performance, and sales enablement.
• Manage marketing investments with sound commercial judgment, prioritizing activity based on likely return and strategic value.
• Build and maintain strong external relationships with media, influencers, creators, librarians, educators, booksellers, retail marketing partners, and trade show and industry contacts.
• Lead, coach, and develop the marketing team through clear priorities, high standards, and a player-coach leadership style suited to a lean, fast-moving environment.
• Strengthen operating rhythms, communication, and project management to improve output, coordination, accountability, and speed.

What you should show up ready to teach anyone on your first day:

• How to build marketing programs that strengthen sell-in, improve sell-through, and support POS performance across retail and institutional channels.
• How to equip a sales organization with compelling tools, messaging, and programming that improve buyer engagement and selling effectiveness.
• How to identify which titles require true demand generation and focus resources accordingly.
• How to market effectively to librarians, teachers, booksellers, and national accounts in ways that build awareness, relationships, and institutional demand.
• How to lead integrated campaigns across publicity, influencers, retail promotions, trade marketing, and email with clear business purpose and measurable impact.
• How to use creative judgment, positioning, copy, and asset quality to strengthen product appeal and commercial performance.
• How to partner effectively with Product Development, Sales, Amazon, Brand, and Design without blurring ownership.
• How to operate as a hands-on, resourceful player-coach leader in a lean environment.

Within your first month, you’ll:

• Build working relationships across Sales, Amazon, Product Development, Design, and other key partners.
• Gain a clear understanding of the list, annual priorities, title segmentation, and the distinction between placement-driven titles and those requiring demand generation.
• Assess current marketing plans, campaign priorities, trade show commitments, external relationships, and resource allocation — identifying the highest-value improvement opportunities.
• Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of current sales materials, merchandising support, email programs, campaign assets, and publicity efforts.
• Review how marketing currently supports national accounts, booksellers, librarians, and teachers — identifying opportunities to improve engagement and commercial impact.
• Assess campaign planning, creative production, project management, and cross-functional communication to identify execution gaps.
• Evaluate external partners and relationships to determine where stronger rigor, prioritization, or expanded reach is needed.
• Establish a working view of key marketing KPIs and where stronger reporting and attribution are needed.

Within your first year, you’ll:

• Strengthen the overall commercial effectiveness of the marketing function across retail, B2B, publicity, and sales support.
• Improve POS support for priority titles and contribute meaningfully to stronger title performance in partnership with Sales and Amazon.
• Elevate the quality and effectiveness of sell-in materials, retailer marketing, sales conference programming, merchandising support, and campaign assets.
• Build stronger, more productive relationships with national accounts, booksellers, librarians, teachers, media contacts, influencers, and other external partners.
• Build a more disciplined and selective demand generation model for titles where consumer pull is a meaningful growth lever.
• Improve the effectiveness of publicity, influencer, and outreach efforts for priority titles — with stronger alignment to commercial goals and better visibility into results.
• Establish stronger operating discipline across project management, creative production, campaign planning, and cross-functional coordination.
• Strengthen marketing's contribution to product positioning, design direction, and title development through sharper market insight and commercial judgment.
• Establish the marketing function as a trusted, high-performing commercial partner known for strong execution, creativity, and business impact.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Directly manages and develops marketing team members, with potential for additional direct reports as the business grows.
• Provides leadership, prioritization, coaching, and performance management in a lean, high-expectation environment.
• May oversee freelancers, agencies, creative partners, publicity contacts, and other outside vendors or collaborators.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, Business, or a related field — or equivalent relevant experience.
• Seven (7) or more years of progressive experience in book publishing marketing and/or publicity.
• Significant experience in kids' book marketing, with a strong understanding of how titles and series are built in the market.
• Meaningful experience in retailer and trade marketing, including promotions, partnerships, merchandising support, sales materials, and market-facing campaigns.
• Demonstrated success leading integrated campaigns that include publicity, media outreach, influencer or creator engagement, and demand-generation tactics.
• Demonstrated success in copy direction, creative development, and asset creation for both sales-facing and consumer-facing marketing.
• Experience leading teams and managing work through both direct ownership and cross-functional influence.
• Strong brand marketing experience required — whether in literary brands, licensed IP, or other relevant brand-building environments.