In this role, you will design and support the production work for children’s book covers and internals across multiple formats including board books, picture books, middle grade, and graphic novels. You’ll work closely with editors, authors, art directors, and illustrators, with opportunities to grow your skills, bring innovative ideas to the table, and help to shape stories that make a lasting impact on young readers.
This an exempt salaried position with a range of $55,000 - $65,000. We determine starting pay based on a thorough evaluation of job-related factors, including geographic location, market conditions, relevant experience, training, and education. This process ensures a fair and competitive salary that aligns with both the company and the candidate’s qualifications.
This position can be hybrid in Naperville or NYC, or fully remote in the following states ONLY: Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. This role involves little to no travel, with the exception of attendance at company-wide meetings.
What You'll Do:
- Design engaging covers and internals for a range of children’s formats with a focus on strong visual storytelling, age-appropriate design, and market appeal.
- Communicate design decisions clearly, listen actively, be open to feedback, and be willing to stretch creatively and professionally. Approach projects with curiosity and a growth mindset.
- Partner with art directors, editors, authors, illustrators, production, and other key stakeholders to develop designs that align with the unique creative vision and business strategy for each book you touch.
- Balance multiple deadlines while maintaining quality, creative excellence, and attention to detail across all projects.
- Help partner with illustrators to achieve the best visual outcomes while always striving to create alignment across the creative and editorial vision of each book.
- Ensure that files are accurate, properly prepared for print and digital output, and aligned with production and pre-press requirements.
- Research trends in children’s books and products, design, typography, and illustration to bring fresh ideas to the team.
- Maintain schedules, reporting, and databases for all assigned titles.
- Be able to pivot quickly, take initiative, learn from challenges, and celebrate progress in all of its forms.
- Always design with children and their caregivers in mind—creating books that are age appropriate, inclusive, and accessible.
- Experience: 3–5 years of professional experience in book design or a closely related field. A portfolio that demonstrates children’s book work is preferred.
- Expertise in a Mac-based environment utilizing the Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat).
- A strong sense of typography, composition, color, contrast, and art-driven design.
- Solid understanding of file set-up and final production guidelines, pre-flight, and printing processes including 1/C to 4/C offset printing, spot colors, and specialty coatings and treatments.
- Able to license photography and stock art and color-correct and retouch images as required.
- Familiarity with eBook standards and accessibility guidelines.
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in the Arts or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- Passion: A genuine love for children's books and an understanding of what engages readers at different developmental stages.
At Sourcebooks, books change lives is more than just our mission. It’s the reason we do what we do every day. Just ask the 500 million+ readers we've reached so far. We put authors at the heart of everything we do, blending creativity with deep insights and data to break new ground. Our innovative approach has earned us recognition as Newsweek’s #2 Most Loved Workplace, a Best Workplace by Inc., and an innovation leader by Fast Company twice. Publishers Weekly named us “by far the most successful self-made publisher operating in the 21st century,” and in 2025 we received the Book Industry Study Group’s highest honor for “redefining what it means to be a book publisher in the 21st century.”
Ready to Apply:
Please submit your portfolio, resume, salary requirements and a cover letter detailing your relevant experience and interest in this role. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. Show us your passion and creativity — we’re looking for someone who’s as enthusiastic about this opportunity as we are!
Full-time employees are eligible for our comprehensive benefits program. Our range of benefits include, but are not limited to, Medical/Prescription drug insurance, Dental, Vision, Health Care, Dependent Care, Flexible Spending Account, Health Savings Account, 401(k), Short and Long-Term Disability Insurance, Life/AD&D Insurance, and generous paid time off.
Sourcebooks values the array of talents and perspectives that a diverse workforce brings. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status.
Sourcebooks Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Sourcebooks and has not been reviewed or approved by Sourcebooks.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, paid holidays and sick days, and a sabbatical program are highlighted, with additional closure between Christmas and New Year’s. These elements collectively indicate a wide range of time‑off options.
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Parental & Family Support — Generous parental leave includes six weeks paid for both parents that can be combined with FMLA, alongside family medical leave. This reflects structured support for caregiving needs.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage are provided along with life insurance, short‑ and long‑term disability, FSAs, and mental‑health benefits. The package spans core health protections and ancillary supports.
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What We Do
“Sourcebooks, a legitimate contender for the title of ‘most innovative company in book publishing.’”—Mike Shatzkin, Idealog Innovators. Always looking for ways to bring new experiences to our readers, data is the backbone that gives direction to our creativity and informs our innovative spirit. Put Me In The Story, now the #1 personalized book platform in the U.S., is one of three e-commerce businesses we operate. We are committed to innovative publishing and to exploring new publishing platforms and models. Owners and Entrepreneurs. We take pride in being pioneers. Each of us is a leader invested in creating breakthrough for ourselves, our company, and readers everywhere. Starting with just one book in 1987, we now publish more than 300 new titles each year. With millions of books sold and more than 80 New York Times and USA Today bestsellers—and more—Sourcebooks publishes authors, not books. Constantly Learning. Not content to rely on yesterday’s knowledge, we know tomorrow’s opportunities can be discovered only with a passionate desire to explore new ideas. We Create Amazing. Every book and product we create and every life we touch is an opportunity to deliver the unexpected and the extraordinary. Our award-winning books earn accolades from Parenting Media Awards, YALSA Lists, Texas Bluebonnet, state awards, the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal Award, and more. Book Business Magazine named Sourcebooks 2013 Publishing Innovator of the Year. From children’s, young adult, fiction, and memoir to personalized books, inspirational gifts, reference, poetry, and beyond, we believe books change lives. It is the heart of all that we do. We are excited to work with passionate authors, booksellers, librarians, designers, media, brand partners, and others to create a vibrant future for books. FIND US ONLINE www.sourcebooks.com www.putmeinthestory.com www.simpletruths.com www.123magic.com
