Marketing Manager - Romance

Posted 3 Days Ago
Be an Early Applicant
Naperville, IL, USA
In-Office
65K-70K Annually
Senior level
eCommerce • Retail
The Role
Lead integrated marketing and publicity campaigns for Casablanca and Bloom Books imprints, managing social, influencers, events, author relations, retail partnerships, campaign performance, and two direct reports to drive awareness and sales from prepublication through launch.
Summary Generated by Built In
Are you a strategic marketer who knows how to turn a great romance novel into a must-read moment? Sourcebooks is looking for a Marketing Manager to create bold, integrated campaigns for titles across Casablanca and Bloom Books. This role combines marketing, publicity, events, influencer outreach, author relations, and social media to connect books with readers and drive sales.
The ideal candidate is creative, collaborative, highly organized, and deeply attuned to romance readers, digital communities, and cultural trends. You can move seamlessly between big-picture strategy and hands-on execution, build strong relationships with authors and internal partners, and use performance insights to strengthen campaigns from prepublication through launch and beyond.
This is a hybrid position based in Naperville, Illinois, with a three-day-per-week in-office requirement.
This is a exempt, salaried position with a range of $65,000 - $70,000. 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.
What You'll Do
  • Lead integrated marketing campaigns for assigned Casablanca and Bloom Books titles, building awareness before publication and creating multiple meaningful consumer touchpoints at launch.
  • Develop and execute publicity strategies, pitch national, trade, and consumer media, pursue “most anticipated” and “best of” coverage, and create press materials including releases, Q&As, and sell sheets.
  • Plan and implement author tours, bookstore events, conventions, festivals, and conference appearances in partnership with authors, the romance marketing team, retail marketing, and booksellers.
  • Develop influencer strategies and title-specific organic social plans that reach romance readers across social and web platforms.
  • Help shape and execute organic content for Casablanca and Bloom Books imprint channels, supporting launches, promotions, author news, retail moments, backlist opportunities, and community engagement.
  • Identify relevant trends and cultural moments and translate them into timely, brand-appropriate content that strengthens the imprints and their authors.
  • Partner with digital and retail marketing teams on consumer advertising, landing pages, lead-generation programs, campaign testing, and other initiatives designed to grow awareness and sales.
  • Collaborate with sales and retail marketing on preorder campaigns, account exclusives, signed-copy programs, retail placement, annual promotional planning, and opportunities that connect frontlist and backlist titles.
  • Build strong, trusted relationships with assigned authors; align campaigns with their goals, communicate plans and results clearly, and provide guidance on platform development and the publishing process.
  • Present marketing plans at Sales Conference and contribute marketing and publicity strategy for prospective authors, acquisitions meetings, and author presentations as needed.
  • Manage campaign timelines and upstream dependencies, including ARC and marketing-material dates, while tracking performance, audience growth, ROI, point-of-sale results, and bestseller recognition.
  • Travel to select author events and industry conferences as needed.
  • Manage two direct reports.
What You Bring:
  • A bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
  • At least five years of experience in book publishing marketing or publicity, entertainment or media marketing, or a related consumer-facing field; experience marketing romance books is strongly preferred.
  • A demonstrated ability to develop and execute integrated campaigns across publicity, social media, influencers, events, advertising, digital marketing, and retail channels.
  • Experience with media-pitching and relationship-building skills, with the ability to identify compelling angles and communicate effectively with national, trade, and consumer outlets.
  • A strong understanding of romance readers, online book communities, social platforms, influencer ecosystems, and the retail landscape.
  • Excellent writing, presentation, communication, and project management skills, with sharp attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple campaigns and deadlines at once.
  • A collaborative and solution-oriented approach, with the confidence to lead projects, contribute ideas, and work effectively across teams.
  • Flexibility, curiosity, sound judgment, and enthusiasm for working in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial publishing environment.
Why Sourcebooks?
As Newsweek’s #2 Most Loved Workplace in 2024 and a recognized leader in innovation by Fast Company (2024 Most Innovative Companies, 2023 Best Workplaces for Innovators), we use a mission-driven, data-centered approach to drive success for our authors and their books. We’re a thriving entrepreneurial company that creates books that transcend categories and defy odds, and we’ve been honored with hundreds of national bestsellers and awards. We are passionate book lovers dedicated to connecting books to readers in innovative ways. Story by story, book by book, we have changed more than 300 million lives.  Join us as we change 300 million more!

 
 Ready to Apply:
Please submit your resume, salary requirements, and 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.


 

Skills Required

  • Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
  • At least five years of experience in book publishing marketing, publicity, entertainment/media marketing, or related consumer-facing field.
  • Experience marketing romance books.
  • Demonstrated ability to develop and execute integrated campaigns across publicity, social media, influencers, events, advertising, digital marketing, and retail channels.
  • Experience with media pitching and relationship-building with national, trade, and consumer outlets.
  • Strong understanding of romance readers, online book communities, social platforms, influencer ecosystems, and the retail landscape.
  • Excellent writing, presentation, communication, and project management skills with strong attention to detail.
  • Ability to manage multiple campaigns, timelines, and upstream dependencies simultaneously.
  • Experience partnering across teams (digital, retail, sales) and presenting marketing plans at conferences and acquisitions meetings.
  • Willingness to travel to select author events and industry conferences as needed.

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.

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Sourcebooks Insights

Am I A Good Fit?
beta
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.

The Company
HQ: Naperville, IL
203 Employees
Year Founded: 1987

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

Similar Jobs

Zscaler Logo Zscaler

Director, Technical Success - SecOps

Cloud • Information Technology • Security • Software • Cybersecurity
Easy Apply
Remote or Hybrid
USA
8697 Employees
200K-285K Annually

Prolaio Logo Prolaio

Client Services Manager - Clinical Research

Artificial Intelligence • Big Data • Healthtech • Mobile • Wearables • Analytics
Easy Apply
Hybrid
Chicago, IL, USA
82 Employees
115K-115K Annually

Dynatrace Logo Dynatrace

Consultant

Artificial Intelligence • Big Data • Cloud • Information Technology • Software • Big Data Analytics • Automation
Remote or Hybrid
United States
5600 Employees
90K-110K Annually

New York Life Insurance Company Logo New York Life Insurance Company

Associate, Investor Relations

Artificial Intelligence • Cloud • Fintech • Information Technology • Insurance • Financial Services • Big Data Analytics
Hybrid
Chicago, IL, USA
12000 Employees
100K-115K Annually

Similar Companies Hiring

PRIMA Thumbnail
Travel • Software • Marketing Tech • Hospitality • eCommerce
US
15 Employees
Scotch Thumbnail
Artificial Intelligence • eCommerce • Fintech • Payments • Retail • Software • Analytics
US
35 Employees
Golden Pet Brands Thumbnail
Digital Media • eCommerce • Information Technology • Marketing Tech • Pet • Retail • Social Media
El Segundo, California
178 Employees

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account