Are you enthusiastic about the digital world and the opportunities it offers to publish, market and sell books and authors? Then you may be interested in Random House Group Digital! Digital is an exciting, forward-thinking department that overlooks the company’s digital businesses and policies as well as its shared digital resources for Marketing, Sales and Publicity. They work in four key areas:
Sales
The E-Commerce Team manages the rBooks website which enables the company to sell books direct to consumers. It also sells digital audio downloads through specialist retailers (see Audio below).
Marketing
The company constantly investigate new tools with which to engage its readers. This includes email, search, websites and social networks and exploring ways of creating communities of authors, readers and writers around the company websites.
Publishing
An extensive e-book programme is being developed and the Digital department is looking into maximising sales opportunities and customer reach by offering books in digital formats.
Resources
Our Digital Resources Team provides a comprehensive service for the company in all areas of web and e-marketing production. It manages and maintains company websites, author, title or imprint specific sites as well as email marketing activities. Flash sites, blogs, forums, 3D websites and streaming videos are just a few. The team continuously strives to optimise sites for search engines, analyse statistics and liaise with IT and external agencies to achieve maximum results.
Audio
Random House Audiobooks publishes a selective list of fiction and non-fiction audiobooks, with an emphasis on lead titles and authors such as Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion, Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach, James Patterson and John Grisham. The audiobooks are sold widely throughout the trade, through specialist accounts and download retailers such as Audible.co.uk and itunes.
Random House Group Digital maximises the company’s digital exposure by engaging with key online platforms such as Microsoft Books Search, Google and retailers. In order to keep up with the latest online trends, Group Digital runs the Innovations Group, a proactive group of digital insiders to explore new ways of publishing and marketing titles and authors.
The departmental teams interact very closely and a holistic approach to digital initiatives is essential. Targets and deadlines can be tight. The department has a cross-company function and as such regularly liaises with a number of departments, especially Sales, Marketing, and Publicity.
If you are passionate about the digital world, enthusiastic about new online trends and challenges, are forward-thinking, innovative and creative, then you may enjoy working in this growing department!
After my A-levels, I studied European Business and Management at a private university in Germany. As it was my dream to work for a reputable airline company in the future, I took tourism business and management as an additional subject. 50% of my classes were taught in English and my three-year-programme included an internship abroad. Unfortunately, vacancies in the tourism industry were scarce-I eventually agreed to an internship in the Web and E-Marketing Department at The Random House Group...
One of the luckiest moments in my life! I thoroughly enjoyed being involved in the online activities of a major publisher. My previous ambitions were diminishing: Back at university I therefore focused my final semester on media and e-marketing and was very fortunate to be offered a permanent job in the Web and E-Marketing Department at The Random House Group by the time I graduated.
I immensely appreciate that I was given room to develop my role within the department myself. Supported by a friendly team and backed by relevant training I was gradually able to take on more responsibilities.
Currently I manage our email marketing campaigns and provide legal and best-practice advice to other departments. I update and maintain some of our company websites and identify success and improvement areas by analysing web and email marketing statistics. My role includes organising online campaigns on our websites for data capture and contributing to other digital activities to maximise our online exposure and customer reach. I am particularly excited about turning our Readers’ Group site into a community of readers and about projects which arise out of our Innovations Group.
With the digital area continuously developing at a fast pace, there are bound to be more opportunities to further develop my role in the future and I am looking forward to the challenges ahead.
I think my career path shows that whatever your initial plans, if you are flexible and enthusiastic about something new, you can be successful in other areas. With a broad knowledge you can build on, you may already be well equipped for a career in publishing. This in particular is something I value about The Random House Group: You may not have studied publishing, but with the right attitude there are plenty of open doors to establish an exciting career!
