The American Printing History Association is currently accepting applications for the position of editor of its flagship publication, Printing History. The journal is published in print twice a year. This is a part-time position which pays the editor a stipend of $5,000 per year and has a term limit of five years.

Applications should include a cover letter, CV, and samples of writing and/or editing work. Application materials should be submitted to publications@printinghistory.org. Inquiries can be addressed to the same email address.

Deadline: June 1, 2024

Position Description

The mission of the American Printing History Association (APHA) is to encourage the study of the history of printing and related arts and crafts, including calligraphy, typefounding, typography, papermaking, bookbinding, illustration, and publishing. In pursuit of this mission the Association publishes a biannual, scholarly-reviewed academic journal titled Printing History.

The editor works with the VP for Publications and the APHA Publications Committee to develop a vision for Printing History and its mission to contribute to scholarly and creative dialogue. The editor of  Printing History is responsible for managing and coordinating the on-time and on-budget production of the journal under the supervision of the APHA VP for Publications and in concert with the APHA Publications Committee, the Printing History Editorial Committee, as well as copy editors, proofreaders, and publication designers hired by the Association. The editor is responsible for the solicitation of articles from the broad array of fields studied by APHA. The editor works with the numerous authors to ensure timely and complete submission of articles and supporting notes and images. The editor and the Editorial Committee review the articles and coordinate the appropriate peer review by experts in the respective fields. Occasionally the editor may be asked to work with a guest editor selected by the VP for Publications and the Publications Committee. The editor manages the work of the Book Review Editorial Committee. The editor solicits and coordinates advertising appearing in the journal and works with the APHA Treasurer to ensure proper billing of advertisers. The editor serves at the will of the APHA Board of Trustees but is afforded considerable editorial latitude.

The maximum term is five years. The editor is an ex-officio member of the APHA Board of Trustees.

Job Responsibilities

• Actively solicit appropriate content and advertising support for each issue.
• Track copy through various review, proofreading, editing and production stages.
• Communicate with authors, printers, and others concerned with published work.
• Ensure that each issue meets schedule targets.
• Ensure that text, images, and captions are complete and of production-quality when delivered to the publication designer.
• Ensure that copyright clearance for image and text has been supplied by authors.
• Work collegially with an all-volunteer editorial board.

Required Skills and Knowledge

• Experience with scholarly publishing.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate orally and in writing.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate successfully.
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines while working independently.
• Commitment to recruiting and coordinating peer reviewers and book reviewers.
• Advanced degree in an area of study related to printing history and/or the history of the book.
• Experience with Adobe Acrobat proofing processes, Microsoft Word text creation and correction, Google Drive collaboration and archiving.
• Familiarity with Adobe InDesign and Photoshop.
• Demonstrated ability to attend to detail, particularly consistency of style and grammatical rigor.