Ashley Baird Email & Phone Number

Annapolis, Maryland, United States

Lanham, Maryland, United States

 Managed titles coming into production, totaling approximately 600 books per year, for a group of production editors at varying levels of expertise. Assessed titles for completeness, difficulty, feasibility of budget, schedule constraints, and appropriate production pipeline before assigning to an editor.  Oversaw editor workloads and training to ensure continued growth within their roles and a diversity of skill across all types of titles while maintaining quality, on-time publications.  Operated across departments, including editorial acquisitions, manufacturing, marketing, publicity, and design to promote smooth communication between teams. Worked with VP of production services and other managing editors to ensure best practices, improve efficiency, and incorporate new technologies into the production workflow.  Completed production on approximately 35 self-assigned titles with publication dates occurring throughout the year. Recruited, hired, and trained new staff on an ongoing basis; performed annual reviews and development assessments; adapted training program to account for the remote work environment.  Managed salaries and promotions to stay within department budgeting guidelines.

 Managed the department responsible for production and distribution of front list electronic product, including ebooks, audiobooks, and metadata. Maintained a catalog of 30,000 ebook titles at all major ebook retailers and library vendors. Built RLPG’s audiobook program from the ground up, including establishing relationships with production vendors and narrators, negotiating distribution contracts, and developing metadata best practices. Managed ebook division of NBN’s Fusion program, providing ebook creation and distribution services to over 80 client publishers. Oversaw bulk conversions of backlist titles to various ebook formats totaling 10,000 new ebooks.

 Managed ebook production and distribution for client publishers under NBN’s Fusion program. Began generalized ebook production for Rowman & Littlefield’s front list titles. Established relationships with conversion vendors to create multiple electronic products, including Epubs, Mobi files, WebPDFs, and animated children’s ebooks.  Worked closely with managers to develop metadata and file distribution systems, working with in-house databases and Ingram’s CoreSource platform.

 Responsible for bringing 15 titles per month from manuscript stage to press stage. Managed scheduling, author communication, proofreader and copyeditor hiring, cover proofing, editing, and handoff to manufacturing and printing for all projects.  Maintained project budgets, processed invoices for freelancer payments, and compiled department-wide cost of goods reports monthly. Managed print list report detailing projected print runs for all titles completed in the given month.

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, English Language And Literature, General

Activities and Societies: Managing Editor of student-run weekly newspaper, The Flat Hat; Women's Leadership Conference; Consultant.

Publishing Institute Certificate