Crooked Lane Books / Alcove Press

Title/Position: Art & Production Manager/Designer at Crooked Lane Books
Location: New York, NY—Hybrid/Remote
Employment Type: Full Time/Freelance
Salary: $60,000-$80,000 w/ benefits, depending on experience
Min. Experience: 3-5 years

Crooked Lane Books/Alcove Press seeks a process-oriented, visually gifted, and
diplomatically minded Art & Production Manager/Designer to lead our cover production
process. The ideal candidate is a “visual translator” who can turn editorial concepts into
high-converting commercial covers. They are a flexible problem-solver and a process and
organizational guru who loves hooking readers with the perfect cover. This role reports
directly to the Publisher and offers the opportunity to build a scalable cover production
system.

Essential responsibilities:

• Pipeline Management: Lead the end-to-end production lifecycle for 110-120 original covers per year, ensuring a seamless flow of ~10 titles per month from brief to printer.
• Art Direction & Briefing: Lead weekly cover meetings to present briefs and concepts to the internal team; facilitate collaborative workshopping with editors to refine visual directions and ensure every concept is commercially optimized before it reaches the designer; synthesize editorial visions into precise creative briefs; source and manage a diverse stable of top-notch freelance designers and illustrators to execute high-impact covers; iterate on workflows to reduce friction and eliminate briefing drift.
• Hands-on Design: Act as the primary “maker” for 20-30% of the annual list, including original cover design (compositing/typography) and marketing assets as requested; Perform any necessary clean up on freelance files—tweaking typography, adjusting color grades, or fixing layout issues—to bring a “good” cover to “great” without needing extra rounds.
• Author Diplomacy: Act as the creative liaison for authors when needed, expertly balancing author intent with commercial genre requirements and market data.
• Scheduling & Budgeting: Own the cover production calendar and ensure projects are on time and stay under budget by minimizing revision rounds and avoiding rush fees.
• Technical Quality Control: Perform pre-flight checks on all files to ensure 100% technical accuracy (CMYK, spine widths, barcodes) before transmission to the printer.

About you:

• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience in book cover design or publishing production management.
• Mastery of Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator); strong composition and typography skills.
• Detail-Oriented: You love checklists, spreadsheets, tracking, and reporting. Can’t sleep until the schedule is buttoned up and the files are perfect.
• Commercial Instinct: A deep understanding of genre tropes in Romantasy, Thrillers, Horror, Rom Coms, Cozies, etc.
• Exceptional Communication: The ability to explain complex design decisions to “word people” (editors/authors) with clarity and empathy.
• Adaptable: Calm and flexible when faced with shifting deadlines or creative pivots.

Please apply by emailing your resume, cover letter, and portfolio link to
matthew.martz@crookedlanebooks.com.

Founded in 2015, Crooked Lane Books is a leading independent publisher dedicated to
entertaining the many devoted fans of crime fiction. Alcove Press publishes high-impact
commercial fiction across a broad spectrum of categories--from Romantasy and high-
concept fiction to Reading Group and Contemporary Love Stories. We pride ourselves on
being a market-responsive and agile house that bridges the gap between traditional
storytelling and innovative publishing techniques. With an experienced team and a hands-
on approach, we partner closely with our authors to ensure every title is expertly
packaged and positioned to reach the widest possible audience. At Alcove and Crooked
Lane, we don’t just publish books; we connect stories with the readers who will love
them.