Jan 16, 2019rencontres

Meeting with Mélanie Jean, book editor at Mango editions

meeting with Mélanie Jean, publisher of creative leisure books

I met Mélanie a few years ago, when she arrived at Mango publishing house . I was then starting to write my second book " Apprendre à coudre ses robes et petits hauts ". So we collaborated on quite a few books together :) A few weeks ago, during a lunch, I took the opportunity to ask her lots of questions about her job, which I find fascinating. I thought you might also be interested in discovering the work of an editor. Enjoy reading!

Who are you? What was your background?

I have been an editor of creative leisure books for three and a half years at Mango editions. I have a Master's degree in book marketing and editorial policies. Illustrated books have always interested me more than literature. I worked for two years on a work-study program, alongside my studies. At first, I was interested in the humanities and publishing story books and school textbooks at Nathan. It was super interesting. Then, to broaden my horizons, I discovered the world of travel books and practical guides at Hachette. The search for my first job led me to Mango as an editor of creative leisure books. My grandmother being a seamstress and sewing myself in my spare time, it was the perfect job at the crossroads of everything that interested me at the time.

What does your job as an editor involve?

I am an “art du fil” editor, which can be translated as a book project manager. I manage the budget, planning and content of a book; from the initial idea to marketing, once the book is in bookstores. It is very versatile and my days are never the same. I am also responsible for purchasing. This consists of going to trade fairs twice a year in London and Frankfurt and identifying the books that we are going to buy and translate for the French market. I do this work for all of Mango adults with the editors of the other areas of the brand (cooking, well-being, etc.).

Can you describe the steps that lead to the publication of a new book?

There are many! In general, the work of editing a book takes a year, or even a year and a half.

• It all starts with monitoring. I go to trade fairs, do research on Instagram… Thanks to this work, we define the editorial strategy, the values that we want to convey through our books. For Mango, it's creativity, quality, generosity and feel good. We want to publish timeless and trendy books with high technical quality.

• From this strategy comes an editorial plan with book ideas, their positioning and theme, their budget and commercial objectives, as well as a publication schedule for the year. The recruitment of authors is established in parallel. I meet them through monitoring, the network, trade fairs, etc. For example, I spotted Charlotte Jaubert and Guénaël Luong thanks to their courses on Artesane ; or Laure Guyet at an evening at Les Coupons de Saint Pierre . Some authors sometimes arrive with pre-established projects, but this is ultimately rarer. To formalize the relationship with the author, we establish the contract and negotiate the financial part, in collaboration with the legal department.

• I also work with the manufacturing department which manages the interface between the printing companies and the publishers' needs. We define the format, paper and budget for each work.

• With the author, we then get to the heart of the matter with the definition of the concept, the summary, the models… In general, the author proposes a synopsis and a moodboard and we refine it together. Then comes the choice of materials and fabrics, partners. It is a relationship of trust and mutual assistance, we move forward hand in hand.

• The author declines the content of the book. This writing phase is the longest in the process. On the publishing house side, I work in tandem with the artistic director and we define the graphics and layout. We select the photographer, stylist and/or illustrator who will contribute to the work.

• At the same time, commercial meetings allow us to present current projects to the distributor. He is in contact with booksellers, haberdasheries and these meetings define the implementation of each book at the launch and the associated commercial objectives.

• Once the manuscript is completed by the author, we begin the preparation before sending the book in mock-up. This is a verification work that goes from spelling, the format of the photos to the overall coherence… The book goes in mock-up and then the photo shoot of the models takes place. There is a lot of logistics and organization in my job to coordinate the different participants.

• After many proofreadings, the book goes to the printer. The delay is then two months before the book is on the shelves of bookstores. This is fast because we print mainly in Europe, where printing in Asia would take us six months.

• Once the book is released, I check sales, coordinate reprints and monitor its presence on social networks to assess its distribution and success!

It is therefore a long process with many stages taking place in parallel, hence the “conductor” side of my job, which is fascinating!

What DIY do you do?

Mostly sewing, but it is true that being in contact with many books has increased my creative desires tenfold. My favorite projects are the Novembre coat from " Ma garde-robe à coudre pour toute l'année " because I wore it all winter, and the Belladone dress from Deer & Doe , a real favorite when I started sewing! I thought it was totally inaccessible and so I waited until this summer before sewing it, it is not so complicated after all. Otherwise, I do a bit of knitting, embroidery... But not as much as sewing!

What are your next projects?

I'll be going to the sun this winter in Asia like Vietnam, Cambodia... On the sewing side, I just got my overlocker back so the next projects will be stretch.

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Thank you Mélanie for all these explanations about your job. I hope you enjoyed this immersion in the world of publishing. Don't hesitate to follow her work and Mélanie's news on Instagram @melanie__jean .