Opening Statement
Overall Responsibilities
The WECAN Publications and Media Coordinator is a remote position that works closely with the WECAN director and WECAN editor(s) to provide technical and administrative support for outgoing messaging and communications, to supervise the publication of 2 magazine-style newsletters and 4-7 book-length projects per year.
Specific Responsibilities
Support the Director and Staff with:
- Proofreading, messaging, and all outgoing communication from WECAN (all informational materials going to our constituents)
About
The mission of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America is to foster a new cultural impulse for the work with the young child from pre-birth to age seven.
WECAN is committed to nurturing childhood as a foundation for renewing human culture.
WECAN provides direct dialogue with early childhood educators and their colleagues about the programs they design in institutions and in homes, and about how they define and develop their roles and their work with parents. Site visits, regional gatherings, and conferences allow WECAN to research and harvest the current needs of programs in the vast geography of the USA and in Canada. Its activity is currently limited in Mexico and we look forward to offering more support there in the future.
WECAN is the publisher of resource materials for Waldorf early childhood educators. WECAN seeks out the resources needed by early childhood teachers and publishes both original material and occasional translations from other languages in a wide range of areas, including child development, resources on mentoring and teacher review, practical activities for parent/child, nursery and kindergarten classes, and much more.
WECAN brings together collaborative research groups to focus on issues of concern in the Waldorf early childhood movement. These have included groups working on birth to three and childcare, meeting the needs of the older child in kindergarten, mentoring, teacher review, the transition from kindergarten to school, and work with medical doctors.
Click here to read more
Essential Job Duties
Support Publications:
Collaborate with WECAN staff on the promotion and distribution of publications, including the following. (Please note that this portion of the position is estimated at 4-5 hrs per week, but will vary throughout the year depending on the stage of the projects.)
Gateways Newsletter
- Production: The Publications and Media Coordinator communicates with the team working on Gateways, including Nancy Blanning, Anjum Mir, and WECAN Editor, Lory Widmer, and tracks task completion.
- Printing:
- Send the issue to the printer.
- Follow up on any printing questions.
- Follow-up to ensure printing is done.
- Send a digital copy of the previous newsletter to the Online Waldorf Library (OWL) as per the agreement.
Book Production
The
Publications and Media Coordinator’s role is to oversee each book through the production process in a timely manner and handle administrative tasks before, during, and after production.
This Includes The Following
Yearly Planning in Collaboration with the Publications Committee (includes the director):
- Create a publishing calendar for the year. Distribute work as evenly as possible.
- Carry the budget awareness for each project and for the publishing program as a whole.
- Responsible for updating all retail prices of books, descriptions and tags in our Google Drive and Shopify (virtual commerce platform).
Initial Planning For New Publications
- Collaborate with the WECAN Director and Publications Committee regarding priorities for the selection of new titles or already existing titles to be translated into English.
- Keep an overview (Google Drive: Publications Working Document) of the status of all submissions and projects in process. Update this overview as needed to keep project statuses up to date.
- Set up contracts for each new author or editor with input from the WECAN Coordinator and Administrator.
- Identify and contact the editor for each publication. Our WECAN Publications Editor oversees at least four of our publications each year. Other projects would involve coordinating with another editor, to be determined.
- When working with the WECAN Publications, we typically follow this process.
- Identify and contact the graphic designer for each publication (if different from the WECAN Publications Editor). Determine the fee to be paid for the design and plan the time frame.
During Production
- Manage requests for photo/illustration/music permissions, excerpt permissions, etc.
- Coordinate proofreading and text editing by contract workers. If qualified, the Publications and Media Coordinator may be contracted, for additional pay, to serve as a proofreader or text editor.
- Manage the flow of each publication in collaboration with the Editor. Assist with any administrative tasks that come up.
- Set up ISBN number in BowkerLink.
- Coordinate sending of files to the designer, then check and correct the final design files.
Printing
- When the project specifications are determined, facilitate the selection of a printer.
- If necessary, get a final quote with actual specifications. Determine the number of books to be printed (in consultation with the WECAN Administrator, considering the budget and other factors). Determine the book’s retail cost with the WECAN Administrator.
- Send the printer the final design files.
- If there is a deadline, work with the printer to meet it. If not, make sure that printing is done within a reasonable amount of time.
- Upload files to Print-on-demand services, if applicable.
Post- Production
- Populate the spreadsheet of complimentary copies to be sent for each book, and communicate with the WECAN Administrator
- Fill in additional book information on the BowkerLink website (MyIdentifiers, the same one used for ISBN tracking).
- Create and maintain the online store to ensure listings are always up to date.
- Keep track of when PDF copies are due to be sent to the Online Waldorf Library (OWL) and send them.
- Craft content to promote books (blurbs) to be used in News Updates, marketing, and the bookstore website.
- Manage and file book contracts.
- Manage requests for translation or other permissions.
- Provide publication reports twice each year to the WECAN board as requested by the WECAN Director.
- Attend staff meetings once or twice a year for planning purposes. (September and/or February or April/May).
Qualifications
Qualifications:
- Professional-level proofreading and editing skills
- Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing
- Computer competency, including website updates
- Thorough familiarity with Waldorf early childhood educational practice and philosophy
- Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively
- Excellent organizational skills
- Familiarity with virtual commerce platforms (Shopify) is a plus
Employment Details
Selection, Accountability, And Review
The Publications and Media Coordinator is appointed by the WECAN Director with the approval of the WECAN Board.
The WECAN Publications and Media Coordinator reports to the WECAN Director. Evaluation involves self-evaluation and peer review and is conducted first at 6 months, then annually until 3 years, and thereafter every 3 years by the WECAN Coordinator and Personnel Committee.
Work Schedule
It is assumed that the Publications and Media Coordinator will fulfill the responsibilities as needed on a flexible schedule, coordinating schedules with other WECAN staff. It is assumed that the responsibilities and tasks of this position can be completed in approximately 10 hours per week, after an initial period of acclimation to the work.
Hours will vary depending on the stage of various projects. There may be crunch times and slack times.
Compensation, Salary
The position is an executive position at 20% FTE. The WECAN salaries and COLA (cost-of-living adjustments) are reviewed annually by the WECAN Board.
The salary for 2026-27 ranges from $12,200 to $14,300, depending on experience.
To Apply
To apply, please use this form to submit a resume, a sample of original writing of 500 words, and three professional references.
Click here for a pdf of the full position description.
