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EDITOR OF THE YEAR
OVERVIEW glowing testimonials on the entries for this award show the esteem in which the nine shortlisted editors are held. They are the engines behind many books, but just as dedicated to building the careers of new authors too. Of the nine, only three— including 2018 winner Simon Prosser—have appeared on the shortlist before, a sign of the depth of talent publishing houses.
EMAD AKHTAR Emad Akhtar of Orion has revi- talised his publisher’s crime and thriller list, injecting new energy into authors such as Ian Rankin and Michael Connelly. “One of those rare people who combines huge creativity, expert commercial awareness and complete integrity of purpose,” said one agent.
INGRID CONNELL Pan Macmillan’s Ingrid Connell has been instrumental in her company’s soaring non-fiction sales. Fifteen years as editorial director reached new heights in 2019 with memoirs from Louis Theroux, Neil Samworth and Tom Marcus, and she handled one of 2019’s biggest books in Elton John’s Me.
ALEXIS KIRSCHBAUM Alexis Kirschbaum has made a big impact in just three years at Bloomsbury. Having started a list there from scratch, her output in 2019 included Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women and Wendy Mitchell’s Somebody I Used To Know. “The kind of person who inspires great- ness,” said one author.
KATE MILLS The rise of the HQ list at HarperCollins—its sales topped £3m through the TCM in 2019— has been led by Kate Mills. She took Adele Parks back to the number one spot, doubled Linwood Barclay’s hardback sales, and inspired admiration from authors, colleagues and agents alike.
CAROLE TONKINSON Carole Tonkinson of Bluebird powered the undisputed champion book of 2019: Kate Allinson and Kay Featherstone’s million- selling Pinch of Nom. It helped Bluebird, just five years old, to triple its TCM sales in 2019. “Her work is a masterclass of publishing,” said one colleague.
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FENELLA BATES Michael Joseph’s Fenella Bates is the editor behind the Mrs Hinch phenomenon. TCM sales of Hinch Yourself Happy neared half a million units by the end of 2019, and Bates has managed the brand astutely, but her work on Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path showed she has much more besides.
BECKIE HARDIE Beckie Hardie of Chatto & Windus steered another of the year’s most anticipated publishing events: the release of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments. Her co-ordination of Penguin Ransom House’s release, liaison with interna- tional editors and author care were all exemplary.
JUDGES VERDICT
OF THE NINE, ONLY THREE HAVE APPEARED ON THE SHORTLIST BEFORE, A SIGN OF THE DEPTH OF EDITING TALENT IN THE UK
SIMON PROSSER Hamish Hamilton’s Simon Prosser joined Beckie Hardie as a Booker-winning editor— reward for his 20-year support of Bernardine Evaristo. Robert Macfarlane, Deborah Levy and Ali Smith were among his other authors who helped to grow Hamish Hamilton’s sales by nearly 50%.
NICK SAYERS Nick Sayers of Hodder has been the editor of Stephen King for more than three decades, and gave the author one of his best years yet in 2019, with audio, backlist and frontlist sales thriving. Mike Gayle and Antonia Hodgson also had cause to be thankful for Sayers’ calm direction.
EMAD AKHTAR HAS
HELPED GROW SALES OF BIG AUTHORS SUCH AS IAN RANKIN
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