ELLA PATEL QUERCUS BOOKS T
hroughout university, Ella Patel tried working in different sectors, which left her “wanting to do something creative, fast-paced and media related”. After a work placement at John Blake, she joined Quercus as publicity assistant in 2018, quickly rising to press officer
and now publicity manager. A highlight has been managing the publicity for Layla F Saad’s Me and White Supremacy, which was “huge for me, personally and professionally”. Her campaign earned her a Nibbies shortlisting and two nods at the annual PPC Awards. She has also worked with bestsellers Elly Griffiths and Beth O’Leary, and was instrumental in developing Quercus’ Annual Word of Mouth Bestsellers Evening. Colleague Jane Sturrock calls her as “an editor’s dream... She really takes the books and authors that she works on to heart and is continually looking for new ways to get [them] in front of readers.” Patel is an active member of Hachette’s BAME employee network, Thrive, and vows that inclusion work will “definitely be a focus throughout my career”.
Representation is so important, and I’m excited to see the needle moving in a direction that enriches us all Kishan Rajani, Vintage
KISHAN RAJANI VINTAGE A
”winding road of intern- ships” led designer Kishan Rajani to Vintage—but he’s yet to meet all of his
NICKI POWELL BOLINDA AUDIO BOOKS O
ne reason that her bosses at Bolinda might have picked Nicki Powell’s CV out of the pile for her first role at the audio publisher was that she designed it to look like a book cover. But undoubtedly, they could also see her talent, as she was quickly promoted from publishing assistant
to her current role, senior rights and content executive, where she oversees Bolinda’s children’s and non-fiction lists. She says her career highlights include acquiring the audio rights for Emily Rodda’s The Glimme and casting Andrew Scott (the “hot priest” from “Fleabag”) to narrate—he went on to be a finalist for best male narrator at the Audies (the Oscars of the audiobook world). Proud of the scope of genres, stories, age ranges and diversity which are now showcased on Bolinda’s children’s list, one title Powell can’t wait for everyone to listen to is Melvin Burgess’ latest YA novel Three Bullets, which is due to come out later this year. Driven and passionate about children’s and YA content, Powell wants to help ensure children’s content is accessible to all younger readers and listeners.
colleagues IRL, having moved from Hachette in lockdown. After “a three- month stint at HarperCollins India, where I set up at a little flat in Noida and got to work with and meet some brilliant people”, he credits Orion’s ex-creative director Lucie Stericker with aiding his development on these shores. Alongside notable covers for Evie Wyld’s The Bass Rock and Susie Dent’s Word Perfect, his bold jacket for Akala’s Natives was a chart staple following “a real appetite for books by authors of colour” last year, and “I’m proud to have played a small part in bringing these titles to readers, and to have worked with some incredible artists, photographers and illustrators of colour. Representation is so impor- tant, and I’m excited to see the needle moving in a direction that enriches us all.” A striking, mostly monochrome jacket for Warsan Shire’s Bless the Daughter is in the pipeline, as are series revamps for literary titans Ben Okri and Margaret Atwood. But first, “the normality of biscuits in the office and a tipple or two”. Cheers to that.
[Ella Patel] really takes the books and authors that she works on to heart and is continually looking for new ways to get them in front of readers Jane Sturrock, Quercus Books
EMILY ROSS STORYSMITH I
n October 2018, Emily Ross realised her lifelong ambition and moved from London to Bristol with
husband Dan to open a bookshop. This was after 10 years working in production in children’s publishing, at Hachette, Usborne and Bloomsbury. Looking back, she says: “Working on the production side of things really made me appreciate great design, and what a difference things like paper quality and cover finishes can make.” The shop has been a roaring success, twice shortlisted in the South West region for the Independent Bookshop of the Year Nibbie. Of course, the pandemic tested the shop, but Storysmith pivoted to online models. In fact, its subscription orders increased so much during lockdown that Ross was banned from her local post office for taking too many drop-and-go parcels. Since the shop reopened, Ross has upped the staff headcount and is looking forward to hosting authors again—and getting back into schools for author and illustrator events. Expansion is on the cards for the future, with Ross’ eye on a larger premises on the same street.
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