13th June 2025
Advertorial
HarperNorth, the Manchester-based imprint looking to the future
As the imprint prepares to celebrate its fifth birthday, it looks back on its numerous successes and the relationships it has built, and ahead to expansion and a growing author list
W
hen HarperNorth was announced in January 2020, the plan was clear: a Manchester-based imprint, publishing the best of
northern fiction and non-fiction for local, national and international audiences. Now, as the imprint prepares to celebrate its fifth anniversary, sights are set on expansion, build- ing its staff, volume and value and welcoming more talent to its already diverse list of authors. Launched by HarperCollins as a response to
the traditionally London-centric nature of the industry, its successes have included Sunday Times number ones in hardback fiction and non-fiction, and numerous top 10 bestsellers in humour, cookery, thrillers, travel-writing, memoir and business. Publisher Genevieve Pegg (pictured) says:
“Our award-winning books and top 10 hits show our variety. There is no single northern voice; it’s a chorus that ranges from coast to coast, rural to urban, telling stories from commercial pageturners to literary landmarks. All our books say something about where they’re from, but are all positioned to take those stories out to the world.” HarperNorth is fresh from its third British
Book Award nomination in a row this year, and its books have garnered numerous award wins and shortlistings, including the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction, Wales Book of the Year, Lakeland Book of the Year and the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards. This summer, HarperNorth steps out with a
Noel Gallagher-endorsed Oasis biography Live Forever: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Oasis from music journalist John Robb, haunting
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Irish crime debut The Counting Game from Sinéad Nolan, spicy romance from BB Woods with Kiln Me Softly, and upcoming brand part- nerships including the World Snooker Tour and The Royal Mint coming this autumn. Further collaborations have come in the
forms of outreach work with northern universi- ties, the Northern Fiction Alliance, and a combined partnership with Simon & Schuster’s Sara-Jade Virtue and Manchester Central Library to launch Love Stories Etc, Manchester’s first romance festival, which returns this year. The team runs its editorial, marketing and publicity functions from the Manchester office, using its location at the centre of the country to get closer to readers, writers and retailers outside the capital. Their most-asked question may be what constitutes the north, but with authors and titles spread from the Midlands to Orkney, the team invites a broad swathe of writers and agents to submit – suggesting anyone who feels outside the London bubble might find a home with their growing team. Newly promoted fiction commissioning
editor Megan Jones is growing her list, looking to acquire more in proposition-led romcom, emerging voices and literary crossover, with books to come this year from Cal Speet, Lizzy Tiffin and Helene Sula. There are further hires in progress in both fiction and non-fiction, as the team expands to empower future success. Managing director Sarah Emsley says: “We
value our relationships with booksellers, libraries and the wider northern arts scene, and as our roots grow deeper, it’s an exciting time to build on our first five years of success.”
LEARN MORE at
harpernorth.co.uk or reach HarperNorth at
hello@harpernorth.co.uk.
Advertorial
PAWEL PANICZKO
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