Feature Rising Stars


The Bookseller’s Rising Stars initiative has been anointing the book business’ next generation of talent since its inception in 2011. Lara Pace and Sophie Scott-Foss caught up with six of its number to discover how their careers have progressed


Eyes on the Rise


Hailing from the Bookseller Rising Star Class of 2015, Anna Cunnane was nomi- nated for her stratospheric rise at inde- pendent publisher Kyle Books. She joined the company as an assistant, aſter finish- ing her Publishing MA at Universit College London, and in less that two years was promoted to the role of export sales manager. Cunnane, as chair of the Societ of Young Publishers in 2015/16, was also integral to the development of the SYP, helping to re-start its mentoring scheme and adding a string of new events that re-enger- gised its London Book Fair seminar strand. Somewhere in her very busy schedule she found time to expand her skill set further by learning to code, with the aid of online courses from Code Academy and weekend coding bootcamp General Assembly.


ANNA’S TIP


It’s a myth that you need to work for months for free. Above all, hustle


Anna was poached from her position at Kyle by Abrams & Chronicle, where she has trans- formed the publisher’s data dissemination since joining. She will be on


a panel event today, entitled The Future of Publishing: How to Thrive in the Evolving Book World (2.30 p.m., Club Room, National Hall Gallery).


Named as a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016, Clara Nelson was recognised for placing the small independent Michael O’Mara Books right at the heart of the adult colour- ing book phenomenon. A range of tactics were employed to achieve this, namely generating extensive media coverage, seting up events and promoting its range of books intensively within the trade. Nelson joined Michael O’Mara as head of commu- nications aſter nearly nine years at Penguin Random House, and in her varied role there also oversaw the evolution of the O’Mara and Buster Books brands, as well as the rein- vigoration of the company’s website.


CLARA’S TIP


Work experience is key... apply for everything and once you’ve got your foot in the door you can then work out which department is right for you


Clara was snapped up by The Blair Partnership and Pottermore; she works across both businesses, implementing PR


and communications plans for J K Rowling’s Wizarding World all across the franchise.


EMILY’S TIP


The best advice I can give is the same for pretty much anyone in the publishing world, and that is to read often, and widely


Last summer Quercus hired Emily in the position of editorial director, after five years spent at Ebury. Reporting to fiction publisher Cassie Browne, she now


22


acquires commercial fiction, including women’s fiction and crime and thriller titles, and also spearheads the imprint’s digital strategy.


Renowned for spoting “self-published gems”, Emily Yau received her Rising Star accolade in 2017 off the back of her success as commissioning editor at Ebury. Among her acquisitions are the formerly self- published The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J Walker and Riley Sager’s Final Girls, which was won in a heated seven- way auction. Aſter completing her BA, Yau enrolled on the MA in Publishing course at Oxford Brookes Universit, which gave her the opportunit to intern at HarperCollins. There, working for its Avon imprint, she discovered that commericial fiction was her métier. She initially joined Ebury as edito- rial assistant and made her name helping to build its small fiction list. While at Penguin Random House Yau was also involved in its WriteNow campaign, which aims to “find, mentor and publish new writers” from underrepresented communities.


11th April 2018


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40