Beal leaves Oneworld for Muswell Press venture

Kate Beal, formerly sales director at Oneworld, has left the company and, in partnership with her sister Sarah Beal, acquired Muswell Press.

Muswell was formerly run by founder/owner Ruth Boswell, who died last year. Beal said the duo had “inherited a small but interesting backlist which we are looking at rejuvenating”, with plans to publish both fiction, including crime and a gay interest fiction list, and non-fiction.   

Beal told The Bookseller: “We decided to do this as between us we have built up over 60 years of experience in the publishing business, working for some exceptional houses. But we decided we want to be our own bosses and bring all that experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to publish what we believe in and feel there is a market for. Running all sides of the business and taking the risks ourselves will be challenging and exciting.”

Kate Beal was a sales rep for Bloomsbury for 10 years before running the PR and publicity departments at Ottakar’s. She was then head of sales at Faber for a further 10 years, followed by sales director stints at Walker Books and Oneworld. Sarah Beal spent 21 years at Bloomsbury, occupying roles as publicity, marketing and sales director, and oversaw the launch of Harry Potter internationally, before going on to work as marketing director for HarperCollins.

Muswell’s first titles under the new ownership will appear this autumn, with a fuller list to follow in spring 2018. Out in November will be The Rainbow Conspiracy by choreographer Stuart Hopps, set in the mid-1980s, with theatrical agent Clive Spoke embarking on a quest to find the truth about his ex-lover’s early death and uncovering a conspiracy against the burgeoning gay community in the US (£8.99). It will be followed in February 2018 by The Last Train to Helsingor, a first collection of stories from Copenhagen-born Heidi Amsinck (£8.99), many of them originally commissioned for BBC Radio 4.

Kate and Sarah Beal said they were “committed to editorial excellence, high-quality production and marketing our books with flair.”  

Kate Beal can be contacted at kate@muswell-press.co.uk.