Cornerstone editor Pathak to join Orion

Francesca Pathak is leaving Cornerstone after five years to become senior commissioning editor for crime and thrillers at Orion Fiction.

Pathak will join Orion on 24th October and report to Orion Fiction publishing director Harriet Bourton.

In her role as an editor for Cornerstone imprints Century and Arrow at Penguin Random House, Pathak has been involved with bestsellers such as Hugh Howey's Wool trilogy, the Fifty Shades trilogy and Grey. She also won the "hotly contested" auction for Romanian novel The Book of Mirrors last autumn.

Bourton said: "I am so thrilled Francesca is joining our team. With her knack for spotting up-and-coming talent, her passion for the crime and thriller genre and her fantastic intuition and creativity, she is going to be a completely brilliant addition to Orion Fiction at a time when we are so excited about our future."

Pathak said: "I’ve loved my five years at Cornerstone where I’ve worked with some amazing colleagues and had the great opportunity to publish wonderful books. Though I'll be sad to leave, the chance to join Harriet and the team at Orion is an incredibly exciting one and I can't wait to work with their authors and build up my own list at such a pioneering time for the company."