HC's Tonkinson joins Pan Macmillan

Carole Tonkinson is to leave HarperCollins to launch a new non-fiction imprint at Pan Macmillan.

The imprint, which has yet to be named, will specialise in parenting, inspirational memoir, wellness and self-realisation, including cookery, business books and self-help.

It will sit alongside Pan Macmillan’s other non-fiction publishing, led by Jon Butler, publisher for Macmillan Non-Fiction.

The new Pan Macmillan imprint will likely publish its first books in 2015, with Tonkinson joining the company this autumn. There are likely to be more appointments made for the imprint.

Tonkinson, who said she was “thrilled” to be joining Pan Macmillan, leaves HarperCollins after five years leading the Harper Non-fiction team, where she published books including He’s Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and memoirs by Andre Agassi, Pete Townsend, Mike Tyson and Cheryl Cole. She was also Paulo Coelho’s publisher when he was at HarperCollins.

She said: “It may be a cliché to speak of a dream job, but the opportunity to launch a new imprint at a company with the integrity and renown of Pan Macmillan is exactly that.

“I have unreserved admiration for the work the Pan Macmillan team do: not only the exceptional quality of their books but also the creative and empowering management style and leadership of Anthony Forbes Watson and Jeremy Trevathan. I have long admired the non-fiction list run by Jon Butler and it will be wonderful to work alongside Jon and his excellent team.

“The global company is similarly impressive and I am hugely excited at the prospect of collaborating with editors around the group, including Bob Miller at Flatiron and Margit Ketterle at Droemer, two publishers for whom I have the greatest respect.”

Tonkinson will report to Jeremy Trevathan, adult publisher, who said: “I’m so delighted to welcome Carole to Pan Macmillan as she brings with her a wealth of experience and creativity and a love of books that inspire readers to new ideas and approaches to their lives.

“Jon Butler has transformed our non-fiction publishing and Carole’s appointment is evidence of our determination to continue to grow our non-fiction offering both in the UK and international markets.”

Earlier this year HarperCollins announced it would be revamping its mind, body and spirit list Harper Thorsons, where Tonkinson began her UK publishing career, with a relaunch planned in January 2015. At the time Tonkinson said that while Harper Non-Fiction had great success with celebrity titles, they were “such a gamble with such huge advances”, and it was “nice to think about the Thorsons titles which aren’t dependent on a person being on TV, they have such a long shelf life and the ability to keep selling long after thy’re published”.

When it announced the Thorsons relaunch, HarperCollins also promoted Kate Elton to executive publisher of fiction and non-fiction at HarperCollins, with Tonkinson reporting to her.

Tonkinson began her career at William Morrow in New York, and was associate editor at ELLE magazine in New York. She helped to launch magazine Tricycle: The Buddhist Review and then became senior editor at Tricycle Books, a partnership between Tricycle and Riverhead Books in New York. 

Pan Macmillan m.d. Anthony Forbes Watson said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Carole to Pan Macmillan, where her taste, passion and engagement will find full expression in her exciting new imprint. Carole’s arrival will bring a new dimension to our talented team.”

In a note to staff, HarperCollins c.e.o. Charlie Redmayne said: "We are very sad to see Carole go. In her 18 years with HarperCollins she has published with passion, vision and great creativity. Non-Fiction is an integral and important part of HC’s publishing mix.  We are the market leader in inspirational memoirs and are looking to build further on our success in health, relationships and lifestyle publishing with the re-launch of our prestigious imprint Thorsons next year.
 
"The search to find a replacement is now underway and we will announce our plans in due course. The Non-Fiction division will continue to report into Executive Publisher Kate Elton and her senior management team. Meanwhile we wish Carole every success in her new role."