Moore becomes senior acquisitions editor at W F Howes

Ellis Moore has become senior acquisitions editor at W F Howes three years after joining as a marketing assistant.

Moore was recently unveiled as one of The Bookseller’s Rising Stars for her contribution to the Leicester-based audio and large-print specialist. Since becoming acquisitions editor two and a half years ago she snapped up rights to 483 audio books and 178 large-print books.

She works with authors to choose narrators and define tone including Paul Beatty's Man Booker Prize-winner The Sellout, Val McDermid's Out of Bounds and Philip Pullman's upcoming The Book of Dust are some of her recent standout acquisitions. She produced the large-print and dyslexic readers’ edition of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which sold in 10 months what the company usually shifts in large print in five years and later managed the same with the large-print edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Dominic White, head of publishing and commerce, said: “Ellis joined W F Howes in 2014 as a marketing assistant and progressed and retrained as acquisitions editor in 2015.  Since then she has proven to be a committed and passionate editor, building valuable relationships and making significant title acquisitions.”

Her new position, which she took up today (1st August) recognises both her contribution to the acquisitions team and greater responsibilities including coordination of release schedules.

Moore praised the support she received from agent Robert Caskie. She told The Bookseller: “After overwhelming support from literary agent, Robert Caskie, of Caskie Mushens Literary Agency, and being awarded a place in The Bookseller’s Rising Stars, and this next step into the senior acquisitions editor role will allow me to have more creative input into our audio publication schedule, which is rapidly growing.”

She added: “The future is audio, and I’m so enthralled to be a part of it.”