Ben Willis joins Orion in dual role

Ben Willis, head of digital publicity at Transworld, is leaving to join Orion in the role of senior commissioning editor and associate publicist.

Willis will work with established authors as well as commissioning his own titles straight away when he joins the team in late July. He will report editorially to Kate Mills, publishing director for Orion Fiction.

Mills said: ‘"I am delighted Ben is joining the Orion Fiction team. He brings terrific creativity and enthusiasm for commercial fiction, and his expertise in launching and promoting new voices will very much complement our plans for the list."

At the same time, Willis will join the group publicity department as associate publicist, working on a range of titles across the Orion, W&N and Trapeze lists. In this role, he will report to Helen Richardson, group publicity and communications director. Richardson said: "I am absolutely delighted to welcome Ben to Orion. He is a real star and one of the best and most creative publicists in the book industry."

Willis rejoined Transworld in 2014, after a stint at Headline. His recent campaigns at Transworld include launching debut thriller writer Fiona Barton and The Widow, as well as Annie Barrows’ The Truth According To Us and Belinda Bauer’s The Shut Eye. In his previous role at Headline, he launched the book blogger resource site bookbridgr and handled the campaign for ASA Harrison’s The Silent Wife for which he won the Publicity Campaign of the Year at the Bookseller Industry Awards in 2014. He was also named a Rising Star by The Bookseller in 2014.

He said: "Working with Transworld again has been amazing, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to expand my current role and begin commissioning and publicising books at Orion. I'm incredibly proud to be joining a very talented bunch, publishing brilliant authors across a fantastic range of imprints." 

Katie Espiner, m.d. of the Orion Publishing Group, added: "I am so thrilled to be welcoming Ben back to Hachette. He is an absolute star – hugely liked and respected by authors and colleagues across the industry, energetic, creative and forward-thinking. I’m delighted he is joining us at Orion where he will be a huge asset to both our publicity and editorial teams."