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15th November 202415th November 2024

Meet The Team

Meet The Bookseller Team

Meet the team behind The Bookseller, the business magazine of the book trade, bringing readers publishing industry news each week.

Hugh Comerford
Managing Director

I joined The Stage Media Co. Ltd (which acquired The Bookseller in 2020) in 2012 following periods at other media companies such as Thomson Financial, Emap and Relx. I also spent 10 years practising as a criminal barrister. My first job in the media was as a reporter for William Reed, publisher of The Grocer

 

Favourite Books

John Christopher by Romain Rolland and Isabelle Allende's The House of the Spirits 


Philip Jones
Editor

I am editor of The Bookseller. I joined The Bookseller in 1996 under its then editor Louis Baum, and also worked for the magazine under two previous editors, Nick Clee and Neill Denny. I live in north London and have three children – Henry, Robin and Elijah.

 

Favourite Books

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

 

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Tom Tivnan 
Managing editor

I lead the team that deals with our in-depth coverage, company profiles, charts and data analysis and special issues, such as our London, Bologna and Frankfurt Book Fair Daily editions. I began my book trade career at Barnes & Noble in the US and worked at Blackwell's and BookSpeed in the UK, before joining The Bookseller in 2007.

 

Favourite Books

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

 

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Caroline Sanderson
Associate Editor

I compile the monthly New Titles: Non Fiction and occasionally other category previews. I also interview writers for the magazine. Outside of my Bookseller role, I am the editor of ALCS News, the monthly magazine of the Authors Licensing & Collecting Society; a regular chair of events for bookshops and at literary festivals; and the author of five published non-fiction books of my own!

 

Favourite Books

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald 

 

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Molly Flatt
Comment Editor

I'm The Bookseller's comment editor. I write about tech and books for the likes of the Guardian and the BBC and my debut novel, The Charmed Life of Alex Moore (described as Bridget Jones meets "The Matrix") is out now.

 

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Maia Snow
News Editor

I am news editor at The Bookseller and in my role I manage my team of reporters day to day, covering everything from publishing industry news to rights acquisitions. I have spent most of my career in news journalism, at both local and national newspapers before making the move to the world of books. 

 

Favourite Books

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, Everything I Know about Love by Dolly Alderton, and If We Were Villains by M L Rio

 

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Alice O'Keeffe
Books Editor

In a nutshell, I read books for a living. I interview authors for The Bookseller's weekly Author Profile slot and write the monthly New Titles: Fiction preview. It involves a lot of reading; I used to average three books a week but having two children has put paid to that...although I do spend a lot of time reading with them.

 

Favourite Books

Every Day is Mother’s Day – Hilary Mantel, The Crimson Petal and the White – Michel Faber, Two Girls, Fat and Thin – Mary Gaitskill, NW – Zadie Smith…I could go on.

 

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Caroline Carpenter
Children's Editor & Deputy Features Editor

As children's editor, I lead on the magazine's children's coverage and chair the YA Book Prize. On the features side, I generate ideas for new content and commission, edit and write features both in print and online, and I work on special projects such as The Bookseller's Country and Regional Focuses and collaborative content. Before working at The Bookseller, I studied English and Creative Writing, interned at publishing houses, worked for a newspaper and wrote a book.

 

Favourite Books

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and The Explorer by Katherine Rundell 

 

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Danny Arter
Head of Design

I have worked for The Bookseller since graduating from Warwick University with a degree in English and American Literature back in 2010.

 

Favourite Books

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer 

 

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Melina Spanoudi
Reporter

I am a journalist at The Bookseller covering news and acquisitions from indie publishers and bookshops. I also run a weekly bookshop profile in the magazine, highlighting the excellent work of booksellers, and do freelance work for The Sunday Times

 

Favourite Books

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay and many, many more.


Katie Fraser
Staff Writer

I am the first point of contact for most book-related queries. I regularly write author profiles – specialising in SFF authors and titles – and also write the weekly "Books on BookTok" column.

 

Favourite Books

Sabriel by Garth Nix, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor.


Robyn Carr
Senior Account Executive

I've worked in publishing across both books and magazines since leaving university with a degree in English Literature and Film. My role consists of generating revenue across our range of products, steering our digital offering, biannual Buyer's Guides, regional focuses and collaborative content projects, helping publishers big and small break-out their books to the trade. I'm a northerner living in Finsbury Park with my partner and cat.

 

Favourite Books

Pretty impossible, but everything by Muriel Spark and Alice Munro, and Mary Oliver's poems.


Phoebe Wyatt
Marketing Executive

Since joining The Bookseller in 2018 I've worked across the advertising, finance, marketing and events teams. Now I focus on subscriptions marketing.

 

Favourite Books

Picking a favourite book is a bit like picking a favourite child but one that I keep coming back to is The Expedition by Bea Uusma.


Erika Simpson
Digital Product Director

I was a Bookseller subscriber before joining in July 2022, having worked in publishing most of my career, mainly STM and Education. I started out in editorial before moving into technology at BSI and Springer Nature.

 

Favourite Books

My favourite books include This Good Book and Every Trick in the Book by Iain Hood and anything written by either Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or Margaret Atwood.


Molly Openshaw
Social Media Executive

After graduating with my master's degree in Cultural and Creative Industries from Cardiff University in 2023, I started working at The Bookseller. As Social Media Executive, I run the socials for the magazine, making sure all articles and events are documented on the growing list of platforms! 

 

Favourite Books

At the moment, I am loving cosy fantasy, with favourites including Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree and The Very Secret Society for Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, but I'm also always up for an atmospheric, quest-heavy, epic fantasy!

 

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Mathilde Sire
Senior Sales Executive

Following a short stint as a French and Spanish teacher, I moved to a publishing career in 2021 and started at The Bookseller in 2023. I’m very excited to help publishers share their news with the wider trade world! Hobbies include organising my wedding, taking pictures of my cat, and drinking hot chocolate.

 

Favourite Books

Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant, I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, Le Cycle de Ji by Pierre Grimbert…


Bella Green
Production Sub-Editor

As a sub-editor, I edit copy, publish online content and lay out articles for the weekly magazine. I joined The Bookseller in early 2024 after working in editorial at Oxford University Press for a couple of years, while I pursued my master's in Literature and Arts. Before that I was a pizza chef/bartender (the juggling skills still come in handy).

 

Favourite Books

Currently The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, The Colour Purple by Alice Walker, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and anything by Claire Keegan

 

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Daisy Game
Production Sub-Editor

I’m one of the sub-editors here at The Bookseller, which means I help to make our writers’ lovely copy look and read its best, both in print and online. Having previously spent 6 years studying and working in the beautiful Bristol, I moved to London in early 2024. 

 

Favourite Books

The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

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