Cornerstone merges Hutchinson and William Heinemann, recruits Conford and Ahmed

Cornerstone is merging Hutchinson and William Heinemann, and recruiting Profile's Helen Conford and Little, Brown's Ailah Ahmed, while publisher Jason Arthur leaves PRH after 22 years.

The "strategic realignment" by Venetia Butterfield, recently appointed Cornerstone m.d., sees the division split into two acquiring teams led by two publishers, focused on distinct market areas.

Conford (pictured above) will join as publisher of Hutchinson Heinemann — created by the merger of the William Heinemann, Hutchinson and Windmill imprints — as well as of #Merky Books and Random House Business Books, in a newly created role to lead the literary fiction and non-fiction acquiring team.

Meanwhile Selina Walker will continue her leadership of commercial publishing at Century with Ben Brusey, publishing director for non-fiction and Del Rey, and Emily Griffin, publishing director for fiction, reporting to her.

Hutchinson Heinemann is billed as “a major literary list with a broader remit”. It will publish literary and book club fiction, as well as a broader range of non-fiction encompassing history, politics, popular science, polemic, memoir and biography. Hutchinson Heinemann will be led by Ahmed (pictured, beow right) as publishing director, with Charlotte Cray reporting to her. Hardback titles will be badged Hutchinson Heinemann from September and the first books on the list will be The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks, Bewilderment by Richard Powers and Lauren Groff’s Matrix.

Conford will also oversee #Merky Books which will continue to come under under the leadership of commissioning editor Lemara Lindsay-Prince and will remain a particular focus for the division.

Butterfield also announced plans for the Random House Business list to undergo a strategic rebrand under Conford, with an expanded focus embracing the increasingly blurred lines between home and work. The publisher said: “Encompassing smart thinking, psychology, health, lifestyle and self-development publishing, as well as business books, the strategy for this list is to build on the success of books such as Atomic Habits and provide answers on every level to the question ‘how best can I live my life?’”

Additionally, Nigel Wilcockson has been promoted to the newly created role of associate publisher, Cornerstone, with an expanded brief to acquire non-fiction titles across all lists.

Cornerstone said the development meant just one job loss, the redundancy of Arthur whose long career at PRH has latterly been spent as publisher of William Heinemann, Hutchinson and #Merky Books.

Butterfield said: “My aim is to make Cornerstone the Netflix of publishing - synonymous with quality, originality and ambition. The merger of two such prestigious imprints heralds an exciting period of growth for Cornerstone’s literary publishing, and I feel confident that under the leadership of Helen Conford and Ailah Ahmed our literary and non-fiction publishing will see a real resurgence and Hutchinson Heinemann will become a powerful literary destination.

“I am incredibly excited to be working with Helen and Ailah both of whom encapsulate everything I would want in a publisher: great original and diverse taste, strong opinions, integrity and tireless ambition for their books and authors. I have admired both of their publishing from afar for many years and I am thrilled at the opportunity to work with them.”

Currently publisher at Profile Books, Conford co-founded the imprint Particular Books during her previous time at Penguin Press. Over the course of her career she has published Grayson Perry, Naomi Klein, Cathy Park Hong, Alexa Chung, David Wallace-Wells, Matt Parker, Yrsa Daley-Ward and James Rebanks, acquiring Greta Thunberg, Katy Hessel, Paris Lees and many more. She has worked with award winners including Coralie Bickford-Smith’s The Fox and the Star, which was Waterstones Book of the Year, Adam Weymouth who was the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, and Tom Gregory who won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year.

She said: “I have so enjoyed my early conversations with Venetia and Ailah. I am delighted to be joining the team at Cornerstone at what is poised to be an exciting time of growth. The imprints have real heritage and great ambition and I can't wait to begin working with such a wonderful range of authors. I've learnt so much during my time at Profile and leave filled with admiration at their ingenuity, publishing and company spirit. I'm grateful to them for letting me be part of the family and wish them every success.”

Ahmed is currently publishing director at Little, Brown and Virago where she published Less by Andrew Sean Greer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2018, An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma, shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2019 and How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang, longlisted for the Booker Prize 2020. In other roles, she acquired and published fiction longlisted for the Women’s Prize, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, and set up a classics list. She was named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2017.

She said: “I’ve loved my six years at the creative and hugely collaborative Little, Brown Book Group and the Virago and Abacus imprints. I’ll miss my friends, colleagues and authors very much. When I heard about this rare and exciting opportunity at Cornerstone, and the chance to work with Venetia and Helen, I knew I had to be a part of it - they have an incredible vision and drive to publish the best writers. It’s a huge honour to be stepping into the position of publishing director at the new Hutchinson Heinemann imprint - it has such a rich literary history and I can’t wait to shape its future with the bright and brilliant editorial team.”

Conford will join Cornerstone on 29th March and Ahmed on 4th May. Arthur's last day working for the company will be 26th March, after which he can be contacted at jason.arthur03@gmail.com.