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Bissell and Josephson promoted to deputy publishing directors at The Borough Press
Ann Bissell and Carla Josephson have both been promoted to deputy publishing director at The Borough Press, as the HarperCollins imprint “looks forward to growth and an increased focus on non-fiction".
Both promotions are effective immediately. Josephson joined the company from Simon & Schuster in 2018, where she worked closely with authors ranging from Philippa Gregory to Graham Swift. Her first acquisition for The Borough Press was the Costa Prize-shortlisted Joanna Glen, whose debut novel sold more than 100,000 in all formats according to the publisher. Josephson also publishes international bestsellers Emily M Danforth, Naomi Krupitsky and Nikki Erlick, as well as critically acclaimed literary thriller authors Christina Sweeney-Baird and Carole Johnstone.
Josephson triumphed in a 48 hour pre-empt for Weyward by Emilia Hart, a hugely buzzed-about debut that publishes in February 2023, and won the auction for Rootless, a British-Ghanaian love story publishing in March 2023. She will continue to acquire accessible literary fiction with wide commercial appeal and manage the junior team.
Bissell joined the HarperFiction publicity team in 2012 and was on the launch team for The Borough Press, which opened as an imprint in January 2014. After the success of Sunday Times bestseller The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon, for which she won a PPC Annual Award, Bissell was given a commissioning brief for The Borough Press in 2017.
She acquired Authors’ Club First Novel Award-longlisted Layla AlAmmar and Charlotte Philby, whose debut Part of the Family was the imprint’s first Waterstones Thriller of the Month. She has continued to work on the publishing for The Borough Press bestsellers including Susie Steiner, Lionel Shriver, Emma Jane Unsworth and Joanna Cannon. In 2021, Bissell published How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie, which the publisher says has now sold more than 500,000 copies. Bissell joined the editorial team full time, with a remit to build the non-fiction list, in addition to her fiction publishing. Non-fiction acquisitions include Blake Morrison and Marianne Brown.
Suzie Dooré, publishing director, said: “I am thrilled to announce the promotions of Carla and Ann, who have been such a huge part of the imprint’s publishing and growth over the last years. Carla’s instincts as an editor are incredible, her passion for her authors is infectious, she is genuinely one of the very best of advocates for new voices in the industry. Ann has been such a key part of Borough since its launch, and over the past couple of years has shown herself to be a very talented editor; her success with Bella Mackie’s publishing has rightly caught the headlines and is just one part of Ann’s incredible contribution. These are richly deserved promotions.”
