Bloomsbury Lifestyle expands its commissioning as Paul and Stogdon step into newly created roles

Bloomsbury Lifestyle has made two appointments to newly created roles with a view to expanding its commissioning.

Grace Paul, former content and creative manager at Dishoom, has been named editorial director, and within the existing team, project editor Kitty Stogdon has been appointed commissioning editor, reporting to Paul.

Paul began her editorial career at BBC Books before working at Headline and then Trapeze, including work on IP-style non-fiction.  Over that time she worked on books including Lagom, an IP project which became a global seller through a large number of co-editions and rights deals according to the publisher, Bletchley Park Brainteasers, Queer Eye and Ordnance Survey, and with authors such as Bryony Gordon and Atticus. 

She also had a period as a freelance during which she worked with cookbook brands MOB and Two Chubby Cubs. Paul joins from Dishoom where she was responsible for helping create and deliver Dishoom’s story across digital, print and products. Paul’s focus will be on gift and lifestyle commissioning as well as developing new and existing brands.

Paul said: “Having spent the last few years immersing myself in the worlds of hospitality and lifestyle with an emphasis on brand development and values, now feels like the right time to come back to publishing. My goal is to publish top-quality gift and lifestyle books from a wide range of contributors. To be able to work on books for Bloomsbury Lifestyle, a list rich with heritage and quality, is an incredible opportunity – one you can’t say no to, and to be able to work with such a brilliant team, with Rowan Yapp at the helm, is so exciting.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working at Dishoom, a company brimming with first-class creativity, kindness and some truly wonderful people (and a lot of great food!). I’d like to thank them for the opportunity to work on brilliant forward-thinking creative projects.”

Stogdon’s focus will be on cookery titles and new voices. The publisher says she has “already demonstrated her keen commissioning eye” with forthcoming projects such as The Art of Friday Night Dinner by Eleanor Steafel and Making the Seasons by Rosie Steer, and “has been instrumental in helping shape recent books” such as Breadsong by Kitty and Al Tait and Motherland by Melissa Thompson.

Rowan Yapp, publisher for Bloomsbury Lifestyle, said: “I am thrilled to be developing the commissioning reach of the Lifestyle team to support our growth strategy. Grace’s feel for books that span both lifestyle and cookery are second to none, as are her instincts for good ideas and how to grow them into books.

"Her career and recent experience at Dishoom gives her an insight into brand development. We are thrilled to have Grace and her can-do attitude feeding into this exciting new phase for Bloomsbury Lifestyle. Kitty has great taste and a real eye for design and I look forward to seeing how this will inflect her commissioning. With our strong team spirit and complementary commissioning taste I know we will become even more than the sum of our parts.”