Burns leaves Bloomsbury for Bonnier Books UK

Elise Burns is leaving Bloomsbury to join Bonnier Books UK as its new trade sales and export director.

Burns, who will report directly to c.e.o. Perminder Mann, arrives following the departure of James Horobin for Welbeck. She will join on 18th November, working alongside Kate Parkin, m.d. for adult trade publishing and Jane Harris, m.d. for children’s trade publishing.

Currently UK sales director at Bloomsbury, Burns is responsible for adult trade, children’s trade and education sales. Most recently, she contributed to the success of Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women, Tom Kerridge’s cookery titles and the Fantastically Great Women series.

She said: “I’m over the moon to be joining Bonnier Books UK at such an exciting time. I’ve been hugely impressed by the company’s phenomenal trade growth over the last year, as well as its open and forward-thinking ethos. I’m sad to be leaving my brilliant, talented colleagues at Bloomsbury, but the opportunity to work with Perminder and her team to grow Bonnier further was too good to pass up.”

Prior to joining Bloomsbury, Burns was adult non-fiction sales director at Pan Macmillan, working across a wide range of genres including political history, celebrity memoirs, true crime and humour. She began her career at Walker Books.

Mann said: “I’m absolutely delighted that Elise has agreed to come and join us as we prepare for the next stage of the company’s growth. The last year and a half has been transformational for the trade business, with exceptional TCM growth, a steadily, growing number of bestsellers and Heather Morris’ The Tattooist of Auschwitz becoming the biggest-selling novel of 2019 so far. With her talent and breath of expertise, I know that Elise will be a brilliant, valuable addition to the senior leadership team.”