You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Canelo moves into non-fiction and announces series of promotions and new hires
Canelo is expanding its business by moving into non-fiction, and has announced a series of promotions and new hires.
The company will become known as The Canelo Group, which will consist of three divisions: Canelo Publishing; Hera Books, the inclusive commercial publisher acquired in 2021; and a new division bringing together non-fiction and historical adventure.
Canelo Publishing will be led by Louise Cullen, who is now promoted to executive publisher. She will publish Canelo’s core commercial fiction on a list that includes Rachel Lynch, Marion Todd and Charles Beaumont.
Martina O’Sullivan, formerly publisher of Penguin Life and Penguin Business, joins as executive publisher for the as-yet-unnamed new division. She said: “I am thrilled to join the team at The Canelo Group. Our goal is that this division will epitomise a spirit of bold curiosity and a quest for adventure. My focus for growth will be non-fiction and, alongside expanding our history publishing significantly, we’ll start by acquiring new titles in popular culture and popular science.”
Hera Books continues to be headed by Keshini Naidoo. In 2024, the division will see its first hardback release, Estella’s Revenge – a gothic, feminist retelling of Great Expectations – as well as Missy, the debut novel by American-Indian author Raghav Rao, a second LGBTQ rom-com by Philip William Stover, and In the Shadows of Love, a sweeping, Pakistan-set novel from Awais Khan.
In the group function, Rebecca Smart, who has been a non-executive director at Canelo from its founding, is to increase her involvement becoming chair on a part-time basis, dovetailing with her new role as leadership and talent coach for Penguin Random House. Miles Poynton, previously of Faber & Faber and Little, Brown, has been appointed sales and marketing director, and will spearhead an expanding team in increasing Canelo’s reach in both digital and print, working across the three divisions. Michael Bhaskar, who left his full-time position at the end of last year, becomes a non-executive director.
Iain Millar, managing director, said: “We are absolutely delighted that after many months we finally get to share what our future looks like, and the amazing people we’ll have the pleasure of working with going ahead. This is a transformative moment for us, and feels like a massive step forward for the company, and for its incredible writers.
“I have so enjoyed the discussions we’ve had with Martina and Miles, who we wholeheartedly welcome, with Louise, Keshini and Rebecca, and with the vital input of my co-founder and operations director, Nick Barreto, and many other colleagues too. We’re 10 years old next year, and while we’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved so far, the coming years have the clear potential to create a lasting impression that way surpasses our original aims. We have the books to create something special, we have the structure, and now we have an even stronger team. Everything here is planned to maximise this huge opportunity.”
