Cope joins Profile Books as publisher 

Rowan Cope, currently at Duckworth Books, will join Profile Books in the new role of publisher, and become a member of the executive team. 

Cope will take up the post on 29th January 2024, reporting to managing director Rebecca Gray. The editorial teams across the company’s imprints - Profile, Serpent’s Tail, Souvenir and Viper - will all report to Cope. 

Cope, who joined Duckworth Books as publisher in August 2021, started her career in agenting at DGA, before moving into editorial at Little, Brown, Scribner, Faber & Faber, Penguin Press and Granta.  

At Duckworth, she played a leading role in developing the business, negotiating new partnerships with Greyhound Literary for translation rights, with The Artists Partnership and the Independent Alliance, and maximising rights and backlist revenue streams. As lead acquirer, she published an exciting and diverse range of upmarket non-fiction and literary and historical fiction, including Priscilla Morris’ Black Butterflies, shortlisted for the Women’s Prize and the RSL Ondaatje Prize among other awards, and Oskar Jensen’s Vagabonds, currently shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize. 

Gray said: “Rowan stands out as someone who understands the breadth of the publishing landscape, and really gets what being independent is all about. She’s clever, funny and thoughtful, and you can see her drive and focus in her achievements at Duckworth. I’m so excited to have her leadership for our brilliant editors, and for her to join the executive team as we continue to grow and thrive.” 

Cope added: “At Duckworth, we have accomplished so much in the last two years, and I’ll be forever grateful to my wonderful colleagues and our external partners for their belief, enthusiasm and graft, as well as to our authors and agents, who placed their trust in us. But the opportunity to work with Rebecca Gray and the highly successful and impressive team at Profile Books is irresistible, and I am thrilled to be joining in the new year and making my contribution to their future success.” 

Cope can be reached at rowan.cope@profilebooks.com from Monday 29th January 2024.