Feeny joins The Bookseller as fiction previewer

Journalist and former publishing staffer Madeleine Feeny is joining The Bookseller as fiction previewer. 

Feeny has previously worked at Little, Brown and Bloomsbury across both publicity and editorial. She has also spent time at Pontas Agency and freelanced as a reviewer for various publications. She succeeds Alice O’Keeffe, who will remain as books editor.

She said: “I’m thrilled to be joining the killer team of previewers at The Bookseller, a publication I’ve been reading since I started out in the book world 12 years ago. It’s an exciting time for fiction and I look forward to getting my teeth into the wealth and breadth of submissions coming my way.” 

O’Keeffe added: “I’ve been writing New Titles: Fiction since I joined The Bookseller in 2008 and it has been an absolute pleasure to be able to read and write about the best new novels months before anyone else! I’m stepping back from New Titles but remain as books editor and will take a more strategic role. I’m delighted that Madeleine Feeny will be our new previewer – with her breadth of experience and passion for books she is a fantastic addition to the magazine.”

Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller, said: "Books are at the heart of everything we do at The Bookseller, and Madeleine has big shoes to fill in following Alice who has done her preview role superbly. As publishers output more titles—and ideally find more readers for them—Alice’s job has expanded and she is now charged with using her expertise and breadth of knowledge to further grow the magazine’s books coverage at this pivotal time for the sector. Madeleine joins bookseller Will Smith, who took on Paperback Preview last month, Natasha Onwuemezi who runs our Discover strand, Charlotte Eyre on children’s titles, and Caroline Sanderson on Non-Fiction in being the trade’s best book pickers for pre-publication titles. I look forward to seeing this change play out." 

Feeny’s first preview will cover September and run in the 10th June issue (all titles submitted to O’Keeffe have been forwarded). Publisher submissions for October New Titles should be sent to madeleine.feeny@thebookseller.com by the 13th May deadline.