Harris leaves Orion to head up new publishing team at YMU

Amanda Harris will join talent management group YMU, in a newly created role as director publishing, after 14 years at Orion.

Currently publisher of non-fiction imprints Orion Spring and Seven Dials, Harris will join YMU on 30th September. Harris will head up the newly created publishing team at YMU which was previously known as the James Grant Group.

In the new role she will work closely with YMU’s clients to imagine and sell their book projects. She will also work with the entertainment team to widen the agency’s client roster and bring new talent to the agency – authors who can fully realise and enjoy the benefits of YMU’s integrated management structure and its position as one of the world’s leading talent agencies across sport, music, drama and entertainment.

Harris told The Bookseller: “It is a new role and is a new team, which is only me at the moment. I will be recruiting for more team members so will announce more on that after I join.

“They have the most incredible rota there with huge appeal. Part of my role will be working closely there with them on new ideas.”

On swapping a publishing house role for a literary one, she said: “It is exciting. I am really interested to be close to the other creatives who work there across TV and podcasts and other mediums – I think there's a lot to be done there in terms of books.”

YMU is a management company with teams overseeing sport, music, drama and television, and is based across sites in LA, London, Washington, New York and Manchester.

The announcement of the new publishing team – which works exclusively with YMU clients – comes after the end of literary agency Furniss Lawton, which was rolled into YMU in March. Eugenie Furniss left Furniss Lawton the same month to join management and production company 42 as a literary agent while Lawton had continued at Furniss Lawton as literary agent and director. Lawton is now due to join the Soho Group in July.

Harris, who joined Orion as senior commissioning editor in 2005 and was promoted to publisher of Orion Spring and Seven Dials in 2016, will be responsible for representing the publishing activities of YMU’s extensive talent roster.

Founding Orion Spring in 2016, Harris has grown the imprint to become the home of global health experts, international bestsellers and a creative hub for its many brand authors. During her time at Orion, she published a number of bestsellers from Fearne Cotton, the Hairy Bikers, Davina McCall and Super Nanny Jo Frost, and recent Sunday Times bestsellers The Little Big Things by Henry Fraser and Love as Always Mum xxx by Mae West. Other bestelling authors she has published include The Prince of Wales, Michel Roux Jr, Stanley Tucci, Liz Earle, Bryan Cranston, James Wong and Nobel Prize winner Dr Elizabeth Blackburn.  

YMU group entertainment m.d. Mary Bekhait said: “We are delighted that Amanda has agreed to join the team here at YMU. She is someone we have worked with for many years and we have been hugely impressed by her knowledge and experience.  I look forward to working alongside her in order to bring the very best advice and guidance to our clients across the global publishing space.”

Harris said: “With creativity and deal-making at its heart, this is a dream job for me. I’ve long admired YMU’s work, witnessing the impressive results the agency delivers for its clients. I’m particularly excited to work alongside the company’s fantastic management team in this creative agenting capacity and help YMU’s clients reach their audiences in the most authentic way. With such strong talent to represent, there’s huge potential for YMU clients to dominate every genre with bestselling success”

Regarding her departure from Orion on 6th September, she said: “I’d like to thank my excellent colleagues at Orion and Hachette, particularly David Shelley, for inspiring me over the years. It’s with sadness that I leave my wonderful authors and my team at Orion Spring/Seven Dials, but I look forward to working with friends and colleagues from across the industry in my new role as literary agent.”

The Bookseller understands that Orion will be making an announcement about appointments soon.