Henderson joins Vertebrate as indie expands digital business

Shona Henderson has been appointed digital products manager at Sheffield-based Vertebrate Publishing, which is expanding its digital business.

Henderson started with the company via the government's Kickstart scheme after completing an MA in publishing from University College London. 

The publisher said Henderson’s appointment was the first of a number of new senior positions at the business, which has reported 40% revenue growth in the first two quarters of this year. Her remit is to produce up to six new titles a month, and, coupled with the signing of a major new North American distribution contract, to “champion the sale of these titles globally”. 

Managing director Jon Barton commented: “Shona is relatively young and relatively new to publishing, but she is extremely talented and a super enthusiastic champion of the delivery of great books. We have been using the Kickstart scheme as a talent discovery vehicle and it hasn’t disappointed.”

The publisher says, with “significant uplift” in the demand for digital products, audiobooks, e-books, and print-on-demand titles coupled with soaring print and distribution costs, it is making a number of investments to upscale its digital capacity.

Barton said: “With audiobooks seeing year-on-year double-digit growth the time seemed right to have a strategic overhaul of the company’s digital production capabilities.”