HQ promotes Grewal to publisher for crime, thriller and book club fiction

Manpreet Grewal has been promoted to publisher for crime, thriller and book club at HQ fiction.

Grewal joined HQ in 2017 as editorial director and was promoted to publishing director in 2019. During that time, she has steered Sarah Morgan’s publishing strategy, resulting in five Sunday Times bestsellers, with The Summer Seekers shortlisted for this year’s Pageturner category at the British Book Awards.  

She has recently published With This Kiss by Carrie Hope Fletcher and has launched a raft of debut authors, including Luan Goldie, who was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction for Nightingale Point. Recent acquisitions include Tracey Lien’s All That’s Left Unsaid after Grewal triumphed in a nine-way auction; Nilopar Uddin’s The Halfways, an epic family drama set in Wales, London, New York and Bangladesh; The Change, a menopause thriller by Kirsten Miller; and reuniting with historical fiction author Jenny Ashcroft. 

Grewal is also part of the HQ Creative Inclusion Lab team, the recently launched imprint with June Sarpong that is seeking new, unagented authors from under-represented communities. She also sits on the committee for Elevate, the employee-led network within HarperCollins for Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees.  

In her new role, she will continue to report to Kate Mills, HQ publisher for commercial fiction.

Lisa Milton, HQ executive publisher, said: “We have achieved so much at HQ in our first five years, building authors, creating bestsellers, and being shortlisted for awards. Mostly, we’ve focused on commercial fiction, now it’s time to widen our lens with a spotlight on book club fiction, crime and thrillers. With Manpreet’s incredible publishing skills, I’m excited to see how she continues to drive our growth as we continue to build our list. Manpreet is an outstanding publisher and I look forward to seeing her continue to develop both as a leader and a publisher.” 

Grewal said: “HQ has fast become home to multiple bestselling authors and has built a well-earned reputation for publishing books that shatter misconceptions and start important conversations and I’m proud to have played a part in that. It’s exciting to work with a team that always wants to do more for our books and authors and I’m looking forward to stepping up into this senior role as we head towards our next stage of growth.”