Jo Thompson promoted to editorial director at Borough Press and Hemlock

Jo Thompson will be promoted to editorial director across HarperFiction’s Borough Press and Hemlock imprints, acquiring for both.

Thompson joined the Borough imprint at the start of the year, in a maternity cover role. Since then, she has worked across authors including Emilia Hart, Liz Moore, Natalie Sue and Krystle Zara Appiah, as well as various key 2025 debut publications including Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts and Charlotte Runcie’s Bring the House Down. She has acquired lead titles for the imprint, including Rosie Storey’s Dandelion is Dead and Imani Thompson’s Honey. 

Thompson previously worked at William Collins, across authors including Cal Flyn, Max Hastings, Catherine Belton, Adam Nicolson, Patrick Radden Keefe, Jeremy Paxman and David Cameron. Her own acquisitions included Sally Hayden’s multi-award-winning My Fourth Time, We Drowned, the Wainwright Prize-shortlisted titles Rural by Rebecca Smith and Bothy by Kat Hill, and the upcoming The Five Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom.

Thompson said: "I’ve simply loved working at HarperFiction and I’m so happy to be staying on. Working on the Borough Press is a dream—the team, the authors, the ethos—and as a longtime crime and thriller addict, I’m delighted to be stepping across to join Julia at Hemlock, whose publishing it’s impossible not to admire."

Beth Coates, publisher at Borough Press, said: "Jo is a joy to work with and is a really special publishing talent. I’m delighted she’s found a permanent home here at HarperFiction. It’s genuinely been a pleasure to watch her have such a huge impact on the list, her authors and colleagues these last months and I’m excited to see what the future brings for all of us."

Julia Wisdom, publisher at Hemlock Press, said: "I’ve watched Jo’s passionate advocacy for her Borough authors with admiration—she combines a brilliant eye with real publishing nous—and am delighted she’s joining Hemlock Press.

"As well as building her own stable of authors, she’ll also be taking care of Kathryn Cheshire’s authors during the latter’s maternity leave.  We are very much looking forward to working with her and know she’ll be a huge asset to the imprint."