Ellis steps down from The Literary Platform

Joanna Ellis has stepped down from her role as partner at The Literary Platform after four years at the consultancy.

The former marketing director from Faber and Faber joined The Literary Platform in January 2012 and has since helped grow the consultancy into "one of the fastest growing UK businesses led by women", with a number 10 listing in the Fortuna 50 Index in 2015. She will now concentrate on her work in collections and archives, working on bibliotheca's Cloud Library. Miriam Robinson, formerly head of marketing at Foyles, will join the company as associate director.

Ellis said: “I am enormously proud of the work we have done at The Literary Platform over the last four years and I feel very privileged to have worked on such a wide range of projects during this fascinating time for writing and publishing. Our clients and partners have played a key part in making these past four years so interesting and enjoyable, as has working with Sophie [Rochester, fellow partner] who has been a brilliant and inspiring business partner. I have learnt so much and I know The Literary Platform will continue to go from strength to strength."

Since Ellis joined in 2012, she has worked with a range of global clients including oolipo, the British Council, Pan Macmillan, Frankfurt Book Fair, Hachette, The Reading Agency, and Heuristic; and has spoken at a number of international conferences. She has also been a judge on the Transmission Prize and the New Media Writing Prize and became a trustee of New Writing North in 2015.  

During her time at The Literary Platform, Ellis co-founded, alongside Rochester and Kate Pullinger, and with support from Arts Council England, The Writing Platform, a website and events programme dedicated to arming writers with digital knowledge, which is now supported by Bath Spa University and Queensland University of Technology in Australia.

Miriam Robinson, marketer and event producer, will join The Literary Platform as associate director. She is currently the programme director for The Bookseller magazine’s annual Marketing & Publicity Conference, and has consulted freelance for publishing clients including Vintage and Quarto. She was head of marketing for Foyles Bookshop in the years leading up to the relocation of its flagship, and in 2013 was awarded the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize for her contributions to the industry.

Robinson said: “The Literary Platform’s work across the worlds of reading and writing has always fascinated and impressed me, and so joining now feels a bit like a dream come true. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to work with the team, and I am very excited for Joanna as she begins this new phase of her career.’’

Eloise Wales, who has worked with The Literary Platform since early 2015, has been promoted to content manager.

Rochester, founder of The Literary Platform, said: “Joanna will be sorely missed by the team, and naturally by all of our clients and partners. She has been instrumental in the development of the company across both commercial and public-sector funded projects, and we are extremely grateful for all the hard work she has done in the past four years... We’re also delighted to welcome Miriam Robinson to our team. Miriam is well-respected across the industry and has long been on our radar as someone to bring into the fold. We’re looking forward to working with her on our current clients in London and Berlin, and our new publishing event this September.”

The Literary Platform will be hosting a new publishing event this September, in media partnership with The Bookseller, called From Zero To Hero!