MacDonald swaps Quercus for Gallery Books

Alison MacDonald is joining Simon & Schuster as commissioning editor for Gallery Books UK in the imprint’s first designated appointment since launching its list in 2021.

She makes the move to the imprint’s adult non-fiction department from Quercus, where she has worked since 2017. At Gallery, she will be acquiring quality commercial non-fiction. She joins on 7th March, reporting to Holly Harris, publishing director of the division.

In her role of editor at Quercus, she has been building her own list of authors including Frank Skinner and London Hughes, alongside supporting on titles including I Am Not Your Baby Mother by Candice Braithwaite and Putting the Rabbit in the Hat by Brian Cox. 

“Alison is an impressive, driven editor with excellent experience and we’re delighted to welcome her to S&S UK," Harris said. "We had a really great first year with Gallery and I’m thrilled that we’re increasing our focus on this area of the market. I’m really looking forward to seeing what brilliant books Alison will bring to the Gallery list."

MacDonald added: “I am thrilled to be joining Holly and her team at Gallery. They are moving from strength to strength, so it is an amazing opportunity to learn from and grow with a team as dynamic as theirs. It’s a wrench to be leaving the brilliant authors and colleagues at Quercus, who have taught me so much, but I am looking forward to commissioning some exciting and conversation-starting non-fiction in my new role at S&S.”

Gallery Books’ bestsellers so far have included titles by Ed Balls, Jess Phillips, Dr Sophie Mort and Bob Mortimer’s memoir And Away… 

The S&S UK non-fiction team consists of Harris, deputy publishing director Ian Marshall, commissioning editor Assallah Tahir, senior project editor Fran Jessop, project editor for Non-fiction and Scribner Kaiya Shang, project editor Kat Ailes, and editorial assistant Sophia Akhtar.