Mills promoted to HQ publisher as Grewal steps up

HQ publishing director Kate Mills has been made publisher as Manpreet Grewal steps up to publishing director in a number of promotions at the HarperCollins imprint.

Grewal’s move up will also see Emily Kitchin, currently in a senior commissioning editor role, take her place as editorial director. All the promotions are taking place with immediate effect, HQ said.

Mills joined the imprint three years ago from Orion, just before its launch in November 2016, and has overseen the publishing of bestsellers such Adele Parks, Linwood Barclay, BA Paris and Michele Campbell. This summer she published Amanda Jennings’ The Cliff House, Noel O’Reilly’s Wrecker and has just published ghost story debut The Lost Ones by Anita Frank.   

Grewal joined in 2017 from Little, Brown and has published Sarah Morgan, The Summer Villa by Melissa Hill, Nightingale Point by Luan Goldie, and international bestsellers Alice Feeney, Miranda Dickinson and Louise Jensen. She has also made high-profile acquisitions, including The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson at auction, and pre-empting We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza.

Kitchin started at HQ in May 2018 from Hodder, and has published digital bestseller Don’t Tell Teacher by Suzy K Quinn, Roz Watkins, author of the DCI Meg Dalton crime series, and women’s fiction favourite Anna Bell. Next year, she will publish the debut psychological thriller, Precious You by Helen Monks Takhar, which is being adapted for TV by Entertainment One and Mam Tor Productions.  Kitchin also recently won the auction for The Cancer Ladies Running Club by Josie Lloyd.

On the HQ Digital list, Abigail Fenton is promoted to editorial director after her arival from Bookouture earlier this year. Belinda Toor is promoted to commissioning editor, having arrived at HQ through HarperCollins’ Graduate Trainee Scheme. 

Executive publisher Lisa Milton said: “Our Fiction publishing has grown rapidly since we launched three years ago. I’m constantly amazed by our Fiction team’s determination, energy and ambition to publish bigger and better, and that’s why these promotions are so very well deserved. I’m very excited to see what Abi, Belinda, Emily, Kate and Manpreet do next as a team.”