Nicholson and Leech Mateos appointed at Bloomsbury General as commissioning reach expands

Darcy Nicholson will be joining Bloomsbury General as publishing director on 28th June 2023, launching the new area of commercial fiction. Vicky Leech Mateos will also join as publishing director on 11th July 2023, building on Bloomsbury’s plans for publishing sci-fi and fantasy. Both will report to Katy Follain, head of Bloomsbury General.

Nicholson joins from Sphere, where she was publishing director and, according to the publisher, "has proved that she understands the power of fiction that speaks directly to the market".

The company said: "She has delivered consistently profitable, career-launching publishing of debut novelists including Daisy Buchanan, the author of the critically acclaimed Insatiable (Sphere), Edel Coffey author of Breaking Point (Sphere) and Ali Hazelwood, author of The Love Hypothesis (Sphere), the biggest TikTok romance novel in the market with the UK editions of her books selling over 1.4 million copies sold worldwide."

Nicholson commented: “Katy’s team is set to be the perfect home for market-driven publishing, a powerhouse of commercial nous and creativity. From rom-com to bookclub fiction, debut authors to brand names, I can’t wait to bring something new to the already phenomenally successful Bloomsbury roster.”

Meanwhile, Leech Mateos, who is joining from Voyager, combines "an oeuvre of bestselling debuts and established talent, and has a stellar reputation when it comes to sci-fi and fantasy". The publisher said: "In the last year at HarperCollins, Voyager launched the new Magpie imprint, had a Waterstones Book of the Year finalist and eight top 10 Sunday Times bestsellers, including most recently the number one Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (Voyager). 

"Leech Mateos has a track record of growing and widening the scope of SFF publishing by engaging with new readers who don’t necessarily see themselves as fans and has also forged Voyager into the most diverse SFF list in the market."

Leech Mateos commented: “I believe sci-fi, fantasy, mythology and horror are the very best way to understand the world around us – and the most fun. I can’t wait to work with the exceptional authors already on the roster and bring brilliant new names to the list.”

Bloomsbury General is a new division at Bloomsbury Publishing, set up to encompass new strands of commercial and genre publishing at Bloomsbury, in addition to the existing Raven list. Bloomsbury General joins the divisions of Bloomsbury Trade list, headed by Alexis Kirschbaum, which publishes fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury Lifestyle is headed by Rowan Yapp which includes Bloomsbury’s cookery and lifestyle publishing.

Follain said: “Bloomsbury General is shaping up to be a dream destination for authors and agents alike. I was already blessed when I started to have the enormously talented Alison Hennessey at the helm of Raven Books, the imprint that is the envy of many publishing houses thanks to its award-winning and deliciously original crime and thriller books with a commercial edge. 

"And now I am welcoming two further experts in their respective fields with Darcy Nicholson launching commercial fiction and Vicky Leech Mateos publishing sci-fi and fantasy. I could not be more excited to have these three women of such high calibre working with me.”