Peake and Mihailescu elected chairs of Society of Young Publishers

April Peake and Amalia Mihailescu have been elected co-chairs of the Society of Young Publishers UK committee, as the organisation commits to offering more support to publishing professionals in its 73rd year.

The newly elected team will be setting career progression as a top priority for the year ahead and running a mix of in-person, hybrid and virtual events.

Peake, who is a commissioning editor at Penguin Random House, previously worked at Bloomsbury and chaired SYP Oxford in 2020. This year marks Mihailescu’s third consecutive term on the UK committee as she steps up from the role of vice chair.  

“I’m delighted to be taking over as UK chair this year and to be going on this journey with Amalia," Peake said. "Building on the fantastic work of previous committees, we’re very well placed to move towards a long-term hybrid strategy for the society, one which allows us the option of learning and networking in person once again without losing sight of the many advantages of virtual activities.

“We have a number of really exciting new initiatives planned for the year ahead and I’m particularly looking forward to developing our offering for those members who, like me, either live outside of traditional southern hubs or are now more than a couple of years into their career in publishing.”

Throughout their term as co-chairs, the pair will be focusing on engagement with members who have three or more years of work experience under their belt. Planned initiatives include a series of member-only masterclasses delivered by experts across a broad range of relevant fields, as well as running more practical "get ahead" events.

Mihailescu commented: “This organisation and the SYP community are very close to my heart, and I am honoured to lead the UK committee for another year, together with April. Having discussed plans for 2022 with our new team, I look forward to continuing the work that has been done so far and exploring new ideas that strengthen our brand and offer our members a wide range of support, whether they’re looking to get into publishing or trying to take their next step in the industry.

“With the new website launched at the end of last year, I am keen on seeing this space developing into a key resource for users, where they can find the latest updates on our activity, both UK wide and region specific. As we build this up, I do encourage members to start exploring our digital home and take advantage of all the perks we have in store for them, like our resource centre, partner discounts and more.”

Another key objective for the year is to further enhance the variety of information and resources available on the organisation’s website. The team also plans to develop an exclusive online hub for alumni, where former committee members can actively engage with the SYP community, past and present.

Peake and Mihailescu expect to expand the society in the coming months, following a review of geographical areas  that are not currently represented by a regional branch. They will also continue to work closely with regional branches on shared events and initiatives.

A number of new appointments have also been made to SYP’s regional branches. Rosy Webster, international sales co-ordinator at Oxford University Press, and Giulia Maggiori, assistant suppliers operation specialist at Oxford University Press and a freelancer consultant for Bookers UK, have been elected as SYP Oxford’s co-chairs.

Flick Hemming, intern at R R Scouting and writer at the Publishing Planet, and Alicja Baranowska, foreign rights assistant at Welbeck Publishing Group, have been appointed as co-chairs of SYP London.