Picador's Ravi Mirchandani joins S&S UK to lead Summit Books

Ravi Mirchandani is leaving Picador after a decade to head the newly revived Summit Books imprint for Simon & Schuster (S&S) UK this September. 

Mirchandani will take on the role of publisher at Summit Books, reporting directly to Suzanne Baboneau, managing director of S&S UK’s adult publishing division.

The appointment comes four months on from the announcement that S&S would revive Summit Books in the US after 33 years, to be overseen by Judy Clain, formerly editor-in-chief of Little, Brown. It was also recently revealed that Jane Palfreyman, publisher at Allen & Unwin, will lead Summit Books in Australia. 

Mirchandani is currently editor-in-chief at Picador, where he has worked for the past 10 years.  His authors there include Hanya Yanagihara, Douglas Stuart, Patrick Radden Keefe, John Carreyrou, Isabella Tree and Chetna Maroo.

His publishing career spans almost four decades. At Weidenfeld & Nicolson, he worked with authors such as Bernhard Schlink, Steven Millhauser and Saul Friedlander. At William Heinemann, he worked with the likes of Michel Houellebecq, Richard Powers, Tony Judt, Rachel Seiffert and Thomas Harris. And at Atlantic Books, his list included work from Aravind Adiga, A D Miller, Kevin Kwan, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.

Mirchandani said: “Working at Pan Macmillan over the last decade has been such a privilege and a pleasure; it is a wrench to be leaving behind so many valued authors and colleagues. But I am delighted to be joining Ian Chapman and Suzanne Baboneau’s adult editorial team at Simon & Schuster, having long admired the confidence, quality and impact of their publishing, and to be bringing the Summit Books imprint to the UK for the first time.

“Having published many authors in tandem with Simon & Schuster US publishers over the years, I very much look forward to becoming an integral part of their international editorial team.”

Baboneau said: “Ravi’s first day in publishing was 3rd September 1984.  His first day with us will be almost exactly 40 years on, 2nd September 2024.  There is no one better to launch this prestigious imprint in the UK.

“From 1976 to 1991, Summit Books in the US published an extraordinary list of authors of international stature such as Elie Wiesel, Marilyn French, James Baldwin and Oliver Sacks. The new Summit around the world will publish bold and international fiction and non-fiction that will embody diversity and broad-minded thinking. With his wealth of experience, expertise and flair, I know that Ravi will make a truly significant contribution to this exciting vision.”

The first books on Summit are likely to come in 2025 across both fiction and non-fiction with S&S UK publisher promising "a broad church and with a bold, international spirit".

Mary Mount, publisher at Picador, paid tribute to Mirchandani’s contribution: “Ravi is an exceptional publisher. It is almost impossible to sum up his contribution to Picador over the last 10 years. His books have brought joy to, quite literally, millions of readers around the world. There is the fiction – Shuggie Bain; A Little Life to name just two novels that have sold over a million copies each. And the non-fiction – from Empire of Pain to Crying in H Mart. His books have won every major literary prize in the UK and the US.”  

Mount added: “And, alongside this exceptional record is Ravi as a font of publishing wisdom, of laughs, of book fair gossip, of good company and great affection. I want to express how grateful I am for all Ravi has done for Picador. It will be wonderful to see how he shapes his list in the years ahead. We have been tremendously lucky to have him at Picador for the last 10 years.” 

The Bookseller understands that as Andrea Henry, Anne Meadows and Orla King have all recently stepped up at Picador and Alpana Sajip joining as senior commissioning editor in August in a newly-created role, there are currently no plans to recruit a direct replacement for Mirchandani’s role.

His last day at Picador will be the 7th June.