Quercus promotes Masters and McLaughlin

Quercus has promoted Elizabeth Masters to the role of publicity director to head the company’s Publicity team.

Masters is currently deputy publicity director at Quercus, the Hachette UK publishing division. She joined Quercus in 2016 and has been instrumental in launching and working on the company’s literary imprint riverrun. She has also worked on campaigns across the Quercus list, including the Enid Blyton for Grown Ups series by Bruno Vincent (Quercus) which was shortlisted for the Nibbies’ PR Campaign of the Year. 

She will continue to report to Hannah Robinson, communications director. Robinson said: "I’ve worked with Elizabeth for eight of my 10 years at Quercus and have always admired her creativity and dedication to campaign work, as well as her invaluable input across the business. She’s also a thoughtful and encouraging manager and I am excited to be working with her to develop the publicity team under her direct care."

Masters added: “I have been lucky enough to work with immensely talented authors and agents on the riverrun and Quercus lists and am looking forward to continuing to deliver sales-driving buzzy campaigns alongside this exciting new challenge. It is a real privilege to be leading this award-winning, dynamic team as they continue to grow and bring our magnificent list to new audiences.”

For the past five years Masters has worked in a job share with Ana McLaughlin, who has also been promoted to the new role of campaigns director. An anthologist in her own right as Ana Sampson, McLaughlin has delivered various creative campaigns across literary fiction, women’s fiction, crime, lifestyle, children’s books and both serious narrative and commercial non-fiction.

Robinson said: “Ana joined the publicity team in a temporary position in 2018 and I was determined never to let her leave. I’m delighted to announce her promotion to campaigns director to reflect her seniority and experience which has been and continues to be invaluable to Quercus.”

McLaughlin added: “I am very proud of the partnership Elizabeth and I have forged and look forward to taking our roles forward in this new chapter. I hope our successes prove just how dynamic and effective flexible working can be, with enormous benefits to employers and authors as well as staff.”

In their new roles Masters and McLaughlin will continue to share some publicity campaigns alongside their new responsibilities.