Rebellion appoints new commissioning team

Rebellion Publishing has appointed a new commissioning team to take the helm of its science fiction and fantasy imprints Solaris and Abaddon Books. 

Michael Rowley has joined the firm as consultant commissioning editor, taking over from Jonathan Oliver.

Rowley has spent 15 years at Waterstones, first as a bookseller then as genre fiction buyer at the head office, before moving to Ebury, for whom he acquired The Martian by Andy Weir.

Sharing commissioning and editing duties across both best-selling lists will be David Thomas Moore, now promoted to fiction commissioning editor, as of March 2018. Moore joined Rebellion in 2009 as desk editor and became a commissioning editor for Abaddon Books in 2012. The company said he had been "instrumental in the growth of the highly progressive, smart and subversive imprint, Abaddon Books, and we are excited to see this continue across the board".

Head of book and comics publishing Ben Smith said: "I am thrilled to have Michael join us, with his literary and commercial savvy he has proven time and again a fantastic judge of new fiction. David has emerged as one of the most exciting editors in the genre. I can't wait to see what he and Michael will do to take Solaris and Abaddon to the next level." 

Rowley said: "I'm delighted to be joining the Rebellion team at such an exciting time for the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres. Solaris and Abaddon Books are tremendous imprints and as a publisher Rebellion have an unrivalled passion for and creative approach to publishing. Working with Ben, David, Remy and the rest of the team is a wonderful opportunity." 

Moore said: "Rebellion's been my family for nine years, and every new step in my work here is a fresh adventure. I'm endlessly proud of everything we've done, and hugely excited by the opportunity to help steer the books through their second decade."