Samson covers for Bates as Penguin Michael Joseph non-fiction publisher 

Alan Samson has joined Penguin Michael Joseph (PMJ) to cover Fenella Bates’s parental leave as a publisher for non-fiction.

Reporting to Daniel Bunyard, head of non-fiction, his role began on 10th October. 

Samson was previously chairman and non-fiction publisher of Weidenfeld & Nicolson until August 2021, when he stepped down after 18 years at Orion. Prior to that he was an editorial director at Little, Brown, and previously worked for Macmillan, spending five years at PMJ in his first commissioning editor role.

High-profile autobiographies and memoirs he has edited and published include those by Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Julie Andrews, Dame Julie Walters, Sir Sean Connery, Sir Trevor McDonald, Eric Idle, Keith Richards, and Sir Michael Palin.

Autobiographies of sports personalities include works by Arsene Wenger, John McEnroe and Roy Keane. Samson also worked on three volumes of memoir by the Reverend Richard Coles, including 2021’s The Madness of Grief, as well as commissioning Coles’ first crime novel, Murder Before Evensong, which was published in June. He also acquired in the UK The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Abacus) and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (Sphere), and his list of authors has included A A Gill, David Hockney and R D Laing.

He said: “One of my happiest publishing experiences has been the five years I spent at Michael Joseph in my first commissioning role (where I initially shared an office with Mrs Michael Joseph). I have kept a close watch on everything the company has achieved since then, so I am especially thrilled to be joining Dan and Louise and their wonderful team.”

Bunyard said: “To have a publisher of Alan’s experience, gifts and stature join the team is exciting. I first worked with Alan some 15 years ago at Orion, where his generous and supportive approach towards authors and also colleagues, of whatever age and level, was striking. I know he brings with him not just the capability to publish first-class non-fiction but also to add to the creativity and broad outlook of our already strong and successful team. We’re very proud for him to be a part of PMJ.”