Scholastic’s Morrissey and HarperCollins’ Misra join Simon & Schuster Children’s Books

Yasmin Morrissey and Michelle Misra have joined Simon & Schuster Children’s Books in the respective roles of children’s editorial director and children’s fiction editorial director.

Reporting into publishing director Ali Dougal, in her newly created role Morrissey will focus on highly commercial publishing from talent with exciting platforms for launch, as well as developing IP projects across fiction, non-fiction, picture books and graphic novels.

Morrissey joins Simon & Schuster after three years as senior commissioning editor at Scholastic, and has previously held editorial roles at HarperCollins Children’s and Michael Joseph. At Scholastic, Morrissey has been responsible for acquiring and publishing across the fiction list, developing IP and working with authors such as Amy Huberman, Aoife Dooley, Cynthia Murphy and Rosie Talbot.

In her new role, Misra will manage a list of "bestselling, highly acclaimed and prize-winning" authors, as well as acquiring quality commercial children’s fiction. She joins from HarperCollins, where she has acquired and edited a list of authors including Beverley Naidoo, Natasha Hastings and upcoming debut novelist Laura Noakes. As children’s fiction editorial director she will report to fiction publisher Lucy Pearse.

Dougal said: “We are so thrilled to have Yasmin and Michelle joining our brilliant and expert children’s editorial team. Last year was an incredible year for us, with growth in all areas of the list driven by exceptional performances from Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet, Nadia Shireen, Ben Miller, A F Steadman, Adam Silvera and many more creative stars. In bolstering the team we will be taking this to the next level, giving us the capacity to grab every opportunity and continue to publish with excellence and offer first-class care to our authors and illustrators.”

Morrissey said she would “miss my brilliant authors and Scholastic colleagues immensely", but said “joining Rachel, Ali and their trailblazing team at Simon & Schuster is too good an opportunity to let pass".

“It is impossible not to admire the recent innovative and inspiring publishing at S&S, and I am absolutely thrilled that I will help grow their dynamic list at this exciting time. It is such an honour to be entrusted with this role — I can’t wait to discover new talent, commission with passion, and watch the list flourish further,” she said.

Misra, who joins Simon & Schuster after six years at HarperCollins, latterly as publishing director, commented: “I have had a wonderful six years at HCCB and will miss my fantastic authors and colleagues immensely. But an offer to work at Simon & Schuster was one that I simply couldn’t turn down. I have watched the growth of their children’s list with a keen and somewhat envious eye since Rachel Denwood took the helm and to get to work with Lucy and such a forward-thinking team is an incredibly exciting opportunity.”