Missing swaps Daunt for Scribner in new publishing director role

Simon & Schuster UK has appointed Sophie Missing to the newly created position of publishing director at its literary imprint Scribner.

Missing is currently publisher at Daunt Books Publishing, which she joined in early 2018. Prior to that she worked at Hodder & Stoughton and within Penguin General alongside the publisher of Fig Tree. Among her acquisitions at Daunt Books are the 2020 Booker Prize-shortlisted Real Life by Brandon Taylor and the essay collections At the Pond, In the Kitchen and In the Garden, which she commissioned and originated.

Missing will report to Suzanne Baboneau, m.d. of the adult publishing division, and takes up her position on 14th March. Chris White, Scribner’s editorial director, will report to Missing.

"Sophie joins us at a time of exciting growth across the company," says Baboneau, "and we are at a perfect juncture to invest further in Scribner in the UK. Her literary sensibility and publishing experience will be an excellent fit. She and Chris—who is introducing so many wonderfully distinct new voices to the list—will form a dynamic and visionary team that befits the ethos of Scribner and its literary heritage. I am delighted by what we have achieved in a relatively short period of time and look forward to seeing our Scribner authors attaining even greater success in the future."

Missing added: "The opportunity to be part of shaping the future of the Scribner list was irresistible. While I’ve loved my time at Daunt Books Publishing, working with such brilliant authors and colleagues, and am very proud of all we’ve achieved in the last four years, I’m thrilled to be joining the team at S&S UK at this exciting moment and look forward to seeing what we build together."

On its relaunch in 2015, Scribner published two Booker Prize longlistees in its first full year, hitting the Sunday Times bestseller list with Graham Swift’s novel, Mothering Sunday. Most recently, it has published Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo, bringing a South Korean feminist bestseller to a global audience, and Megha Majumdar’s A Burning, a National Book Award-nominated debut novel set in contemporary Kolkata. It is also home to award-winning authors including John Irving, among others.