String of promotions across Pan Mac after stellar 2020

Pan Macmillan has marked the success of 2020, the second best year in its history, with a huge swathe of promotions across the business.

Last year saw the publisher bag eight number ones in Nielsen's Total Consumer Market chart, with estimates showing 2020 volume sales of 11.8 million units. Today (19th February) the publisher announced promotion across Macmillan Children’s Books, Pan, Bluebird and Picador alonsgide the publishing operations and digital communications teams. These “reflect the collaborative role that staff have played to enable the business to effectively adapt to the evolving circumstances, and recognise the breadth of talent and innovation", Pan Mac said.

At Macmillan Children’s Books (MCB), which saw sales rise 11% last year following seven years of growth, Sarah Vince becomes head of design at Campbell for “steering a fast-paced responsive list brilliantly through its critical path targets”. Sophie McLoughlin, who joined six years ago and led the creation of the Campbell Axel Scheffler programme and recently developed and wrote the My First Heroes role-model series, is promoted to senior editor for Campbell.

Meanwhile, Lydia Coventry becomes senior designer for MCB after helping create bestsellers, including designing a picture book in record time with How Do You Make a Rainbow? and overseeing the design of the publisher's largest-ever physical book, The Gruffalo Advent Calendar Book.

Rachael Roberts has been promoted to assistant editor at Kingfisher after initially joining the imprint in August 2018 through the Creative Access programme, becoming a permanent member of the team. Cate Augustin has been promoted to senior editor for fiction and non-fiction after working across the list for three years and championing underrepresented voices. She was also “a fundamental part” of Pan Macmillan’s pitch for Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford.

Helen Weir is promoted to senior editor after playing a central role in the establishment and growth of the Two Hoots list, looking after key brands such as Goodnight Moon and Bethan Woollvin, as well as bringing new talent and ideas. Amber Ivatt steps up to senior publicity manager after leading campaigns for key authors including Chris Riddell, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Emily Gravett, Morag Hood and Tomi Adeyemi.

Over at Pan, the imprint has claimed a record year in sales and seen the appointment of Lucy Hale as publisher. Pan Mac said a series of promotions here were to “consolidate the gains already achieved and to further develop its growth strategy”.

Ingrid Connell, shortlisted for Editor of the Year at The British Book Awards last year, becomes publishing director in Pan’s non-fiction team, reporting to Hale. Connell “has published some of Pan’s most successful non-fiction authors including Elton John, Louis Theroux and most recently The Yorkshire Shepherdess and is key to Pan’s pre-eminent position in the biography sector of the market”.

Bella Pagan steps up to publishing director in Pan’s fiction team, reporting to Hale, “in acknowledgement of the importance of Pan’s speculative fiction (and of Tor UK, Pan’s genre specific SFF imprint) in the continued growth and significant contribution to Pan's commercial fiction success in recent years”.

Jayne Osborne becomes editor in Pan’s fiction team, acquiring fiction for the younger female market, with acquisitions such as The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss, which was published in December 2020. Elsewhere, Matthew Cole is promoted to editor in the non-fiction team. Working closely with Robin Harvie on Pan’s business and sport lists, he will also be acquiring in the area of current affairs and politics. Alice Grey and Georgia Summers are also promoted to assistant editors “with huge thanks for their hardwork and good humour during challenging times”.

At Bluebird, Pan Mac hailed “another record year of sales in 2020” and the acquisition of 42 new titles. Here, Jess Duffy is promoted to senior publicity manager for being “intrinsic” to that success. Her campaigns for Wean in 15, where she worked with Joe Wicks and his team to capitalise on the effect of "PE With Joe", Tin Can Cook and follow-up Good Food for Bad Days, Where's My Happy Ending and the just published Brown Baby have been “particularly outstanding”, her employer said.

Zainab Dawood becomes assistant editor for Bluebird and One Boat after initially joining Pan Macmillan as a Creative Access trainee two and a half years ago and impressing “with her insight, writing and team spirit”. She is now a “linchpin” of the team, the publisher said.

At Picador, a “stellar” year in the UK and internationally means it is “doubling down on our commitment to reach readers in ever innovative and creative ways, continuing the imprint's growth and reputation”. Alice Dewing is promoted to senior comms manager for combining “superb author care with an extraordinary ability to find every possible piece of publicity for a campaign”. She delivered lockdown campaigns for bestselling authors including Emma Donoghue and John Cooper, also co-ordinating a huge campaign and tour for Mariam Khan and the contributors to It's Not About the Burqa. She has also contributed to the growth of the Picador Poetry list over recent years.

Gaby Quattromini becomes communications manager after using her “combined marketing and publicity magic” for high-profile authors such as Olivia Laing and Gabriel Byrne, and delivering marketing campaigns for The Secret Barrister and John Cooper Clarke. In her new role, she will be working on campaigns for Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Michelle Zauner and Raven Leilani.

Over in publishing operations, Giacomo Russo moves up to senior production controller, within the adult production team. Having “brilliantly handled complex and shifting priorities during a series of challenging months”, he will now lead the production of Picador and Macmillan Collector’s Library, with responsibility for managing the relationships with other departments. He continues to report to Simon Rhodes, head of adult production.

Louise Drake becomes head of analytics after establishing Pan Mac’s operational capability in the field, including the implementation of Tableau and the creation of the UK data mart in collaboration with Macmillan US. In her new role, she will focus on “further development aligned to the business’ strategic priorities around growth, publishing and core process”.

Finally, in digital communications, Marisa Davies is promoted to metadata manager. The publisher said: “Since joining Pan in March 2017, Davies used her innovative analysis of metadata to reflect the needs of the different readers in the business’ audience segmentation, and her work on mobile has helped provide practical tools to improve online book sales. Her unflappability in the face of the ever-changing online retail environment has been invaluable, as has her ability to streamline processes and provide practical metadata advice.”