Veteran publisher Susan Watt dies as tributes paid to 'exceptional' editor

Veteran publisher and HarperCollins editor-at-large Susan Watt has died, it has been announced today. One of the longest serving publishers in the industry, Susan’s career lasted more than 60 years.

Her first job was at Blackwell’s in Oxford where she worked while at university. From then on, she never looked back—books were her passion and her calling.

During her long career, she worked at publishers in both the UK and US, including Fontana, Michael Joseph, HarperCollins and Quercus. She discovered, edited, published and developed lasting friendships with authors including Tracy Chevalier, Jeffrey Archer, Boris Johnson, George MacDonald Fraser, Jeremy Paxman, Tom Clancy, Dick Francis, Conn Iggulden, Amitav Ghosh and Adam Nicolson. 

Her longest publishing collaboration was with Bernard Cornwell with whom she shared a 40-year publishing partnership, starting with Sharpe’s Eagle in 1981 up to his most recent title Sharpe’s Command.  

Speaking on behalf of her four sons, Jon Watt said: "We are devastated by the loss of our beloved mother. She was a truly remarkable person, parent and publisher—a whirlwind of energy, inspiration, intelligence and warmth. We are so proud of her remarkable career and the publishing legacy she leaves behind in an industry she so adored."

HarperCollins UK c.e.o, Charlie Redmayne said: "Susan was an exceptional editor and person. Respected and admired by her many authors, she also influenced and inspired so many publishing friends and colleagues. We were privileged that Susan spent so much of her career with us here at HarperCollins and was with us right up until her final days. I will always be indebted to her for putting a copy of Azincourt in my hand ahead of a long trip to the US and thereby introducing me to the incredible world of Bernard Cornwell. We will miss her greatly and our thoughts are with her friends and family."

Bernard Cornwell said: "To be one of Susan’s authors was to have her friendship and passionate support, and, like so many others, what success I have enjoyed was mostly owed to Susan’s enthusiasm, judgment, and generosity. I have not lost an editor, but a dear friend."

Tracy Chevalier said: "Susan acquired Girl with a Pearl Earring for HarperCollins, clearly seeing something in it that perhaps the rest of us didn’t—myself included. I will always be grateful for her solid grounding in history and her gentle but persistent editing that made that book and several subsequent novels better."

Conn Iggulden said: "Susan Watt loved authors almost like hothouse plants. She nurtured them and trimmed them back when they needed it. She kept them alive where many others would have given up. She certainly saved The Dangerous Book for Boys and I will always owe her a vast debt. If the world had a thousand of her, it would be a better and a grander place - but there was always just one."

Boris Johnson said: "Susie Watt invented me as an author, and I can never thank her enough. What I treasured about her editing – in little green biro marginalia – was the speed, vigour and economy of her judgments. She always understood what the reader really wanted, and was magnificently dismissive of any authorial vanity. When I was complacent or idle, she knew exactly how to get me to produce. She was unfailingly generous with her time, and her hospitality – she threw great barn dances in Lewknor – and made a point of trying to bring her authors together."

There will be a private funeral. A memorial service celebrating her life and work will follow. If you would like to share your memories or attend the memorial, please email her son Jon Watt (jnhwatt@hotmail.com). The family has asked for no flowers.