The Adult Trade editorial team at Bonnier Books UK has been boosted with a new appointment and two key internal promotions.
Steph Carey recently joined the team as Senior Commissioning Editor for digital-first imprint Embla Books. Steph joined from Joffe Books, where she was commissioning for the past four years, specialising in publishing digital commercial fiction across genres, including working on bestselling authors Peter Boland, C.J. Grayson, and Anya Mora.
This appointment comes in an extraordinary year of growth for Embla. In just over three years, the digital-first imprint has sold over 2.5 million ebooks, with over 60% of their titles hitting the Kindle top 100 and over 20% of the list reaching the top 10.
In the Zaffre Fiction team, Kelly Smith, previously Senior Commissioning Editor has been promoted to the position of Editorial Director, following a string of high-profile acquisitions and a raft of successful publishing. This year Kelly has delivered two Sunday Times Bestsellers with Mai Corland’s Five Broken Blades and Susie Dent’s debut novel Guilty by Definition. She also pre-empted the self-published, bookseller favourite, romantasy title Olivia Rose Darling’s Fear the Flames and acquired the forthcoming Ian Fleming Q Mysteries written by CWA Chair, Vaseem Khan. In her new role Kelly will continue to acquire across SFF and Crime.
And finally, Matt Phillips, previously Non-Fiction Publisher across Blink, John Blake and Lagom, has moved into a new role as Associate Publisher taking on a wider remit across the whole adult division. Matt has been at Bonnier for eight years and has played a key role in the growth of the adult business. An exceptional leader, he oversaw Blink being shortlisted for imprint of the year in 2023 at the Nibbies, along with shortlistings from his team for Editor of the Year two years in a row. This summer, Bonnier’s non-fiction team delivered three number one hardback bestsellers in a row and this autumn Matt will publish their biggest title of the year, England Cricketer and host of the Tailenders podcast, Jimmy Anderson’s much awaited memoir.
Sarah Benton, Managing Director, Adult Trade, said: “These three new roles are part of our continued ambitions to cement our growth for Bonnier Books UK. I am thrilled to welcome Steph to the Embla team in such a game-changing year for them. Their growth over the last three years has been exceptional and I am so excited to see what Steph brings to the list.
“And nothing makes me happier than rewarding our existing staff; Kelly and Matt’s promotions couldn’t be more deserved. Kelly’s had an extraordinary year as she’s embraced our pivot into SFF with enormous passion and is becoming a key tastemaker and destination editor in the industry. Her commitment to, and love of, genre publishing has been a joy to witness.
“Matt has been such a key leader for Bonnier Books UK over the last year. His mix of creativity, vision and strategy has been invaluable to me as I continue to build our business further with the integration of Black & White Publishing Group. There is no-one else I would want by my side for the next chapter in our success.”
Commercial fiction submissions can be sent to Steph on the Embla list at [email protected]; SFF and Crime submissions to Kelly Smith at Zaffre [email protected]
