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Bonnier Books UK appoints Ben Willis to further strengthen thriller publishing

Bonnier Books UK appoints Ben Willis to further strengthen thriller publishing

Bonnier Books UK has appointed Ben Willis as publishing director to further strengthen its thriller list and brand fiction under flagship fiction imprint, Zaffre.

Willis started his publishing career in publicity for Transworld and Headline, where he launched the book blogger resource site bookbridgr.com, and handled the campaign for ASA Harrison’s The Silent Wife for which he won the Publicity Campaign of the Year at the Bookseller Industry Awards in 2014. He was named a Rising Star by The Bookseller in 2014, and two years later joined Orion. As senior commissioning editor for Orion Fiction, he published Sunday Times and no.1 New York Times bestseller The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, as well as Ben Kane, Rob Sinclair, and German bestseller Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit.

Ben Willis

“Ben’s creative energy and commercial vision is a perfect fit for our strategy of focused fiction publishing and I am thrilled he will be joining us at this exciting point in our growth.”

Kate Parkin, Managing Director of Adult Trade, Bonnier Books UK

Kate Parkin, Managing Director of Adult Trade Publishing at Bonnier Books UK, said: “Ben’s creative energy and commercial vision is a perfect fit for our strategy of focused fiction publishing and I am thrilled he will be joining us at this exciting point in our growth. I am looking forward to working with Ben, together with Katherine Armstrong, Editorial Director for crime fiction, on plans to take our crime and thriller publishing to the next level.”

“I couldn’t resist the opportunity to join Zaffre, undoubtedly one of the most exciting fiction publishers of recent years.”

Ben Willis

Ben Willis said: “I’ve absolutely loved working at Orion, an immensely creative and commercial publisher that I’m hugely proud to have been a part of. But I couldn’t resist the opportunity to join Zaffre, undoubtedly one of the most exciting fiction publishers of recent years. I can’t wait to work with the existing stars of its thriller list, alongside the extraordinary range of debuts and general fiction they publish so brilliantly.”

Willis will join the company in September.

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