Non-fiction specialist Ebury has been named as Publisher of the Year at The British Book Awards 2024. Additional winners include Profile, named as Independent Publisher of the Year, and the Children’s Bookshop, named as Book Retailer of the Year, the category’s first indie win in more than a decade.
Fourth Estate’s Kishani Widyaratna scooped the award for Editor of the Year at the ceremony, which took place at London’s Grosvenor Hotel this evening (Monday 13th May), which also saw a joint award for Curtis Brown’s Norah Perkins and Becky Brown, who were crowned Literary Agent of the Year. Meanwhile Book-ish Crickhowell was named Independent Bookshop of the Year and Bloomsbury received two nods, for Children’s Publisher and Export.
Ebury took the top gong following what judges called “an exceptional 12 months”, with TCM sales up by 22% year-on-year to almost £51m for 2023. Judges added: “The stellar results are the culmination of a five-year overhaul of Ebury under managing director Joel Rickett and publisher Andrew Goodfellow that has created five autonomous hubs led by areas of publishing – lifestyle, entertainment, food, self and smart – rather than imprints of departments. It has also moved from a push to a pull model of publishing with a ‘permanent’ frontlist mentality and an open, can-do and no-blame culture.”
Widyaratna, Fourth Estate’s publishing director, won Editor of the Year, praised for having “brought her 40-year-old imprint bang up to date with some stunning, zeitgeist-capturing publishing”. One author described her as the “very definition of a publishing powerhouse” while judges hailed her “unerring eye for fresh literary talent”, including Yomi Adegoke (The List) and Monica Heisey (Really Good, Actually).
HarperCollins scored another win for Marketing Strategy of the Year – which went to Abbie Salter, Sian Richefond and Emily Merrill for their work on Rebecca F Kaung’s Yellowface. The title also scooped the award for Fiction Book of the Year. Judges said they “tore up the marketing rulebook to create one of the most memorable and commercially successful literary releases of 2023”. Publicity Campaign went to Cornerstone’s Etty Eastwood for what judges called the “unmissable” approach to Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken.
Unusually, the Literary Agent category had two winners, Brown and Perkins, in recognition of their “superb double act on the literary estates managed by Curtis Brown”. The pair have nearly doubled turnover at their co-founded Heritage division, which now represents more than 150 authors.
Small Press of the Year went to Magic Cat Publishing only four years after its formation. Its growth is such that judges said: “On its current trajectory it won’t be eligible for this category for much longer.”
Profile, whose title Murdle won Overall Book of the Year, received the award for Independent Publisher almost a decade after winning it previously. Judges commented that Profile stood out for its “canny commissioning and resourceful marketing” as well as its “excellent” author care and ability to “squeeze every drop of potential out of every book”.
Imprint of the Year went to Little, Brown’s Piatkus, which judges said is “much changed since it was set up by Judy Piatkus in her spare bedroom in the late 1970s”. Rebecca Yarros’ romantasy series was a standout for the imprint, but there were several other bestselling authors, including Ana Huang and Lauren Asher, with praise going to the imprint’s long-term commitment to genre fiction, innovative sales and marketing teams and successful entry into the subscription box and special edition spaces.
Children’s Publisher of the Year went to Bloomsbury Children’s Books. Judges said: “Six years after its last outing on this shortlist… Bloomsbury burst back from a substantial restructure with a superb 2023.” Highlights included Katherine Rundell’s award-winning bestseller Impossible Creatures, while the publisher’s approach to diversity, sustainability and author care were all highly praised.
Bloomsbury also took the British Book Award for Export – powered by big-brand authors such as Sarah J Maas, T C Boyle and, as ever, J K Rowling. However, judges commented that there was “impressive strength in depth as well, with 26 titles selling more than 30,000 copies and revived interest in dozens of backlist books”.
Looking to retail, Welsh store Book-ish took the Independent Bookshop category for the second time in its 14-year history and the accompanying £5,000 from sponsor Gardners, with judges praising its “four straight years of sales growth, 12 subscriptions schemes, 36 school events, 14 book fairs, 4,700 newsletter subscribers”, as well as its “energetic team”.
Individual Bookseller of the Year went to Amanda Dunne Fulmer of Halfway up the Stairs in County Wicklow, five years after she joined the children’s specialist. Judges praised her creation of the shop’s popular subscriptions as well as her “deep empathy and photographic memory of customers”.
Book Retailer went to The Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, north London. It becomes the second indie to win the category in the past 11 years. Judges commented that while “it does the fundamentals of bookselling brilliantly… it is the array of activity beyond the shop that really sets [it] apart from other book retailers”. Highlights include World Book Day’s bumper-rosta of 35 external events across five days with a free party for 400 children amid teacher strikes.
The award for Rights Professional went to Karen Lawler, head of media rights and audio at Hachette’s children’s team, who was praised by one judge as a “dynamic and forward-looking rights pro”. Collins won Academic, Educational and Professional Publisher of the Year, seven years after winning it previously.
Finally, Designer of the Year went to a freelancer Jack Smyth, praised for his work on the Booker-winning Prophet Song (Oneworld), Henry Dimbleby’s Ravenous (Profile) and Pushkin Press’ Japanese novellas collection. “He’s got that rare alchemy of artistic vision and literary insight,” one author said.
The awards were attended by more than 1,000 guests and were hosted by Lauren Laverne and Rhys Stephenson. The show was also streamed online, with three regional parties also taking place. In the Book of the Year section, Murdle (Profile). won the top prize, while Georgian-Russian author Boris Akunin received the British Book Award for Freedom to Publish.
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