London, 2 February 2017: The winners of the second London Book Fair Trailblazer Awards were announced by The London Book Fair last night at an inspiring and stylish event at Soho House in London.
Celebrating young talent under the age of 30 in publishing, the winners of the 2017 Trailblazer Awards are:
- Anna Russo, Sales Executive at Hodder Education
- Caroline Tatam, Platform Marketing Executive at Cambridge University Press
- Claire O’Neill, Business Affairs Manager at Audible
- Željka Marošević, Co-Publisher at Daunt Books Publishing
- Heather McDaid, Publisher at 404 INK / Scot Lit Fest
Now in its second year, the Trailblazer Awards are created by The London Book Fair and supported by the Society of Young Publishers and BookBrunch. Max Porter delivered a speech at the awards.
Jacks Thomas, Director of The London Book Fair, commented: “Each of this year’s winners have demonstrated innovation, ambition and creativity in the publishing industry. The variety of jobs represented in the list is a reflection of the diversity of roles, sectors and organisations that contribute to the success of 21st century publishing. Narrowing our list to five winners was a huge challenge for the judging panel – the entries exemplified the talent, passion and commitment that underpins the industry and with these Trailblazers we can be confident of its future.”
Chosen by a panel of judges – including Jacks Thomas, BookBrunch’s Neill Denny, Peter McKay, CEO of the PTC, the PA’s Emma House and Zara Markland, 2016 Chair of the Society of Young Publishers – the five winners will each receive:
- VIP entry to The London Book Fair 2017
- Membership to The Club at the Ivy pop-up at the Fair
- Inclusion in the LBF International Excellence Awards
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Media enquiries: Please contact Daniel Freeman or Edwina Boyd-Gibbins at Midas PR: 020 7361 7860, Daniel.freeman@midaspr.co.uk / Edwina.Boyd-Gibbins@midaspr.co.uk
Notes to editors:
The London Book Fair (LBF)
The London Book Fair (LBF) is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. Taking place every spring in the world’s premier publishing and cultural capital, it is a unique opportunity to explore, understand and capitalise on the innovations shaping the publishing world of the future. LBF brings you direct access to customers, content and emerging markets. LBF 2017, the 46th Fair, will take place from 14 – 16 March 2017, Olympia London. LBF’s London Book and Screen Week will run for the third year, with the book fair as the pivotal three day event within a seven day programme. London Book and Screen Week will begin on Monday 13 March. For further information, please visit: www.londonbookfair.co.uk.
The Trailblazer Awards
The Trailblazer Awards were founded by The London Book Fair in 2015. The Trailblazer Awards celebrate publishers under the age of 30 who have demonstrated innovation, creativity, a can-do attitude, passion for the industry and for winning, ambition, and a desire to be the best at what they do. Nominees must be under 30 as of 14 March 2017, and must work in the publishing industry within the UK.
The Awards are supported by the Society of Young Publishers and BookBrunch. The winners of the first Trailblazer Awards in 2016 were:
- George Burgess, Entrepreneur and Marketing Lead at Gojimo
- Clio Cornish, Executive Publisher at HarperCollins
- Nick Coveney, Head of Digital at Kings Road Publishing
- Ella Kahn, Co-Founder of DKW Literary Agency & Bryony Woods, Co-Founder of DKW Literary Agency
TRAILBLAZER AWARDS 2017 WINNERS
Anna Russo, Sales Executive, Hodder Education
https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/
Following the acquisition of a list for the Caribbean, Anna showed energy, vision and professionalism in managing bookshop, school and Ministry of Education sales. She has displayed attitude and decision making beyond her years. Anna is a rising star in the industry.
Caroline Tatam, Platform Marketing Executive, Cambridge University Press
Caroline was the top ranked recruit into CUP’s 2013 graduate programme, from 500 applicants. She became communications lead for the launch of its flagship Cambridge Core platform, (shortlisted for the 2016 Futurebook Awards). Focussed, incisive, and a skilled team player, she has fans at all levels, and is just 24.
Claire O’Neill, Business Affairs Manager, Audible UK
Audio is experiencing impressive growth and Claire works tirelessly acquiring and developing unique audiobooks showcasing the medium’s power. This year, she has worked with talent across the board – from Twitter sensation The Man Who Has It All, to Radio 1 DJ Gemma Cairney, delighting customers through creative audio storytelling. Alongside Audible, Anna is the co-founder of film production company, Beehive Films. Both at Audible and Beehive Films it continues to be her personal mission to produce content which is relevant, inclusive and inspiring; to find and share stories that would otherwise go unheard.
Željka Marošević, Co-Publisher, Daunt Books Publishing
http://www.dauntbookspublishing.co.uk/
Željka graduated from Cambridge University in 2011. She is very smart and dedicated, and, having run Melville House UK when she was still in her early 20s, has since become co-publisher of Daunt Books Publishing. She has a great eye and real integrity, and will go very far indeed.
Heather McDaid, Publisher, 404 INK / Scot Lit Fest
http://www.404ink.com / https://scotlitfest.com/
Heather has creativity and passion in spades. She is also loaded with talent and smartly uses technology to support books and authors. She ran Scot Lit Festovatively open festival showcasing Scotland internationally. She also recently co-founded a new literary magazine called 404 Ink.
2017 Shortlist
Congratulations to all those shortlisted:
- Luke Allan, Carcanet Press
- Yassine Belkacemi, John Murray
- Sarah Braybrooke, Scribe
- Simon Collinson, Canelo / Tilted Axis Press
- Nathan Connolly, Dead Ink Books
- Leanne Coombes, Midas Public Relations
- Tik Dalton, Snowbooks
- Jessica Duffy, Pan Macmillan
- Alice Geary, Midas Public Relations
- Alainna Hadjigeorgiou, Quercus Books
- Andrew James, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
- Jasmin Kirkbride, Jasmin Kirkbride Publishing & Design Services
- Jihan Latimer, The Tale of Miss Berta London
- Fiona Livesey, Laurence King Publishing
- Kesia Lupo, Chicken House
- Željka Marošević, Daunt Books Publishing
- Sharan Matharu, Hodder & Stoughton
- Heather McDaid, 404 Ink
- Phoebe Morgan, Avon, HarperCollins
- Claire O’Neill, Audible UK
- Natasha Onwuemezi, The Bookseller
- Louis Patel, HarperCollins Publishers
- Daniel Postlethwaite, Page to Pixels
- Anna Russo, Hodder Education
- Sarah Sleath, Swales and Willis & Impress Books
- Olivia Tanner, Rising Stars UK Ltd.
- Caroline Tatam, Cambridge University Press
- Samantha Taylor, Wichtig International Limited
- Eve Wersocki, Midas Public Relations
- Lucy Zhou, Princeton University Press