Mel Winder, Managing Director, is delighted to announce that Hachette Aotearoa NZ has appointed Kate Stephenson, previously Fiction Publisher at Wildfire/Headline Publishing Group (part of Hachette UK), to the newly created role of Senior Publisher.
Kate began her publishing career in 2009 in New Zealand at Steele Roberts after completing the Whitireia Diploma of Publishing, before heading to London in 2010 where she joined HarperCollins’ editorial team. Having been promoted to Commissioning Editor on their Avon list she joined Headline in 2016 as a Senior Commissioning Editor. At Headline, Kate helped set up the very successful Wildfire Books where she published fiction and non-fiction including bestsellers such as Harriet Tyce’s psychological thriller Blood Orange, which sold over half a million copies; Jennifer Saint’s stunning mythological retelling Ariadne, which was a Sunday Times bestseller and shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year; and the bestselling parody Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up which was published in 30 territories. Kate was promoted to Fiction Publisher at Wildfire in 2019 before deciding to return home to New Zealand in 2021.
At Hachette Aotearoa NZ Kate will be responsible for growing the list which is already well-known for its stable of bestselling and prize-winning adult authors, including Nicky Pellegrino, Ngaio Marsh award winner JP Pomare, and Nalini Singh, and last year published the bestselling Sonny Bill Williams’ biography (co-written with Alan Duff). Kate will publish a range of high-quality fiction (commercial and literary), and commercial non-fiction with a brief to find books that are page-turning, thought-provoking and emotionally resonant and will appeal to both New Zealand and international readers.
Working alongside Publisher & Product Manager, Alison Shucksmith, who oversees the children’s Moa imprint and the Edmonds cookery list, Kate will also work closely with her Hachette colleagues in Australia, the UK and US to seek out international opportunities for her authors and their books. Kate will start on the 8th Feb and will be accepting submissions from both agented and unagented authors, with details on the Hachette NZ website. Kate can be contacted at kate.stephenson@hachette.co.nz.
Kate Stephenson said: ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Mel and her excellent team at Hachette NZ. After eleven years in London, it feels great to be home, especially at a time when the appetite for books by and for New Zealanders seems stronger than ever. We have all seen just how important books are to people over the past couple of difficult years, and I’m honoured to be given the opportunity to work with Hachette’s established stable of hugely talented authors and to go in search of new voices to help shape the future of its local publishing list.’
Mel Winder said: ‘Kate was a powerhouse in UK publishing and will be a hugely exciting addition to the Hachette NZ team, and the NZ publishing scene more broadly. I am so impressed by her wealth of experience, her instincts for what people want to read, and am incredibly excited about the expertise, energy and flair she will bring to this role. This appointment is a real game changer for our NZ business and Kate is going to firmly establish Hachette NZ on the local, and international, publishing map.’
David Shelley (CEO, Hachette UK) said: ‘It is fantastic to welcome Kate back to Hachette. Having enjoyed terrific success over several years launching bestselling authors at Wildfire/Headline, it is very exciting that she will now be joining our publishing team in New Zealand. We have huge ambitions for our original publishing in New Zealand, and I am sure Kate will do amazing things there.’
About Hachette
Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand is part of Hachette Book Group, one of the world’s leading trade publishers. With sister companies in Australia, UK and the US, we are thrilled to work with some of the biggest names in the industry.
We are proud to publish a diverse and celebrated list of local authors and brands including Donovan Bixley, Edmonds Cookbooks, Margaret Mahy, Nicky Pellegrino, J.P. Pomare and Nalini Singh. In 2019 we were delighted to launch the annual Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize offering the unique opportunity for an unpublished New Zealand-based illustrator to illustrate Mahy’s classic stories. We are passionate about discovering new talent, working with established authors and building long careers.
