Nigel Newton: Bloomsbury, From J.K. Rowling to Sarah J. Maas

Nigel Newton, founder and CEO of Bloomsbury Publishing, joins us from the floor of the London Book Fair on Episode 16 of Unedited. We discuss his journey to the top of the book world, from his days at Cambridge, to his time as a graduate trainee at Macmillan, to landing a job as a sales manager at Sidgwick & Jackson. We dive into the birth of Bloomsbury, the business plan for which Nigel wrote while on paternity leave, and we revisit the story of how Nigel’s then 8-year-old daughter Alice played a part in the original publication by Bloomsbury of Harry Potter. We also flash forward to the hottest commodity in today’s book market, romantasy, which Bloomsbury brought into mainstream publishing with A Court of Thorns and Roses. And we find out Nigel’s advice for young (in career terms) writers hoping to break out in an ever-changing world.

Nigel Newton is the Founder and Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing, which he conceived in 1984 and started in 1986, launching the company with three other experienced publishers. Well known for his part in signing J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, Newton’s innovation and foresight across genres has led Bloomsbury to creative and financial success for four decades. He is a recent past President of the Publishers Association, past chairman of the British Library Trust and past chairman of the Charleston Trust. Newton received the LBF Lifetime Achievement Award in publishing. In 2021, he was awarded a CBE for services to the publishing industry in The Queen’s New Year Honours.