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Simon & Schuster Retains Publisher of the Year Title at British Book Awards

The team signed more diverse authors, published Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson, the first Book by a UK trans author to top the Sunday Times bestseller lists, and helped to broaden the appeal of its publishing, especially to young female readers.
on May 16, 2023

At the British Book Awards, Simon & Schuster has retained its title as Publisher of the Year, while its children's division also won. HarperCollins, meantime, took two awards: one for its HarperVoyager label and one for its export team. Book Retailer of the Year was awarded to W H Smith Travel.

Lessons in Chemistry from Transworld won the Marketing Strategy and Publicity awards at the ceremony held on Monday, May 15, at London's Grosvenor Hotel. Other winners included Oneworld, Boldwood Books, and RCW. Claire Wilson from RCW was named Agent of the Year, and Carolynn Bain from Afrori Books was named Individual Bookseller.

Only twice has a publisher won this coveted award back-to-back, with Simon & Schuster taking home the top honor this time. Sales increased by 21% in comparable terms to set a record high in Nielsen's Total Consumer Market, giving it a "stellar year" rating from the judges.

Sales of rights, co-editions, and exports were all at record highs. More picture books and Young Adults had a double-digit increase, and A F Steadman's Skandar and the Unicorn Thief won the Waterstones Children's Book of the Year, ensuring S&S also won Children's Publisher of the Year. The Children's Business of S&S experienced a record-breaking year in revenue and earnings, boosting its TCM turnover by a fifth and more than half since 2019.

Bardon received accolades for orchestrating a sharp increase in sales in 2022, guiding nine titles into the Sunday Times' top 10 lists and two to the top, with Babel also earning the title of Blackwell's Book of the Year.

With the establishment of Magpie Books, Bardon has expanded into YA publishing, competing with HarperVoyager for fantasy, sci-fi, speculative romance, and horror books. She was instrumental in developing HarperVoyager's TikTok creator house at the Hay Festival last Year, which brought together influencers to produce content for the social media platform and the debut of the Locked Library subscription box. She was "energetic, fantastic at spotting opportunities and achieving great results," according to the judges. Jasmine Richards of Storymix and Bella Pagan of Tor received great praise for their work as editors.

Following double-digit sales growth from its "energetic" worldwide staff, which was back on the road after Covid lockdowns and placed exports at the center of everything HC acquired and sold, HarperCollins also received the Export award, according to the judges. The panel noted that it is difficult to increase sales by this amount at a publisher this size, adding that there has been outstanding growth across all media and regions. The list, income, geographical coverage, marketing, and digital activities were outstanding. The shortlist included Atlantic Books, Pan Macmillan, and Canongate.

W H Smith Travel won Book Retailer of the Year for the third time in eight years. The judges noted resilience and new ideas in addition to the favorable year-over-year sales comparisons: "It is an impressive bounce-back from a very difficult few years." In addition to new concept stores with vibrant book sections, the firm launched three independent booksellers last Year, one each at the Luton, Manchester, and Edinburgh Waverley stations. It also changed locations in London and renovated its concessions within Harrods and Selfridges.

The Independent Bookshop of the Year award went to Gryphon Books in Penarth.

The judges said, "It is a complete all-rounder that does everything well." The purchasing is creative and effective, and Gryphon puts a lot of effort into and into its community. The shop saw double-digit sales growth in 2022 and has a book subscription service, a loyalty program that was updated in 2022, six book groups for readers of all ages, high-profile author events, and extensive community engagement.

Oneworld was named the Independent Publisher of the Year award, receiving acclaim from the judges for its "zeitgeist-capturing" literary publishing in the previous Year and its best-ever sales and profitability. This success resulted from a bold new commissioning strategy, devotion to long-term writers, and a choice to produce fewer books better.

Boldwood Books, the publisher's first Nibbie, won Small Press of the Year. Less than three years after releasing its first books, the company has signed 100 authors and sold more than 10 million volumes. Following record sales in 2022, Edinburgh University Press received another first Nibbie for Academic, Educational, and Professional Publisher of the Year. The scholarly mainstay has been in business for more than seven decades.

While this was going on, Transworld's marketing and publicity efforts for Lessons in Chemistry won both awards. The award for best marketing strategy went to Vicky Palmer and Lilly Cox. The judges remarked that "they built a whole world around the book with a really creative use of assets and merch working harmoniously with each other... the sales are unbelievable for a début."

Alison Barrow of the imprint was recognized with the British Book Award for Publicity Campaign of the Year, her second in six years. The judges praised the campaign as "tireless and getting the best from the author... it is really inspiring."

The coveted Agent of the Year title went to Claire Wilson of RCW, who, according to the judges, helped her writers achieve more success in a year than other agents may in a lifetime. Her clientele includes other British Book Award winners, Katherine Rundell (winner of Non-Fiction: Narrative) and Alice Oseman (Illustrator of the Year), with one customer referring to her as "a dream agent." She also serves as vice president of the Association of Authors' Agents, and the panel described her as "an advocate for change" in general.

The Children's Bookseller Award went to Waterstones and Bridton independent Round Table Books, as the judges could not distinguish between the winners. The company was praised for having a strong social media presence, particularly for starting BookTokFest. However, its efforts to promote fresh voices were commendable and were aided by its Children's Laureate, Book Prize, and Book of the Month and Year programs. "They break books in a way no one else does," the judges said. The panel commended Round Table Books, a community interest company in Brixton that was formed by publisher Knights Of, calling it "a truly amazing business with incredible passion and commitment." Sales increased once the shop moved in 2022, and it kept its promise to do significant outreach.

The award for best bookseller was awarded to Carolynn Bain, who opened the Afrori Books store in Brighton in reaction to the paucity of representation of African Americans in British children's literature and as a result of her rage over George Floyd's death. Along with the new Brighton Reading Festival, it has created a number of reading clubs, seminars, films, exhibitions, and even a pay-it-forward program that makes books and activities more accessible. "Carolynn has done life-affirming and absolutely essential work," the judges remarked. She recognized an issue and took action rather than just speaking.

Suzanne Dean of Vintage won Designer of the Year after spending more than 20 years producing eye-catching covers for Penguin Random House.

"She has a backlist of iconic cover after iconic cover, but with each new one, she innovates and takes risks," the judges said. The bar for what book design can and should be is raised when she delves into the stories to bring them to life via design.

Richard King was named the Year's top rights professional. In 2022, Bookouture became a significant force worldwide, and King transformed the process of negotiating translation, film, and television rights, which led to a near tripling of sales. "Richard is an exceptional rights person who has driven and grown the Bookouture business with some serious deals," the judges said. "He has elevated the list to significance on a global scale." Highly commended was Rachel Mills Literary's Alexandra Cliff.

More than a thousand people attended the awards ceremony on May 15 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Three regional parties were held in addition to the show's internet streaming. Lauren Laverne and Rhys Stephenson served as the hosts. Menopausing took home the top honor in the Book of the Year category, while author Salman Rushdie was given the British Book Award for Freedom to Publish.