Jessica Kingsley Publishers people

Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Ltd. (London, UK)

Jessica Kingsley, Chairman and Managing Director

Having graduated from Warwick University with a degree in philosophy, Jessica travelled round Europe for six months and then lived in Berlin. On returning to London, she went to work for a group of companies distributing American academic and professional books throughout Europe, eventually becoming Marketing Director. Frustrated by the difficulty of selling books published for a different market, she started JKP on her kitchen table at the beginning of 1987, with an overdraft of £5000. She has been Chairman of the Independent Publishers Guild, served on the British Council Publishers Advisory Council, and was for many years a member of Council of the Publishers Association. Most recently she was Chairman of the Society of Bookmen, and she now serves on the Advisory Committees of the Publishing MA courses at the London College of Communication, and City University.

Dee Brigham, Company Secretary and Director

Dee Brigham joined JKP as a full time accounts manager in 1997 and was appointed as Company Secretary. She is responsible for finance, HR and office management. She was appointed a director in 2001. Prior to her full time position with JKP Dee worked as a freelance bookkeeper for a number of independent publishers including JKP as well as two trade journal publishers. During that time she also completed her studies with the Open University gaining a first class honours degree.

Jemima Kingsley, Director

Jemima Kingsley established the JKP website in the late 1990s and joined JKP full time in 2003. She is responsible for electronic publishing and the website and became a Director in 2007. Jemima previously worked as a webmaster for GameSpot UK and the BBC, and managed the publications and website for the Policy Studies Institute.

Robert Rooney, Director

(View biography below.)

Bill Goodall, Sales Manager

Bill Goodall has spent more than 20 years in the publishing industry, and worked in a variety of sales roles at WH Allen/Virgin Books and Simon & Schuster before joining JKP in 2005. He is responsible for sales to booksellers and specialist organisations, and also organises JKP's attendance at conferences and exhibitions.

Helen Ibbotson, Commissioning Editor

Helen Ibbotson is an English graduate from the University of Birmingham, and has a Post-graduate diploma in publishing from West Herts College. She began her career in publishing as a production editor for Taylor & Francis in 2000, and in 2001 she went on to work as part of the commissioning team for Architecture, Landscape and Planning. Helen joined Jessica Kingsley Publishers in 2005 and is responsible for commissioning books on dementia, care of the elderly, music therapy, drama therapy and sections of the disability list.

Helen Ibbotson is currently on maternity leave.

Stephen Jones, Commissioning Editor

Stephen Jones has worked in book publishing since 1999. His first publishing job was at Kogan Page Ltd, where he started out commissioning business and transport books, before moving on to commission the education list. Stephen subsequently moved to work for Taylor & Francis publishers in 2003, where he specialized in higher education, and joined Jessica Kingsley Publishers in 2004. Stephen has particular responsibility for commissioning titles in the fields of social care and art therapy, and is always interested to hear new or innovative ideas for books and resources relating to these subjects.

Helen Longmate, Marketing Manager

Helen Longmate is a French Graduate with an MA in Medieval French from University College London and a background in Citizen Advocacy. She joined JKP at the beginning of 2003 in the Sales and Marketing department and is now responsible for direct and electronic marketing and publicity and oversees foreign language rights.

Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Inc. (Philadelphia, USA)

Jessica Kingsley, Chairman

(View biography above.)

Robert Rooney, President

Robert Rooney has almost 30 years experience in the book industry. Beginning in retail bookselling, he quickly became a publisher's sales representative for W.H. Smith for several years. He then moved to Chelsea House as Sales Director. From there he went to Taylor & Francis for 18 years, holding positions of increasing responsibility until he became Vice President, Sales and Marketing for 15 years. During his tenure, sales increased nearly 50 fold and he was part of the management team that successfully took the company public. Among his many duties at T&F he headed the division that acted as the exclusive agent for foreign publishers in the United States and it was here that he first met Jessica Kingsley, as T&F served as Jessica Kingsley Publishers' exclusive agent in the US for over a decade.

Robert left Taylor & Francis in 2003 and in 2004 he agreed to open the American office of Jessica Kingsley Publishers and serve as President. He is delighted to report that the new office has met with rousing approval from both our authors and our customers. Principally a sales and marketing office, Robert is keenly interested in raising awareness of our publishing program, books and authors in the US market. He has always had a great love of books and all aspects of publishing. It has always been his desire as a professional to be part of something worth doing.

Dee Brigham, Company Secretary

(View biography above.)

Tony Schiavo, Marketing Manager

Tony Schiavo is responsible for JKP's marketing effort in the United States and handles all queries regarding direct mail, conferences, publicity, reviews, and advertising in the US. Tony has worked in publishing since 1994, including stints with John Benjamins and Taylor & Francis, and has experience in sales, customer service, production, and graphic design.

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