About Us | New River Books

SMALL STEPS TO BIG CHANGE

Founded by the core team behind Short Books, New River is a creative independent publishing house that punches well above its weight, spotting trends to create ground-breaking, high-end health, science and lifestyle books that enter the cultural conversation.

During their two decades at Short Books, Aurea Carpenter and Rebecca Nicolson turned out multiple bestsellers, including: How to Be a Bad Birdwatcher, Amo Amas Amat, The Good Granny Guide, Life Without Diabetes and 101 Things to do Instead of Playing on Your Mobile Phone, as well as the ten titles in the Fast 800 series by Dr Michael Mosley and his wife Clare Bailey, all of which topped the UK charts.

In 2019 they sold Short Books to Hachette, and in 2022, after three years’ invaluable experience of life in a big corporate publisher, they left to team up with the women who were key to their success at Short Books: Catherine Gibbs, managing director who steered Short Books to become one of the leading independent publishers in the UK; PR consultant Katherine Stroud, formerly of PRH, and founder of the PR Collective, who has helped propel multiple authors to prominence, such as the award-winning Colm Tóibín, and who has overseen all the press and publicity for Dr Michael Mosley’s bestselling books; and Ella Chapman, formerly of Hachette Australia and founder of marketing consultancy business Storytelling Group, who is social media strategist and campaign lead behind titles such as The Fast 800 Keto, The Power of Geography and Earthshot: How To Save Our Planet, and more.

Going against the grain of an industry where some 180k books are published annually, New River will publish on average just eight books a year and each title will be given the care and attention to detail that only a creative independent can offer. We promise a hands-on approach combined with deep insider knowledge of the trade, media and social media.

Meet The Team

Rebecca Nicolson

Co-Founder

Rebecca Nicolson worked for newspapers including the Observer, The Times and the Daily Mail, and was latterly deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday before, in 2001, co-founding, with Aurea Carpenter, Short Books. The company carved out its own distinctive brand as a provider of bright, spirited, informative non-fiction and established a reputation for having the highest hit rate of any small publisher in the UK. It was sold to Hachette in 2019.

Aurea Carpenter

Co-Founder

Aurea Carpenter, co-publisher of Short Books, worked as a writer and editor in various areas of journalism, including features editor of the Sunday Telegraph Magazine, before co-founding Short Books. There she became one of the country’s leading non-fiction editors, working on many of the biggest health titles in the last decade, including Michael Mosley’s Fast 800 series, now an international brand.

Catherine Gibbs

Managing Director

Catherine Gibbs worked in fashion before moving to publishing as finance manager of Short Books on its foundation in 2001. She continues to stitch as a volunteer with the rehabilitation charity Fine Cell Work. Also involved in the world of games publishing, until 2019 she was finance director of Portobello Games, creator of bestselling word game Snatch.

Ella Chapman

Marketing Director & Social Media Strategist

Formerly of Hachette Australia and UK, Ella Chapman is the founder of marketing consultancy business, Storytelling Group, and campaign lead behind titles such as The Fast 800 Keto, The Power of Geography and Earthshot: How To Save Our Planet.

Katherine Stroud

Head of PR

Katherine worked at Penguin before founding the PR Collective, where
she has helped propel multiple authors to prominence, such as the award-winning Colm Tóibín, and has overseen all the press and publicity for Dr Michael Mosley’s bestselling books.

Helena Sutcliffe

Editorial Director

Helena Sutcliffe worked in the charity and prison sectors before making the move to publishing, joining the Short Books team in 2018. She then spent five years at Hachette UK, where latterly as Senior Commissioning Editor she acquired books from bestselling authors such as Dr Federica Amati, Ben Carpenter and Professor Roy Taylor, as well editing the latest titles by Dr Michael Mosley and Dr Clare Bailey.