About Us
| Welcome to the Murdoch Books website. We hope that you enjoy perusing our list as much as we enjoy making it for you.
Each of you as authors, booksellers, readers and media, are very important partners for us and we have designed this website to be not only informative for you, but also a pleasure to visit. Please enjoy your journey through our showcase of wonderful books and feel free to send us any feedback on ways in which we can further enhance this experience for you. |
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WHO WE ARE
Murdoch Books is a proudly independent, Australian publishing company, under private ownership.
We began life as a subsidiary of Murdoch Magazines, which our Chairman and owner, Matt Handbury, purchased from News Limited in 1991. Under Matt’s ownership, Murdoch Books has grown rapidly to become a significant international publisher.
With our offices based in one of Sydney’s heritage-listed piers on the Harbour, we have full in-house editorial, design, production and publishing capabilities, complete with our extensive test kitchens on site. Our award-winning Australian sales and marketing team is supported by a fully owned subsidiary sales and marketing company in the UK. Our significant international market presence is assisted by our UK team who manage our extensive European foreign language and export sales, and our International Sales department located in Sydney sell to the North American market. With our books translated into more than 20 languages, Murdoch Books has carved out a reputation as a high quality international publisher.
Our mission as a company is to excite, delight and inspire our readers with beautifully produced books that have an unswerving commitment to integrity of content, innovation in design and high production values.
We are currently Australia’s seventh largest publisher and enjoy leading market positions in the Food, Gardening, Craft and History categories. While we relish our reputation in illustrated publishing, we are equally proud of the range and diversity of our rapidly growing Pier 9 narrative list, with its eclectic mix of fiction from around the world, memoir, biography, popular history and strong human interest stories.
Regardless of the imprint or the subject matter, however, every book on the Murdoch Books publishing program represents our commitment to publish the very best of the best.
KEY STAFF:
- Matt Handbury - Chief Executive Officer
- Kate Walsh - Chief Financial Officer
- Mark Ashbridge - Marketing Director
- Chris Rennie - Publishing Director
- Amanda Maclean - International Sales Director
KEY CONTACTS:
- Christine Jones - Managing Director of our UK office
- Sally Webb - Publisher of our Food titles
- Melanie Ostell - Publisher for Pier 9 narrative side, both fiction and non-fiction
- Tracy Lines - Publisher of Lifestyle titles
- Paul Mitchell - Publisher of Lifestyle titles
- Cara Codemo - Manager of our international sales operations
- Caryl Wiggins - Design Studio Manager
- Karen Small - Production Manager
- Mary-Jayne House - National Marketing Manager
- Noel Hammond - Sales Development Manager
HOW DO WE WORK
With a skilled in-house design and editorial team, Murdoch Books is
in a unique position to work closely with our authors, to produce a book
that captures their vision. We are able to work quickly to develop a
concept, and the team are very flexible and open in the way in which
they develop a book, maintaining regular communication and feedback
throughout the production process. This is only possible because, unlike
most traditional trade publishers, our authors can work directly with
the creative team, avoiding delays and other problems which can arise in
a more distant working relationship.
We also operate our own fully equipped, on-site test kitchens, where we
test every new food recipe, ensuring that each and every recipe in a
Murdoch Books title is reliable. This testing regime, supported by our
team of experienced food editors and home economists, help us ensure
that our international reputation as a food publisher is maintained.
Our sales & marketing team are well trained and very experienced,
with good relationships with their customers throughout the world. As a
result, Murdoch Books is a very significant supplier to both the
traditional and non-traditional outlets. Our sales team are very
involved in the publishing process from the earliest stages and are able
to bring a unique level of focus to the titles.
Matt Handbury
CEO
Murdoch Books