Helena Heald named as 2025 Bookseller Rising Star

We’re delighted to share the news that Helena Heald, Commissioning Editor for Ancient History and Classical Studies, has been named as a 2025 Bookseller Rising Star.  

Helena progressed within the marketing team before taking on the role of commissioning editor. She’s shown an ability to cross departments and has worked on additional projects to enhance metadata and implement our title management system while commissioning for her list.

Helena said: I’m delighted that my work to build my career has been recognised in this way, and I am so grateful for the great advice I’ve had over the years and the supportive team I work with. It’s so exciting to see the range of book industry roles represented in the Class of 2025, and particularly great that academic publishing is getting some attention.

Gillian Leslie, Deputy Head of Editorial, said: The Bookseller’s annual list of Rising Stars highlights up and comers across the entire publishing industry.  I’m delighted – but not surprised – that Helena has been included in the Class of 2025 as she has had an incredibly successful year at EUP in terms of both her commissioning and her collaborative team-working across the company to improve our systems. Helena adds this award to her IPG Young Independent Publisher Award and it is terrific to see her achievements recognised by the publishing industry.

The Bookseller's Rising Stars is an annual list of the book industry’s up and comers. The Class of 2025 highlight the importance of continuing to open the industry to diverse backgrounds. You can find out more about the 2025 awards here and see the full list of Rising Stars here.