I have over 25 years’ experience of creating targeted and impactful campaigns for a wide range of fiction and non-fiction titles, which have launched debuts, built brands, engaged readers and driven sales. I launched Helen Richardson PR in 2019 and specialize in freelance Book PR and, as a Publicity Consultant, in offering expert advice to publishing companies on publicity strategy.
I led the publicity team for nearly 20 years at the Orion Publishing Group. As Group Publicity & Communications Director, I managed a team of 12 publicists and was responsible for corporate communications and publicity strategy for all six imprints: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Fiction, Gollancz, Orion Spring, Seven Dials and Trapeze.
At the same time, I ran high-profile publicity campaigns and author tours for major authors, debuts and celebrities including Anthony Horowitz, Michelle Paver, Antonia Fraser and Nobel-Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai. I am a past Chair of the Publisher’s Publicity Circle and won a PPC Award for my campaign for Ian Rankin’s The Falls.
Previous campaigns include:
Crime & thriller writers including Ian Rankin, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Denise Mina, Anthony Horowitz, Henry Porter, Walter Moseley, Lesley Thomson, Judith O’Reilly and Rachael Blok.
Autobiography and Memoir: Tina Brown (The Vanity Fair Diaries), Antonia Fraser (Must You Go?, My History), Sir Edmund Hillary (The View From Here), Nando Parrado (Miracle in the Andes), John Sutherland (Blue), Lady Pamela Hicks (Daughter of Empire), John McEnroe (But Seriously), Malala Yousafzai (I am Malala),
Politics & Society: Fintan O’Toole (Three Years in Hell), Mona Eltahawy (Headscarves and Hymens), Carl Honoré (In Praise of Slow), Sue Palmer (Toxic Childhood, 21st Century Boys), Dana Thomas (Fashionopolis)
Literary fiction including Alice Walker (Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart), Vikram Seth (Summer Requiem), Michelle Paver (Dark Matter, Thin Air), Joanne Harris (Chocolat), Glenn Patterson (Where are We Now?), Diane Setterfield (The Thirteenth Tale), Andrew Meehan (The Mystery of Love)
Women’s fiction authors including Erica James, Adèle Geras
History: Antonia Fraser (Perilous Question, The King and the Catholics), Philippe Sands (East West Street), Wendy Moore (How to Create the Perfect Wife), James Holland (Fortress Malta), Adrian Goldsworthy (Augustus, Antony & Cleopatra, Pax Romana), Bettany Hughes (Istanbul)
Celebrities including Carol Drinkwater, Martin Kemp, David Essex, June Whitfield, Leslie Philips, Judi Dench, Terry Wogan
Humour: Paul Merton (Funny Ha Ha), Rebecca Front (Curious, Impossible Things Before Breakfast)
Nature: John Lewis Stempel (Where Poppies Blow), Nicholas Crane (The Making of the British Landscape), Steve Nicholls (Flowers of the Field)
Music and show biz: Hunter Davies (The John Lennon Letters), Louis Barfe (Happiness and Tears)
Cookery & Lifestyle: Sophie Grigson (Eat Your Greens), Cherry Menlove (The Handmade Home)
Helen Richardson PR 