Six Months That Changed Everything: Salt’s Mentoring Experience with James Kellow

by Chris Hamilton-Emery

From systemic change to renewed ambition, how six months of IPG mentoring helped reshape Salt’s publishing strategy – and how eighteen months on the results are beginning to show.

When we signed up for the IPG’s mentoring scheme at the end of 2023, we knew Salt needed something more than a polish. After three years away from the Press, a planned relocation to Manchester that never materialised, and the combined aftershocks of Brexit, COVID and the cost‑of‑living crisis, we found ourselves running a resilient but overstretched publishing house. We were not broken, but we were not firing on all cylinders.

From January to June 2024, we worked closely with James Kellow, former CEO of HarperCollins Australia and now Managing Director of Batsford Books. I was not sure what mentoring at that level would feel like; as it turned out, it was six months of directness, generosity and some much‑needed intellectual aerobics. It became one of the most transformative periods Salt has experienced in the past decade.

This article is not a formal report, but a narrative of what changed, why it mattered, and how, eighteen months later, we are beginning to see those decisions pay off.

‘It became one of the most transformative periods Salt has experienced in the past decade.’

A press in flux

Before the mentoring began, Salt had endured several years of structural turbulence. Our anticipated move to Manchester – which ultimately did not happen – disrupted forward planning, shrinking our 2024 frontlist from twenty‑three books to twelve, with most concentrated in the second half of the year.

The irony, however, was that sales were up. Annual revenue rose 13.7 per cent year on year, with direct‑to‑consumer sales up an extraordinary 81 per cent. Encouraging, certainly, but we were running on instinct and stamina. What we needed was systemic renewal.

Enter James.

‘What we needed was systemic renewal.’

The Growth Plan – one page that started an earthquake

James’s first instruction was deceptively simple: write a one‑page Growth Plan. That single sheet of paper acted like a reset button across six key areas: finance, brand identity, business development, people and operations, commercial strategy, and consumer engagement.

The impact was immediate. We rebranded our messaging, launched a completely redesigned website, introduced Salt Members, adopted new marketing automations, reinstated formal publicity planning, refreshed blogger lists and media approaches, relaunched Instagram and tentatively entered Bluesky and TikTok, strengthened rights relationships, expanded export sales, and began wider regional collaborations.

It was reinvention at every level.

Diversification – but sensibly this time

Diversification is a seductive word. It can lead independents into genre cul‑de‑sacs and unsuitable experiments. The mentoring clarified that Salt did not need to abandon its identity to grow – we needed to publish more effectively within it.

A meeting in Leeds with Amanda Lees led to a new relationship with Coombs Moylett Maclean and to acquiring Zoë Apostolides’s debut, The Homecoming (2025). We reopened submissions briefly, then refocused on agented work. The list began to skew younger, livelier and more commercially aware without sacrificing literary intelligence.

Operations: rebuilding the machine

The appointment of Kirsty as in‑house Publicist professionalised our operations almost overnight: regular meetings, structured campaign development, clearer scheduling and accountability.

We rejoined the IPG, resubscribed to The Bookseller, undertook IPG Skills Hub training, mentored and were mentored, rebuilt internal systems, and interrogated workflows. A major step was the complete rebuild of our ONIX feeds following industry feedback, which resulted in a significant improvement to our bibliographic infrastructure.

We committed to the London Book Fair annually, reinforcing visibility and strengthening trade relationships.

Sales and market dynamics

The mentoring prompted a reassessment of market behaviour, especially around online retail and reader discovery. This was not about prioritising one retailer over another, but about understanding how different channels contribute to visibility, audience growth and long‑term sales.

We reviewed how our metadata performs across online retailers, how product descriptions and imagery shape discoverability, and how online channels complement bookshop and direct sales. These insights now feed directly into our commercial strategy.

Publicity: earlier, broader, sharper

With Kirsty in post, our publicity strategy became more structured, ambitious and, crucially, earlier. We printed uncorrected proofs for the first time in years, secured freelance support where needed, re‑established media contacts and took festival programming seriously.

Reviews followed: Daily Mail, Observer, Telegraph, Times Literary Supplement, and many more. But the most important shift was conceptual: reviews alone do not sell books; campaigns do.

James introduced the ‘seven touchpoints’ principle – every book should have at least seven meaningful encounters with readers. This reframed everything.

‘Reviews alone do not sell books. Campaigns do.’

Leadership – or ‘Why I must show up’

One of the most important lessons was personal: Salt needed a visible leader. Someone to articulate our evolution, engage the trade and signal where we were heading. It became clear that that person was me. 

We also recognised we had fallen into a perception trap as a small business rather than a modern independent publisher. Visibility, clarity and confidence became essential parts of the remit.

Eighteen months on: the results are in

Now, eighteen months after the mentoring began, we can finally measure its effects. We are now working with thirty‑one literary agents, a transformation in scale and ambition for the list.

Our 2026 programme is one of the strongest in Salt’s history, featuring major new works from Louis de Bernières, Michael Arditti, Tibor Fischer, Michelle Lovric and Erica Wagner, alongside ambitious debuts and genre expanders.

Our MAT is now 37 per cent up. Direct sales remain strong, and trade sales have grown. The rebalanced list is performing as we hoped.

We launched Salt Advantage, a dedicated bookseller mailing list, and House Magazine, our online hub for features, commentary and publishing news. Both have already deepened engagement with readers, booksellers and the wider industry.

We also undertook a further redesign of the Salt website, refining navigation, improving accessibility and expanding genre‑led discovery. These improvements strengthened the integration between publicity, sales and direct marketing.

Culturally, our presence has widened: more broadsheet reviews than at any time since 2016, more festival appearances, prize listings, higher social engagement and a clearer national profile.

The mentoring did not give us a map – it gave us the strength and clarity to draw one.