our story
September is an award-winning list of illustrated, non-fiction and fiction print, ebooks and audiobooks. Our focus is on titles that will expand readers’ worlds, transforming and inspiring.
We were founded in 2014 by Hannah MacDonald with a clear mission to put our authors first – offering focused editorial, marketing and publicity attention; to work with them as a team on the long-term success of their books. We have published books with English Heritage and the Van Gogh Museum and sold rights to our titles in multiple languages and territories.
September won a BA Small Press of the Year Regional Award in 2020 and 2021, and in 2023 were Highly Commended. In 2020 we were also nominated for the IPG Newcomer Award and were a beneficiary of the Arts Council Culture Recovery Fund.
In 2024 September joined Duckworth Books, an independent publisher established in 1898, in which it continues to thrive. In 2026, Duckworth Books won the BA Small Press of the Year Regional Award.
OUR TEAM
Hannah MacDonald
Publisher and Founder
After twenty years of publishing at Andre Deutsch, Random House and HarperCollins, Hannah founded September. She specialises in a creative approach to shaping books with debut authors, brands and personalities. She has published multiple top ten bestsellers across memoir, media, sport, history and led many start-up projects: from fiction lists to apps. She is also the author of two well-received novels, The Sun Road and Julianna Kiss, and a winner of a Betty Trask Award for first novels. Starting an independent publisher was a natural extension of a life-long, escapist pleasure in buying, reading and – above all – sharing good books. @septemberpublishing
Charlotte Cole
Editorial Director
Charlotte began her book publishing life at The Women’s Press in 1994 and went on to become editorial director at Ebury Publishing. She has worked with September from the beginning, and today manages the editorial process for the September list as well as print production across Duckworth. Charlotte works remotely from Cumbria, and when she doesn’t have her nose in a book she’ll be out on the fells.
Amie Jones
Marketing and Operations Manager
A specialist in purpose-led organisations, Amie worked in marketing and communications for charities and not-for-profits, including the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion and Chester Cathedral, before joining September in 2023. A self-confessed book addict and Victorian literature devotee, when she’s not reading Amie can usually be found helping out on her family farm in North Wales.
Plus the office dogs
