MEET THE TEAM

Hannah Baxter-Deuce

Head Publisher

As Publisher at Bloodhound Books, Hannah possesses a wealth of experience working in both independent publishing houses and the ‘Big Five’. Having worked up through the Marketing and Publicity side of the industry after gaining her Masters Degree in Publishing Studies, she now oversees the publishing process at Bloodhound, heading up the highly experienced team and list of authors. Hannah has worked on hundreds of commercial fiction campaigns across multiple genres and specialises in digital-first publishing. When Hannah isn’t working or reading, she can be found training with her Dressage horse, Vince, or walking her dog, Mavis.

Hannah will be on maternity leave starting from January 2027 and plans to return in autumn of that year. She’s handing the reins over to Ellie Pilcher in the interim.

Ellie Pilcher

Interim Head Publisher

Eleanor 'Ellie' Pilcher is an award-winning book marketer, author and content creator with over a decade of experience working in publishing across adult fiction and non-fiction at Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin, and many other publishers. She is a 360 publisher, specialising in commercial fiction, social media, digital advertising, and author care.

She will be temporarily stepping into the role of Head Publisher while Hannah Baxter-Deuce is on maternity leave and is excited to be joining the team. Any queries that would normally be directed to Hannah should be sent to Ellie during this time.

Tara Lyons

Head of Operations

Tara studied English Literature at Brunel University – purely due to her love of reading and creative writing – and, once graduated, became an Assistant Editor on an in-house magazine, where her interest in publishing was ignited. Tara has worked with Bloodhound since 2016, in many different roles, and now her duties include overseeing the development of all our books, from the submission stage to the finished product ready for publication. Any agented submissions should be sent directly to Tara.

Lexi Curtis

Marketing Publishing Executive

Lexi approaches her position as Publishing Marketing Executive with the same creative passion and unique perspectives that she gained through her Master’s degree of Graphic Design. Thriving under the pressure of the fast-paced environment of digital publishing, Lexi takes on each book as a new project and comes up with innovative ideas, designs, and advertising approaches to maximise the book’s promotion. When she is not immersed in the digital world of design, she can just as easily get lost in cooking international cuisines or curled up with a good book and a cup of tea.

Claudia Kennerley

Publishing Executive

Claudia has spent over ten years in book publishing and has a comprehensive understanding of every aspect of the business. After studying American Studies at the University of East Anglia and the University of California, she began her career at Penguin and HarperCollins, then moved to the agenting side at WME. She went on to join the independent arts publisher Palazzo Editions selling international rights and co-editions, before taking a career break to raise her young children. She now works freelance in the UK publishing industry in the children and adult sectors.

Patricia Dixon

Commissioning Supervisor

Patricia’s love of books began at an early age with Enid Blyton and the classics, fuelling her passion for literature and writing. She is an international best-selling author of 20 novels and writes across genres. Patricia also alpha reads for a number of known authors and has a keen eye for detail and a great respect for well-researched plots. Her go-to genres are literary, historical, and contemporary women’s fiction. She is a commissioning supervisor at Bloodhound Books and always on the lookout for an undiscovered gem.

Clare Law

Commissioning Editor

Clare Law is CIEP trained and has been editing for Bloodhound since 2016. She is passionate about supporting authors as they develop their novels to ensure our readers get texts that are well crafted at both the structural level and the sentence level. For details on how to submit to the team, please read our submissions page.

Abbie Rutherford

Associate Editor

Always found with a book in her hands, Abbie decided to make her passion her career by training as a copyeditor and proofreader with the Publishing Training Centre and Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading. In 2022, she graduated with a Master’s degree in English Studies.
Abbie loves a wide range of genres, covering the whole spectrum from Victorian literature to twisty psychological thrillers.

Ian Skewis