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About Us

What is Harper Reach?



Harper Reach is run by the HarperCollins UK international sales team, who sell and promote amazing trade books in the English Language to customers in the Open Markets (Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America & the Caribbean). This site is your destination for updates on new titles, exclusive author content, events, resources and much more.

Meet The Team

Introduction to the Open Market Team


The Open Market team represent HarperCollins UK, supporting international booksellers and distributors across the world. We are primarily based in the UK, but we also have members of the team in the US, China, Hong Kong, and Brazil. Each country has their own sales rep – if you don’t know yours yet, you’ll hopefully find them below!

Ben Wright, International Sales Director

Countries: All

Ben is the International Sales Director, responsible for all HarperCollins trade sales outside the UK and Ireland. He joined the company in 2019 and prior to that held a variety of sales positions at Pan Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Hachette in the UK. Ben will read pretty much anything and everything from popular science to crime fiction, while romantic comedies are his guilty pleasure, having just finished Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane. 

All-time favourite book(s): Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

Best book(s) read in the past year: Land by Simon Winchester, Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli, Katherine Heiny’s Early Morning Riser and Babel by R.F. Kuang

Pauline Gilbert, Open Market Sales Director

Countries: The Netherlands, with general oversight for all countries in the open markets

Pauline has been at HarperCollins for over 20 years. She began her time here as an assistant for Asia and the Middle East and since then has continued to work in the open markets, the best area of sales in her opinion!

All-time favourite book(s): Anything by Alice Munro

Best book read in the past year: Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

Julie Jessup (she/her), Senior International Sales Manager

Countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, France, Italy, Belgium & Luxembourg, Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Romania and Bulgaria

Julie has worked at HarperCollins Publishers for a number of years and always in the Open Market team as she enjoys the variety and uniqueness of working in export sales. Julie enjoys reading commercial fiction and YA. She has also recently become a big fan of audio books.

All-time favourite book(s): Broken by Daniel Clay

Best book read in the past year: Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

Lauren Renshaw, European Sales Manager

Countries: Albania, Austria, Bosnia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Kosova, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine

Lauren joined HarperCollins in 2015 originally as a Sales Assistant in the Open Markets team. Seven years later, she now works with booksellers in over 25 countries across Europe. Lauren enjoys reading a variety of genres, including historical fiction, romantic comedy, YA and even a bit of true crime.

All-time favourite book(s): Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Best book read in the past year: Weyward by Emilia Hart

Stacey Lai, Manager, International Sales

Countries: Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Laos, Cambodia

Stacey has held various roles in international sales and marketing before coming to HarperCollins in 2019. She enjoys reading nonfiction (mainly history), cozy crime, and children’s books.

All-time favourite book(s): Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Matilda

Best book read in the past year: The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman

Natalie, Sales Manager, Middle East and North Africa

Countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates

Natalie worked in Fashion and also answering Jamie Oliver’s fan mail before realising a career in publishing was much more exciting. In her spare time, Natalie loves reading non-fiction or relaxing with a good horror book, but has been known to read gothic romance too. 

All-time favourite book(s): The Shining by Stephen King

Best book read in the past year: The Theory of Everything Else by Dan Schreiber

Beatriz Alves, International Sales Manager

Countries: Latin America and the Caribbean

Based in São Paulo, Brazil, Beatriz has been working as a shared sales manager for HarperCollins USA and UK since August 2016. She started working in the book industry back in 2006 importing books from Europe and the United States for a wholesaler in Brazil. Beatriz has always enjoyed reading in different language: Portuguese (native language), Spanish and English. She particularly enjoys novels written by women, Latin American magical realism, literary fiction, and memoirs.

All-time favourite book(s): One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márquez and the Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante

Best book read in the past year: The Book of Goose by Yijun Li and Bad Girls by Camila Sosa Villada

Sean McLachlan, Sales Executive

Countries: Sub-Saharan Africa. excluding South Africa; and Pakistan

Sean joined the Open Markets team in 2021 and is the main point of contact for customers in Africa and Pakistan, as well as providing support across the team. There’s not much he won’t read but he particularly likes American literary fiction, memoir, and eye-opening current affairs books, as well a romance with a good hook (see: Impossible by Sarah Lotz).

All-time favourite book: The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy

Best book read in the past year: The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, and Do Not Disturb by Michela Wrong

Michael Zhang, Marketing Director, North Asia

Countries: China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam

Michael has been working with HarperCollins UK & US for almost 12 years. He is always interested in new opportunities, whether it’s a new product, a new customer or a new business model. Michael enjoys reading Science Fiction, Fantasy, Business, History and Literature.

All-time favourite book(s): The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Best book read in the past year: We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu

Cathy Huang, Sales Manager, China

Countries: China

Cathy bas been working at HarperCollins for 7 years now, with a career in publishing spanning more than 15 years. She enjoys reading a wide range of books across both non-fiction and fiction.

All-time favourite book(s): Little Women by Louise May Alcott

Best book read in the past year: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Yvonne Yip, Marketing Manager, Taiwan

Countries: Taiwan

Yvonne has been working at HarperCollins for 6 years, first as an assistant, then as a sales rep for Guangdong area. She now looks after Taiwan. Yvonne enjoys reading detective novels, gothic horror, science fiction, and poems – anything from Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft to Agatha Christie.

All-time favourite book(s): Any poem collections by Edgar Allan Poe (as long as it includes Annabel Lee!).

Best book read in the past year: The Initial Insult duology by Mindy McGinnis

Chloe Gough, Sales Executive, Open Markets

Countries: All countries in the open markets

Chloe has been a Sales Executive in the Open Markets team since March 2022 when she started at the company. Chloe assists the sales managers and can help with enquiries regarding proofs and POS. She enjoys reading fantasy, literary fiction and ecofiction.

All-time favourite book(s): Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Overstory by Richard Power and Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

Best book read in the past year: How to Speak Whale by Tom Mustill

Yema Stowell, Marketing Manager, Open Markets

Countries: All countries in the open markets

Yema has worked in publishing for seven years, starting off in educational publishing before moving to HarperCollins at the end of 2021. Having studied history at university, she enjoys a well-written historical fiction, as well as contemporary fiction and the occasional foray into romance and fantasy.

All-time favourite book(s): Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks and Harry Potter

Best book read in the past year: Still Life by Sarah Winman

Contact us

Please read the team descriptions above to address your enquiry to the right person. If you are unsure, just select 'unsure' and your enquiry will be answered by the appropriate member of the team.