The Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA) is delighted to announce the shortlists for their annual Industry Awards for 2023. The awards celebrate the hard work and talent of any person, group or organisation who has championed the broad genre of romantic fiction in a positive way.

Finalists for Editor of the Year 2023

Sara-Jade Virtue

Sara-Jade has worked in the book industry for 21 years, 16 of them at Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 12 as Special Sales Director and 4 in the Editorial team as Brand Development Director (Fiction) working across the commercial women’s fiction list, identifying new talent and developing growth strategies for brand and emerging authors. She continues to run the Books and the City community, manages the #DigitalOriginals publishing programme and #OneDay open submission project which has launched the careers of, amongst others, Heidi Swain, Jennifer Bibby, Holly Hepburn, Florence Keeling, Laura Bambrey, Jackie Fraser, Claire Frost, Julie Haworth, Caroline Scott and Christina Pishiris, leads the Jackie Collins reissue programme, and collaborations with Bradford Literature Festival, Black Girl Writers, Heat magazine, Hillingdon Libraries, Litalist and the RNIB, and runs the S&S #LibraryLink project. She leads the #RespectRomFic movement, aiming to increase the profile of romantic novelists in the UK, and is an active member and volunteer at her local community library.

Sara-Jade says, ‘It’s overwhelming to have been shortlisted for an RNA award for a second year! I’ve been inspired by the work the RNA does during my entire career in the book industry and over the years have been lucky enough to collaborate with the leadership team on many exciting and industry-first projects, but the greatest honour has been to stand alongside its members in leading the #RespectRomFic movement.’

Charlotte Ledger

Charlotte is Publisher of One More Chapter. She started in publishing in 2011 at Mills & Boon before moving across to HarperCollins in 2013. Since then, she has worked across commercial fiction from Sunday Times bestseller Sally Page to Julie Caplin, who has sold over a million copies worldwide. A champion for digital publishing, Charlotte was highly commended at the Futurebook awards and won the Book Marketing Society’s Best Shoestring Campaign for her work on the first online romance festival. She was shortlisted for The Bookseller and SYP’s Trailblazer of the Year award and has won the Romantic Novelist Association’s Publisher of the Year award twice.

Charlotte says, ‘I feel completely shocked to be nominated again and I don’t take this nomination for granted. It is a real honour to be recognised by authors who bring so much joy to millions of readers around the world.’

The winners of the ten awards will be announced during the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Winter Party and Industry Awards ceremony, which is being held at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London City, 8-14 Cooper’s Row, London EC3N 2BQ, on Monday 13th November 2023 at 6.30pm.

This year’s awards are sponsored by ProWritingAid, a manuscript editing software programme with in-app video learning for writers. Hayley Milliman, Head of Education at ProWritingAid said, ‘Congratulations to the finalists for the 2023 RNA Industry Awards! We applaud your accomplishments and hard work bringing beautiful stories to life.’