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Faber milks farm memoir frenzy F


WORDS Tom Tivnan


ABER IS IN the midst of an international rights stampede for a “charming and delightful” farming memoir, more than a decade old, which follows a herd of catle in the Cotswolds. Rosamund Young’s The Secret Life of Cows—orig- inally published by the now-defunct micro-indie Farming Books & Videos in 2003—follows the cows on the author’s Kite’s Nest Farm as they “love, play games, bond and form lifelong friendships”. The title came to Faber’s atention aſter sales rep Mela- nie Tyrrell overheard a customer asking for it in a bookshop, only to be told it was out of print. Tyrrell later spoted an Alan Bennet diary, dated August 2006, in Keeping On, Keeping On that read: “I am reading The Secret Life of Cows by Rosamund Young, a delightful book... it alters the way one looks at the world.” Tyrrell notified editorial director Laura Hassan who, aſter securing a second-hand copy and “fall- ing in love with the glorious storytelling and Young’s gentle, warm voice”, bought world rights directly from the author. Since the acquisition, translation rights have been sold at “extraordi- nary speed” into eight territories, including France (Éditions Stock), Italy (Garzanti) and Spain (Seix Barral). Faber rights director Lizzie Bishop said that an 11-publisher auction was under way in Germany, with several US offers submited “within


Emily Fletcher


Bluebird adds two... and signs meditator


Rosamund Young days of sharing the manuscript”.


Hassan called the book a “litle gem of animal sentience”, adding: “At Young’s farm the cows roam free and are known by name rather than number—Horatio, Desdemona, Mrs Ogmore and Mrs Pritchard, Straw Beret and the orphan calf Jane Eyre—and they have personalities as diverse as [humans’]. She shows us how cows make friends, play games, nurse grudges, babysit for each other, grieve and form lifelong friendships.” Faber will reissue the book in the UK in October.


Doubleday draws Blood from Mayo


Doubleday will publish radio presenter Simon Mayo’s first adult novel, Mad Blood, inspired by the true story of a group of American sailors imprisoned in Dartmoor in the early 19th century. Film rights have been snapped up by former Film4 chief Tessa Ross (“Slumdog Millionaire”, “12 Years a Slave” and “Ex Machina”) and ex- Working Title TV boss Juliette Howell at House Productions, with Jack Thorne (“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”) set to write the screenplay. Bill Scott-Kerr acquired UK and Com- monwealth rights from Sam Copeland at


Fountain’s Pain gains screen adaptation option


Hartswood Films’ Sue Vertue has bought film and TV options to Painkiller by Private Eye journalist N J Fountain, in a deal brokered by Lucy Fawcett at Sheil Land. Painkiller (Little, Brown), a psychological thriller about a woman who suffers from chronic neuropathic pain, is based on the author’s experience of caring for a friend.


J 06


Edelstein the Main event as Picador bags memoir


Picador has acquired the memoir of writer and journalist Jean Han- nah Edelstein. Publishing director Francesca Main acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to This isn’t Really About You from Daisy Par- ente at Lutyens & Rubinstein, to publish in 2018. It is Edelstein’s account of losing her father and discovering she carried the gene that caused his terminal cancer. Main said: “Jean has a brilliant, deadpan wit that can make you laugh as she breaks your heart.”


Rogers, Coleridge & White, with plans to publish in spring 2018. Mayo said: “I knew as soon as I found the true story at the heart of Mad Blood that, while it would be the most complex of tales to tell, it would also be the most thrilling.” Scott-Kerr added: “From the moment


we started talking about this project, its dramatic potential and contemporary relevance were instantly and emphatically evident. Simon has unearthed an incred- ible true story and has brought his imagi- nation brilliantly and empathetically to bear on it.”


Pan Macmillan’s lifestle imprint Bluebird has announced two appointments: Kat Denny joins as senior editor from Vermilion, where she was commissioning editor, and Anastasia Symecko, who previously worked for the Civil Aviation Authorit, joins as communications executive. The appointments bring the


list’s staff to seven. Publisher Carole Tonkinson said: “Blue- bird’s first full year was a wonder- ful whirlwind. The imprint far exceeded expectations, and I’m delighted to beef up our team with two fantastic additions.” At the fair, Tonkinson pre-


empted UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to The M Word: Meditation for Busy Minds by Emily Fletcher from Kate McLennan at Abner Stein, acting on behalf of Cassie Hanjian at Waxman Leavell. The title aims to “destigmatise”meditation and make it “atractive, understand- able and easy for all”. Founder of Ziva Meditation, Fletcher’s fans include actors Michelle Williams and Channing Tatum. Bluebird will publish in 2019.


O’Connor returns to publishing at Bibliocloud


Team GB cyclist gears up for JB deal


Olympic Gold-winning cyclist Joanna Rowsell-Shand will publish a memoir in the autumn, docu- menting her sporting story and her experience of alopecia. James Hodgkinson at John Blake acquired world rights from Lauren Gardner at Bell Lomax.


Former Hot Key Books editorial and digital director Sara O’Connor is to join Bibliocloud, the start-up founded by Emma Barnes in 2011. O’Connor left the book trade 18 months ago to work for software firm Exceedra. Biblicloud provides publishing software services for a number of indie publishers. Barnes said she was “particularly proud” that O’Connor’s arrival meant the firm was now staffed predominantly by women, a rare feat for a tech business.


Souness kicks off new Headline title


Headline has acquired world rights to a new book by Graeme Souness, to publish in October, about football today. The deal was struck by consultant sports publisher Jonathan Taylor with Fahri Ecvet, chief operating officer of Wasserman’s Global Football division. Sky Sports pundit Souness won three Euro- pean Cups and five First Division titles as a player, and 11 trophies in three different countries as a manager.


15th March 2017


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