HarperVoyager swoops in for Ellis Hunter debut
HarperVoyager has scooped Harvill Secker deputy publishing director Katie Ellis-Brown and book publicist and bestselling author Becky Hunter’s ( 4) Blood Bound – written under the pseudonym Ellis Hunter – in a six-figure deal. The book is the first of a trilogy.
Natasha Bardon, publisher at HarperVoyager and Harper Magpie, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to the book from Hunter’s agent Sarah Hornsley at Peters Fraser + Dunlop and Janklow & Nesbit’s Hayley
Canongate moves for Patrick Ness’ ‘genre-bending, phenomenal’ love story
HQ triumphs in Rose Ferguson auction
HQ has triumphed in a “hotly contested” seven-way auction for Rose Ferguson’s “groundbreaking guide to reclaiming health and balance”. HQ publishing director Danielle Pender acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to The Reset from Kate Evans at Peters Fraser + Dunlop. The book is slated to publish in autumn 2026. Ferguson will draw on her years
of expertise as a qualified nutrition- ist and functional medicine prac- titioner to focus on the root cause of illness rather than just the symptoms. The publisher describes The Reset as a “ground- breaking guide to reclaiming health and balance in a world of constant stress, overstimulation and burnout”.
REPORTING Maia Snow 7 39
Steed, on behalf of Ellis-Brown. US rights sold in a “major pre-empt” to Emilia Rhodes at Atria. The book follows Astrid, last
Nachstern witch and heir to the Queendom of Arturea, cursed by a centuries-old covenant to duel the heir to the Kingdom of Vatra for the source of all magic: the Heart. But now Astrid’s time is up as she heads “into enemy territory to face Prinze Zryan, the most powerful dragon rider in eons”.
REPORTING Maia Snow 4
Stallone memoir goes to Seven Dials after lengthy fight
5
Canongate has fallen for a “genre- bending” novel following a “phenomenal love story” by Patrick Ness, his first work for adults in nearly a decade. Canongate’s publisher-at-large Francis Bickmore acquired world English rights to the new adult novel Meridian from Michelle Kass at Michelle Kass Associates. The title is set for a spring 2027 release.
Faber scoops Ashley Hickson- Lovence novel
Faber has snapped up About to Fall Apart, Ashley Hickson-Lovence’s ( 6) “propulsive” new novel
IGGY LONDON
Borough Press’ Dooré makes a play for Duker’s Dong
Meridian lays out one love affair
across a multitude of different settings and eras, from a dystopian near-future to the battlefields of the Second World War, from the last days of the Wild West to the scene of a high-school shooting, from an orbiting spacecraft to a contemporary Sydney harbour.
REPORTING Maia Snow
Seven Dials has triumphed in a 16-publisher UK auction to land The Steps, the long- awaited memoir from film- maker and global superstar Sylvester Stallone ( 5). Seven Dials publisher Vicky
following one man over a life-changing long weekend. Publishing director Angus Cargill acquired world all-language rights from Philippa Sitters at PSA, with publication scheduled for 9th April 2026. Set across 72 hours, About
to Fall Apart is a “thrilling kalei- doscope of thoughts, failures, disappointments and hope”. About to Fall Apart marks
Hickson-Lovence’s return to Faber.
REPORTING Melina Spanoudi 6
The Borough Press’ editor-at-large Suzie Dooré has snapped up the first novel from the comedian, actress and Taskmaster champion Sophie Duker ( 7). The novel will explore “the dark realities” of entertainment and TV.
Dooré pre-empted world English-language rights to Dong in a deal brokered with Duker’s talent management company Avalon. Dong is scheduled for publication in spring 2027. Dong is centred around TV researcher Ellie who, at 24, meets and is
befriended by an older, white male comedian. Rick becomes a mentor figure to her but “years later, when a scandal breaks, Ellie must ask herself how complicit she was in what happened…”
REPORTING Tom Tivnan
Eribo acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown and Richard Pike at C&W follow- ing the bidding war. North American rights were scooped by Mauro DiPreta at William Morrow and by HarperCollins US from Byrd Leavell and Eric Lupfer of UTA. Translation rights have since
been sold in 17 territories, with 10 international pre-empts within a week of submission. The Steps will be published worldwide in October 2025. Seven Dials said that while Stallone was “one of the most revered actors, writers and directors of all time, his life story is every bit as dramatic, intense and inspiring as his greatest on-screen creations”.
REPORTING Heloise Wood
GETTY
Features
London Book Fair Round-up
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