Amid the hubbub


A F Steadman reflects on what it is like to be at the centre of a bidding war: see pages 28–29


Puffin poaches Kid Normal duo for trio


Kid Normal authors Greg James and Chris Smith are moving to Puffin for a three-book deal, kicking off with a middle-grade standalone featuring a “hospital heist, some banana-loving llamas and a talking cat”. World rights for The Great Dream Robbery and two other standalones were bought by Penguin Random House Children’s editorial direc- tor Carmen McCullough from Stephanie Thwaites at Curtis Brown. The duo were previously published by Bloomsbury, and have sold over 330,000 units of their four Kid Normal novels, plus a World Book Day title, through Nielsen BookScan UK; translation rights for the series have been sold into 22 territories. The Great Dream Robbery—to be published in September 2021—will be “a high-concept caper packed with high-octane adventure, riotous humour and memorable characters”. It features 12-year-old


CHRIS SMITH LEFT AND GREG JAMES HAVE MOVED TO PUFFIN


Maya, who is desperate to fall asleep to save her father, Professor Dexter. The Professor invented a device that enables users to visit other people’s dreams, but the devious Lilith Delamere has trapped him inside a nightmare, so Maya and the mysterious Dream Bandits must


find a way to rescue him. James and Smith said: “In our gardens, in parks, at a social distance, has grown the tale of Maya Clayton and her incredible journey to save her father, the brilliant but slightly odd Professor Dexter, who is trapped in a nightmare.” James and Smith are most famous for being BBC Radio 1 presenters: James hosts the morning “Breakfast Show”; Smith was the Radio 1 “Newsbeat” presenter until 2018. The two previously co-hosted the “That’s What He Said” podcast. Their first Kid Normal book was published in 2017. McCullough said: “The Great Dream Robbery brings together Greg and Chris’ special brand of anarchic, playful humour, an extraordinary adventure and marvellous characters, including my personal favourite—the bold, brilliant Maya.” Reporting Tom Tivnan


Chukwu’s Unfortunates bagged by Borough


Début The Borough Press has pre-empted a “spectacu-


lar, darkly funny” début novel from US writer and artist J K Chukwu. Editor Ore Agbaje-Williams


author


First- time


acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, for The Unfortunates from Rachel Clements at Abner Stein, on behalf of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, where Millicent Bennett is the acquiring editor. UK publication is slated for spring 2022. The story centres on 19-year-old black, queer protagonist Sahara,


Six- figure deal


Award-winning author Liz Hyder’s début adult novel, The Gifts, has been bought in a two-book deal by


Bonnier Books UK’s imprint Manilla Press, in a six-figure pre-empt. Publishing director Sophie Orme


LIZ HYDER WON NUMEROUS AWARDS FOR HER 2019 YA NOVEL, BEARMOUTH


Hyder’s first adult title The Gifts goes to Manilla in six-figure deal


TheBookseller.com


acquired world rights to the novels from Anwen Hooson at Bird Literary Agency, and Manilla Press will publish the first in February 2022. Set in 1840, The Gifts opens with


a young woman in agony, staggering alone through a forest in Shropshire as a huge pair of impossible wings rips from her shoulders. Meanwhile, when rumours of a “fallen angel”


who attends an elitist university. She devolves into self-hate, but tries not to kill herself “at least until she can get her degree and get out. However, surviving feels near- impossible when fuelled by cheap vodka, lines [of drugs] and toxic friendships”. Chukwu, who is of Nigerian


descent, grew up in the American Midwest. She said: “We need more stories of sad and messy black queer women who are trying their best. I was done waiting for some- one else to write this story.”


cause a frenzy in London, a surgeon desperate for fame and fortune finds himself in the grips of a dangerous obsession, one that places the women he seeks in grave danger. Hyder’s first book, YA novel


Bearmouth (Pushkin), was published in September last year and won both the Brandford Boase Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for Older Readers. A film adaptation is currently in development by London- based Binocular Productions. Orme said The Gifts was “an


astonishing novel; an ambitious, multi-layered and, above all, fantas- tically gripping novel”.


Hygge guru Wiking’s fourth tome to Penguin Emily Robertson, Penguin Life editorial director, has bought the fourth title by Danish lifestyle guru Meik Wiking. “The Hygge Home will teach us how to create a much-needed cosy safe space in our homes, into which we can retreat to escape the tough things going on in the outside world,” the publisher said. Robertson bought world rights direct from the author, founder of Copenhagen’s Happiness Research Institute. Penguin Life will publish in 2022. Wiking’s The Little Book of Hygge has sold over 300,000 units in the UK to date.


Opal shines for Quercus


Début Cassie Browne at Quercus Fiction has


acquired The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, a “deeply poignant” début by US author Dawnie Walton about a rock ’n’ roll duo. Browne acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, at auction from Hellie Ogden, on behalf of P J Mark from Janklow US. The 1970s-set story is about black American singer Opal, who is discovered by British singer Neville; decades later, they consider reuniting. Browne called the novel a “transporting, immersive début”.


Arrow shoots true for Ainsworth’s Duckling Sonny Marr, editor at Arrow, has acquired the début adult novel from Carnegie-nominated children’s author Eve Ainsworth. Marr concluded the deal for world rights with Laura Williams at Greene & Heaton for Duckling, a novel about lonely 30-year- old Lucy. Her new neighbour asks if Lucy could look after her seven-year-old daughter—but then the neighbour does not return. Marr said: “Duckling is a moving story about loneliness, community and the walls we build around ourselves in order to feel safe.” Arrow will publish in spring 2022.


05


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36