News Ex-Igloo Styring launches new list WORDS Charlotte Eyre I


GLOO BOOKS FOUNDER John String has launched a new children’s publishing company called Bookoli, with the first titles due for release in the autumn. String sold Igloo to Bonnier Publishing in 2014 and stepped down as its c.e.o. two years later. “I was under non-compete clauses for a certain period of time, so I did other projects outside publish- ing. But my wife Briony and I real- ised we just really loved children’s books and the book business,” he told The Bookseller Daily. The new company, based in Bath, will publish books for chil- dren aged five and under. String wants to publish books that “work in all markets—the mass-market, trade—and we want to sell world- wide”. Some titles will be created in-house but the company will


also look at acquiring books from talented authors and illustrators, String said, with the titles to be “a bit different from what we did at Igloo”. Innovative formats will also be a focus of the new list, he added. String, who established and built Igloo into a business with an annual turnover of £30m, said he was excited to start again. Bookoli’s employees are currently in single digits, but the company is recruiting six to eight new members of staff. “I’ve got my sleeves rolled up and talking to authors is really refreshing. This is a smaller organisation with people who have come from a range of publishers, who all have a passion for creating and selling great books,” String said. “The company is a team effort.” Bookoli is exhibiting at the London Book Fair at stand 1G30.


Monroe goes Vegan for Bluebird


Jack Monroe has signed a deal for her next cookbook, Vegan on a Bootstrap, with Bluebird publisher Carole Tonkinson, who acquired world rights through Rosemary Scoular of United Agents. Publishing in December 2019, the title will comprise “budget- friendly” recipes which Monroe hopes will to persuade readers that, “contrary to popular belief, vegan cooking is not expensive or exclusive”. Bluebird had already signed Monroe’s Cooking on a Bookstrap, to be released in August 2018; her previous titles have been published by Michael Joseph. Monroe said: “Veganism has a reputation for being compli-


cated, militant and expensive, but having given up meat and dairy two years ago, I’ve found a healthy plant-based diet can be affordable and delicious in the smallest of kitchens, or on the most meagre of budgets.’’ Tonkinson added: “Jack is a wonder- fully inventive cook and a delightful writer. With the upsurge of interest in veganism, it’s great to see someone with Jack’s solid cookery experience creating a book of affordable, achievable recipes for every day.”


NFA: eight steps to ‘redefine literary landscape’


The Northern Fiction Alliance (NFA) has devised an eight-point plan to “reshape and redefine the current literary landscape”. The cohort of publishers based in the north of England, spearheaded by Manchester-centred Comma Press, has devised the plan in a bid to bring about “real and long-lasting change”. It includes urging major publishing houses to set up offices outside London to increase regional diversit in the sector; signing up to the Publishers Association’s Spare Room Project, which offers those undertak- ing work experience in the capital a place to stay; and commiting to paying interns the Real Living Wage.


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NFA is also encouraging major houses to commit to publishing more regional writers and for large publishers’ staff to volunteer to speak at industry events outside the capital.


The group, which alongside Comma Press includes


Peepal Tree Press in Leeds, Dead Ink Books in Liver- pool and And Other Stories in Sheffield, said: “If our industry is, as it claims, commited to tackling inclusivit then we need to start diversifying our workforces and, perhaps more importantly, dispers- ing across the UK in order to beter engage with and embolden a new generation of writers, readers and aspiring publishers.”


Supervet finds Valentine with double memoir deal


Trapeze has won a “hotly con- tested” auction to publish two memoirs by Professor Noel Fitz- patrick, star of “The Supervet”. The neuro-orthopaedic veteri- nary surgeon is known for push- ing the boundaries of science, medicine and technology to nurse animals back to health. Publisher Anna Valentine bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Paul Stevens of Indepen- dent Talent, and will publish in October 2018.


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The Orange prize: Cassell wins Ed portrait


Cassell Illustrated has signed “an intimate portrait of Ed Sheeran” by music photographer Christie Goodwin, with a fore- word and captions by the sing- er’s father, John. Ed Sheeran: Memories We Made is described as “a stunning collection of rare and unseen photographs and stories charting Ed Sheeran’s rise from struggling busk global super in all languag


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Bake-Off’s first C4 tie-in proves a hit with Sphere


Sphere has acquired the exclu- sive world English-language publishing licence for “The Great British Bake Off” through The Blair Partnership, acting on behalf of Love Productions. The Great British Bake Off: Get Baking for Friends and Family, due in August, features recipes by Prue Leith, Paul Hollywood, the show’s bakers and long-time “Bake Off” collaborator Linda Collister. It is the show’s first tie- in since its Channel 4 move.


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