NEWS
8-way auction
London Book Fair 2019 The headlines
Michael Joseph goes for Wrobel’s Gold
Michael Joseph (MJ) will publish an “outstanding” début literary suspense novel
about Munchausen syndrome by proxy, The Recovery of Rose Gold, by former copywriter Stephanie Wrobel aſter winning an eight-way auction. Madeleine Milburn, of her eponymous agency, sold UK and Commonwealth rights (with audio) for two books to MJ publish- ing director Maxine Hitchcock. The title will be Michael Joseph’s lead début in 2020. US rights were pre-empted by Amanda Bergeron at Penguin list Berkley, with Canadian rights sold and “signifi- cant” pre-empts in Germany, Italy and Hungary. Offers are on the table from Brazil, France, Holland, Poland, Greece and Scandinavia. The Recovery of Rose Gold is the
story of a young woman who, aſter being poisoned by her mother
FIRST-TIME WRITER STEPHANIE WROBEL HAS BEEN SIGNED BY MICHAEL JOSEPH
over a period of 18 years, makes a calculated decision to take her in aſter her mother served a prison sentence for the crime. Told from the perspectives of both women across two timelines, Wrobel “evokes sympathy and terror in equal measure”, Milburn said. The author grew up in Chicago
but has lived in the UK for the past three years, working as a creative copywriter at various advertising agencies. Milburn said: “Stephanie is set to be a huge talent... This is such an original exploration of the aſtermath of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, and will appeal to readers of global big-hiters such as Leïla Slimani’s Lullaby and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin.” The deal comes in the wake of another auction held by Milburn, for a début about male mental health. Audible senior manager Robin Morgan-Bentley’s The Wreckage was won by Trapeze editorial director Phoebe Morgan, who acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in a two- book deal. The list will publish The Wreckage in 2020, and the second title, The Guesthouse, in 2021. Reporting Heloise Wood
Ebury seals secret Second World War tale
Ebury has won a five-publisher auction for Svenja O’Donnell’s book about her grandmother’s secret life in Second World War Germany. Editor Clare Bullock acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Felicity Bryan at Felicity Bryan Associates. Bloomberg’s UK political correspondent O’Donnell knew little about
5-way auction
O’DONNELL SAW HER FAMILY MEMOIR SNAPPED UP BY EBURY
BLOOMSBERG’S SVENJA
Tompson and Wise call on friends for festive texts Olivia Colman, Caitlin Moran, Emma Watson and Andy Serkis are among the celebrities contributing to a book of essays about Christmas, collated by actor Emma Thompson and her husband Greg Wise. Quercus Non-fiction publisher Katy Follain acquired world rights for Last Christmas from Caroline Wood at Felicity Bryan Associates. The book will be published in October, with all proceeds from sales going to Crisis and The Refugee Council.
04 12th March 2019
her grandmother’s past, except that she had grown up in a place that no longer “existed” on any map: Königsburg in East Prussia. When O’Donnell visited the place, now known as Kaliningrad, she phoned her grandmother “who unexpectedly burst into tears”. The title explores her grandmother’s story, which begins in the secret jazz bars in Hitler’s Berlin and features “passionate first love, separation, betrayal, terror, flight, starvation and violence”. Bullock told The Bookseller: “I was immediately intrigued by the idea
of Svenja’s book and, as I read, found myself increasingly drawn into this examination of legacy and inheritance, of what family means, and of how we decide who deserves to have their stories heard.” O’Donnell said that she had “discovered a remarkable story; not one of heroism and evil, but that of ordinary women and the things we do to survive.”
Paphides’ record far from broken for Quercus Quercus has bought music journalist Pete Paphides’ “extraordinary” memoir Broken Greek. Non-fiction publisher Katy Follain secured UK and Commonwealth rights from Jo Unwin at JULA, for publication in spring 2020. The book charts how the writer, whose parents moved to the UK from Cyprus, found solace from his shyness and tensions at home in pop music. Follain called the book “one of the most extraordinary childhood memoirs I’ve read”.
Faye’s agenda-setting trans title to Allen Lane Allen Lane editorial director Tom Penn has snapped up UK and Commonwealth rights for writer and activist Shon Faye’s The Transgender Issue from Emma Paterson, after a four-publisher auction. The title focuses on the economic, political and daily realities of life as a trans person in the UK today, offering an “urgent, powerfully argued” framework for understanding and countering the issues and challenges faced by trans people in modern-day Britain.
Zaffre cracks the Safe to secure Bradley’s début
Début Zaffre has snapped up Kate Bradley’s “rivet-
ing” début, thriller To Keep You Safe. Editorial director Katherine Armstrong bought world rights, in a two-book deal, from Jane Gregory at Gregory & Co, part of The David Higham Agency. The Bonnier fiction imprint will publish the novel in 2020. To Keep You Safe follows soldier- turned-teacher Jenni Wales, who stops a potential abduction of one of her vulnerable pupils, and then tries to protect her.
ELTON JOHN’S MEMOIR WILL BE PLUGGED AT A WATERSTONES EVENT
Waterstones hosts one-off John event
Sir Elton John will take part in a one-off signing at Waterstones Piccadilly this autumn, as part of a global push for his autobiography, Macmillan has revealed. Slated as the biggest publishing
event of the year, Pan Mac will release the book, written with Alexis Petridis, in the UK on 15th October, with Macmillan imprint Henry Holt publishing simultaneously in the US. Te book is the lead title emblazoned on Macmillan’s LBF stand, backed by an exclusive launch video. John will be appearing in
conversation at the Hammersmith Apollo in November, followed by a signing at Waterstones Piccadilly. Te title’s publishers, Jeremy Trevathan of Pan Macmillan and Ben Schrank of Holt, are creating a global marketing campaign, running from May’s cinema release of “Rocketman”, through to a Christmas gifting campaign. Trevathan said: “I absolutely guar- antee that this will be the memoir of the decade.” Macmillan bought the rights to
the memoir at the 2016 Frankfurt Book Fair from Andrew Wylie at Te Wylie Agency, with the advance widely reported to be a significant seven-figure sum.
Abrahams snapped up to scout for Harper lists Lucy Abrahams has been appointed literary scout for the Harper imprint at HarperCollins US and HarperCollins Canada. Abrahams, who founded Lucy Abrahams Literary Scouting in 2009, will also scout for Harper Perennial and Harper Paperbacks, HarperWave, HarperBusiness and HarperDesign. Her publisher clients include Suhrkamp (Germany), Ediciones Siruela (Spain), Neri Pozza (Italy), Natur & Kultur (Sweden) and Audible.
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