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This year’s LBF Illustrator of the Fair, David McKee, speaks about his three-decade career on pp28–29


Faber is mad on what makes us bad


13-way auction


Faber has triumphed in a 13-way auction for a “riveting exploration of evil” by a renowned


British forensic psychiatrist, with the title subject of intense interna- tional interest. Editorial director Laura Hassan snapped up UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to The Devil You Know: Understanding Human Evil by Dr Gwen Adshead, co-writen by author and dramatist Eileen Horne. The deal was struck by Sophie Lambert at C+W. Lambert’s colleague Anna Stein inked a “significant” US deal with Scribner, and there have been pre- empts in Italy (Mondadori), Brazil (Companhia), and Russia (AST). Adshead is one of the UK’s most prominent forensic psychiatrists and is a visiting professor at Yale Universit. For more than 20 years she has worked at Broadmoor, the


“Mad” Frankie Fraser. In the book, Adshead will argue that every person has the potential for evil. Her patients have oſten been reviled, but “before they crossed that ultimate line—taking or destroying another life—many were ordinary people”.


Hassan said the title “invites us to


GWEN ADSHEAD HAS WORKED AT BROADMOOR FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES


high-securit psychiatric hospital that houses some of the UK’s most notorious criminals, including the “Son of God” murderer Richard Torto and Charles Gonzalez, a.k.a. Charles Bronson, dubbed “the country’s most violent man” by tabloids. Past inmates include “The Yorkshire Ripper” Peter Sutcliffe and gangsters Ronald Kray and


meditate on redemption, and ques- tion human nature itself”, adding: “[Adshead’s] deeply sensitive and empathetic storytelling brings patients to life in a remarkably three-dimensional way that restores their humanit. She fascinatingly explores psychological complexities as well as ethical dilemmas... It’s unsetling reading, but, like the best non-fiction, it has the power to explode our assumptions, whether about the nature of evil, societ’s atitude towards punishment or the possibilit of rehabilitation.” Reporting Tom Tivnan


Potter’s F*** Up picked up by Pan Mac


Pan Macmillan has scooped romantic comedy writer Alexandra Potter’s “uplifting” novel about the pressures of hitting 40 in an “Instagram- perfect” world. Trisha Jackson signed world rights for two books from Stephanie Cabot at New York’s Gernert Company. The first novel, Confessions of a Forty Something F*** Up, will be published in spring 2020. Jackson said Potter’s book “is a humorous, honest, thought-provoking, poignant


Brexit will have far-ranging effects on society as well as business, so it is up to publishers to continue the “political act” of facilitating the expression of new ideas, Faber c.e.o. Stephen Page told the LBF Quantum Conference yesterday (11th March). In a keynote speech, Page said


STEPHEN PAGE DELIVERED A KEYNOTE SPEECH AT THE QUANTUM CONFERENCE


Page urges publishers to show courage amid ‘mess and chaos’ of Brexit


TheBookseller.com


that in the “darkening times” in which we live, ideas of truth, exper- tise, compassion and tolerance are being assaulted. He said the publish- ing industry must acknowledge that the act of making ideas and stories public is political. “Our society is changing and a new generation is beginning to turn against [being


and ultimately uplifting account of what it feels like to be 40—or even 30, or 50—and discovering life just isn’t Instagram-perfect and how you imagined it would be.” Potter is the author of 11 novels, which have been sold into 22 territories, Pan Macmillan said, with sales of more than a million units. Potter said: “I’m completely over the moon to be working with Trisha and the whole team at Pan Macmillan. From the very begin- ning they ‘got’ this book.”


motivated by money]”, he said. “To raise the standards today may require greater courage for publish- ers in the UK... We face a world of rising prejudice and violence, and this will be exacerbated by Brexit.” He said “the mess and chaos” of Brexit would raise issues over copyright, territorial rights and the dominance of tech firms Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google. Quantum also included sessions


on audiobooks, kids’ entertainment and the boom in non-fiction, with speakers including actor and audio- book narrator Christopher Eccleston and audio consultant Jo Forshaw.


Seven Dials lifts off with account of Mars mission Orion list Seven Dials has landed journalist and systems engineer Ipsita Agarwal’s feminist account of how Indian scientists sent a rocket to Mars. Publisher Amanda Harris acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for With a Whistle in the Dark from Hayley Steed at The Madeleine Milburn Agency. The book, due in late 2020, follows the female scien- tists who ran 2013 Mars Orbiter Mission Mangalyaan, India’s first interplanetary launch.


Unbound launches app to predict funding likelihood Unbound has launched a “groundbreaking” app to predict crowdfunding revenue as well as the length of time required to fund a project. The app uses data from more than 200,000 pledge transactions on its plat- form, as well as authors’ online engagement, to predict reve- nues. Developed by Unbound head of data science and astrophysics Dr Noelia Jiménez Martínez, the app is now being used by its commissioning team, with 80% accuracy.


05


Lennon’s life and death biography goes to Blake Bonnier imprint John Blake has acquired world, all-language rights to Lesley-Ann Jones’ “spellbinding” examination of John Lennon’s life and death. Publishing director Kelly Ellis acquired Who Killed John Lennon? from Clare Hulton at The Clare Hulton Literary Agency. The book will be published in 2020, 40 years after Lennon’s death. Jones has previously written biographies of musicians David Bowie, Marc Bolan and Freddie Mercury.


Gwyn Jones goes Wild with teen tribulations Scribe editor-at-large Philip Gwyn Jones has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Wildhood: The Epic Journey from Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals from Fiona Baird, on behalf of Tina Bennett at WME. In the title, Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers outline challenges that every adoles- cent faces in life. Australasian, North American, German, Chinese, Japanese and Korean rights have also been sold.


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