Rights Guide London Book Fair 2018

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Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 1 FICTION

THE BLACK PRINCE ­ Adam Roberts, from a script by Anthony Burgess (Literary Fiction)

‘The novel I have in mind, and for which I’ve done a ninety­page plan, is about the Black Prince. I thought it might be amusing blatantly to steal the Camera Eye and the Newsreel devices from Dos Passos just to see how they might work, especially with the Black Death and Crécy and the Spanish campaign. The effect might be of the fourteenth century going on in another galaxy where language and literature had somehow got themselves into the twentieth century...’ – Anthony Burgess, P aris Review, 1973

The story of Edward, the Black Prince’s campaigns in fourteenth­century France is brought to vivid life by the acclaimed novelist Adam Roberts. Based on a completed screenplay and the notes for an unfinished novel by Anthony Burgess, and using a variety of narrative styles ­from disorientating depictions of medieval battles to court intrigues and betrayals, Roberts reveals himself as an author in complete control of the novel as a way of making us look at history with fresh eyes, all while staying true to the linguistic pyrotechnics and narrative verve of Burgess’s best work.

The Black Prince is exuberant, unconventional, saturated with gorgeous and awful detail, funny, gripping and vivid ­ a stunning historical novel in its own right, as well as an authorised edition to the Burgess canon.

Praise for Adam Roberts:

"Wildly imaginative yet delivering the absurdist punch associated with Kafka and Orwell...." Library Journal

"An endlessly inventive writer . . . one of our most intelligent and versatile authors." SFRevue

“...walking the literary high wire, [he] not only keeps his balance, he makes the spectacle compelling” Guardian

“Exuberant plotting plays against slyly understated contemporary storytelling, [an]] intelligent, powerful mingling of sensibilities and a serenely assured style.” Publishers Weekly

Adam Roberts is the author of sixteen novels including the prize­winning Jack Glass (2012, and many shorter works. He is Professor of Nineteenth­Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London, and has published critically on a wide range of topics. Winner of the British Science Fiction Association’s award for best crime novel, three of his novels were nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award; and his literary parody of The Hobbit sold over 150,000 copies in the UK alone.

Anthony Burgess, FRSL (1917­1993) was an English writer and composer, widely regarded as one of the foremost novelists of the 20th century.. His dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange remains his best known novel, but Burgess produced numerous other novels, including the Enderby quartet, and Earthly Powers . He wrote librettos and screenplays, worked as a literary critic and wrote studies of classic writers, lectured in phonetics, and translated classic works.

Rights: World All Extent: 384 pp Publication: October 2018

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 2

THE TRISTAN CHORD ­ Glenn Skwerer ( Literary Fiction)

Based on an eyewitness memoir, this debut from a practicing psychiatrist delves into the inner world of one of history’s most infamous and fascinating men.

‘Glenn Skwerer’s compelling first novel opens a new perspective on Adolf Hitler, largely lost to the general public––buried by time, ignored in apocalyptic defeat and trivialized by caricature. Dramatizing his early years with deep psychological insight, Skwerer rediscovers the real man and reframes him in human dimensions, while never losing sight of the grotesque evil he would accomplish. … a thoughtful, moral fiction that should draw a wide readership’ Ken Kalfus

Salzburg, 1945: Eugen Reczek, a middle­aged Austrian desk clerk, is interned by the American occupiers. The reason: he is der Hitlerjugendfreund – ‘The Friend of the Führer’s Youth’.

Linz, 1905: An upholstery apprentice by day and fledgling violist by night, Eugen meets fifteen­year­old Adolf Hitler at the local opera, and for the next four years they see each other almost daily. Eugene is captivated but also troubled by Hitler: his almost complete isolation, his morbid preoccupation with his dead father, and his obsession with a young woman to whom he has never said a word.

They move together to Vienna – Adolf to study art; Eugen to study music – but as Adolf’s money runs low, he becomes increasingly drawn to the racist gutter press of Vienna, and so to hatred: of women, of sex, of all things sensual. When Eugen begins a relationship with the Jewish mother of one of his piano students, it is only a matter of time before their suppressed conflict will ignite.

Now, with the Third Reich in ashes, Eugen sits in a barren room writing his memoir. In a voice by turns intelligent, sceptical, pained, nostalgic and appalled, he tries to come to terms with the course of his own life and with the unfathomable criminality of his boyhood friend – his Hitler.

Winner of the Hackney Prize for best unpublished novel.

Glenn Skwerer is a psychiatrist who lives and practices in the Boston area. August Kubizek’s out­of­print memoir, The Young Hitler I Knew, inspired him to look more closely at the psychology of the friendship between Kubizek and a young Hitler. The Tristan Chord is his first novel.

Rights: World All Extent: 384 pp Publication: August 2018

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THE CARTOGRAPHY OF OTHERS ­ Catherine McNamara (Short Stories)

‘McNamara’s work has a fierce, vital beat… her voice [is] striking in its confidence and originality. She writes with sensuous precision and a craft that is equally precise. This is fiction that can stand up in any company. ’ Hilary Mantel

In twenty stories that take place from fumy Accra to the Italian Dolomites, from suburban Sydney to high­rise Hong Kong, lives are mapped, unpicked, crafted, overturned. Each location is as vital as the characters themselves, men and women who are often far from home, immersed in unfamiliar cultures, estranged from those they hold dear. Love is panicked, worn, tested.

‘Catherine McNamara’s writing is superb, this latest collection presents a unique way to talk about displacement and sensuality. ’ Litro Magazine

‘A master of mood and atmosphere, [with] a keen eye for the startling image – a blue tent the morning after a party, a naked woman spreading herself across a window high above Hong Kong. Her theme is desire ­ its ambiguities, betrayals, bruises, and joys ­ and this is fearless, sensuous writing... ’ Annemarie Neary, author of The Siren

A saint is crucified on the same Mediterranean island where, centuries later, a Japanese soprano recovers her lost voice. Youths throw a rock through a car windscreen in urban Accra, and a woman sees this as a sign she will never reproduce. A murderer escapes across the Sydney suburbs, bringing together an ex­swimming champion, a yoga devotee and a Chinese virgin. In Hong Kong, a mistress awaits her married lover in a luxury hotel, and at a summer party outside Verona, a Ukrainian émigré seduces a heavily pregnant woman’s husband in his last foray into the world of hedonism. After his father’s car strikes a fox, a boy roams a French village at night, and in West Africa a young advertising executive tries to make sense of a corpse in an Elvis shirt, and an American woman who sleeps with her dogs.

Catherine McNamara grew up in Sydney, ran away to Paris, and ended up in West Africa running a bar. Her collection Pelt and Other Stories was longlisted for the Frank O’Connor Award and was semi­finalist in the Hudson Prize. Her short stories have been Pushcart­ shortlisted and published in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. She lives in Italy.

Rights: World All Extent: 272 pp Publication: February 2018

BAD ROMANCE ­ Emily Hill (Short Stories)

'Funny, sad, fiercely feminist and completely brilliant' Tatle r

'Dark, sharp and deeply moving' Red

'...Emily Hill is, on the strength of this gorgeous debut collection, the Saki of sex' Julie Burchill

‘... wry wit and wisdom, delivered with a forensic eye for the detail of modern life’ Ben Elton

'Dark and hilarious ... these stories are as full of wit as they are of warnings' Cosmopolitan

At a wedding, one woman’s revenge comes in the shape of her heavily pregnant belly. As a career girl attempts to climb the ladder she slides down into ever more grotesque flat­shares. A single woman who always attends parties alone realises that the truth might not always be the best answer. And one woman learns her most important lesson since moving to the big city – never act friendly towards a stranger...

Bad Romance is dark, hilarious and moving by turn as Emily Hill’s acid wit gives life to the women whose tales never normally make it into the storybooks.

Emily Hill is a dating columnist at Sunday Times ’ Style. She has written for the Guardian, Spectator, Evening Standard and Mail on Sunday . She lives in London. This is her first book.

Rights: World All Extent: 272 pp Publication: February 2018

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A SMALL, DARK QUIET / Miranda Gold (Literary Fiction)

"A powerful exploration of trauma and the need to belong. The experience of reading Miranda Gold's latest novel resembles that of listening to a symphony. With harmonies and dissonances, with thematic variations and repetitions she sweeps the reader off their feet...." – Meike Ziervogel, author of Magda and founder of Peirene Press

March, 1945. The ravaged face of London will soon be painted with victory, but for Sylvie the private battle for peace is only just beginning, as she finds the courage to face loss – both her own, and that of the orphan born in a concentration camp whom she and her husband, Gerald, adopt two years later.

Haunted by the gaps in the orphan’s history, Sylvie begins to draw him into parallel with her dead child. When she gives the orphan the stillborn child’s name, Arthur, she unwittingly entangles him in a grief he will never be able to console. As Arthur’s journey unfolds over the next twenty years, the past he can neither recall nor forget lives on within him even as he strives to forge a life for himself. Identity and belonging may be elusive, but the pulse of survival insists he keeps searching and, as he opens himself to the world around him, there are flashes of just how resilient the human heart can be.

Miranda Gold’ s first novel, Starlings , published by Karnac (2016) reaches back through three generations to explore how the impact of untold stories ricochets down the years. In her review for The Tablet , Sue Gaisford described Starlings as “ a strange, sad, original and rather brilliant first novel, illumined with flashes of glorious writing and profound insight, particularly into the ways in which we attempt to reinvent ourselves.”

Rights: World All Extent: 352 pp Publication: September 2018

THE LIFE OF DEATH / Lucy Booth (Quality Commercial Fiction)

Death makes a pact with the Devil, but finds the bargain hard to keep in this elegiac posthumous debu t ­ part gothic horror story, part murder mystery, part modern romance .

It begins in medieval Scotland where Elizabeth Murray is condemned to burn at the stake as a witch. As she hangs from the wall of her cell she is visited by a strange, handsome man who offers her a deal: her soul in return for eternal life. But what he offers is not a normal life: to survive she must become Death itself.

Elizabeth must ease the passing of all those who die. appearing at the point of death and using her compassion to guide them over the threshold. She accepts and for 500 years whirls from one death to the next, never stopping to think of the pain of her missed life. Until one day, everything changes. She – Death – falls in love.

Desperate to escape the terms of her deal she summons the man who saved her. He agrees to release her on one condition: that she gives him five lives. These five lives she must take herself, each one more difficult and painful than the last.

Reminiscent of Death Takes a Holiday and City of Angels, The Life of Death is a memorial to its’ author, written as she faced her own death, from cancer, aged 38.

Lucy Booth (1978­2016) finished writing The Life of Death in hospice. Posthumous publication of the novel was her dying wish.

Rights: World English Extent: 320 pp Publication: May 2019

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 5

BAIT, GRIST, and SECURITY ­ Mike Hodges (Quality Commercial Fiction / Noir)

A trio of noir novellas from the acclaimed director of Get Carter, Croupier, and Flash Gordon , funny and bleak with an undercurrent of violence.

In BAIT, a slippery PR man is unaware he’s being manipulated and dangled as bait by an investigative reporter until he’s swallowed by a sadistic mind­expanding cultish course from America.

In GRIST, a best­selling American writer ruthlessly uses real people as fodder for his crime novels before finding himself living up to his name and becoming grist for his own murder.

And in SECURITY, an American film star, unhappy with the movie he’s currently filming, refuses to leave his five­star hotel for the studios, while in the corridor outside his luxury suite mayhem and murder take over.

Mike Hodges is best known as a filmmaker ( Get Carter, Pulp, The Terminal Man , and more recently, Black Rainbow, Croupier, and I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead ) but has also written and directed for BBC Radio (Shooting Stars and Other Heavenly Pursuits, King Trash) and the theatre (Soft Shoe Shuffle). The theme of all these works is a bleak and blackly humorous take on the world as he sees it. His lighter contributions to the cinema include Flash Gordon. ...

Rights: World All Extent: 400 pp Publication: December 2018

THE GLORIOUS DEAD / Tim Atkinson (Quality Commercial Fiction)

At the end of the First World War, some soldiers chose to stay behind...

A story of love, war and betrayal among the ruins of Ypres, for fans of Louisa Young’s My Dear I Wanted to Tell You, Elizabeth Day’s Home Fires , Anna Hope’s W ake

Late 1918. The war is over but Lance Corporal Jack Patterson is still knee­deep in mud in the trenches of Ypres. He is part of a battalion of soldiers yet to return home. Instead, they dig through the abandoned battlefields in search of the dead so that they can be reburied in one of the many military cemeteries being created across Europe.

But duty isn't the only thing keeping Jack from returning to England. For one there is Katia, the daughter of a local publican, with whom he has struck up a tentative romance. And then there is something else, a buried secret that he hopes isn't about to be dug up.

The Glorious Dead examines a forgotten but fascinating aspect of the First World War – the fate of the men, living and dead, who were left behind.

Tim Atkinson is a teacher and the author of five books. He has a strong online and media presence both as an award­winning blogger (http://www.bringingupcharlie.co.uk) and through numerous TV and radio appearances. The Glorious Dead is his second novel, following ‘Writing Therapy’ which was nominated for the 2008 Young Minds Fiction Award.

Rights: World All Extent: 400 pp Publication: November 2018

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 6

SONG ­ Michelle Jana Chang (Quality Commercial Fiction)

A sweeping historical epic, following a boy’s long journey from from rags to riches…

Opening in mid­nineteenth century China, this atmospheric debut novel traces the voyage of Song, a boy who leaves his impoverished family in rural China to seek his fortune. Song may have survived the perilous journey to the colony of British Guiana in the Caribbean, but once there he discovers riches are hard to come by, as he finds himself working as an indentured plantation worker.

Between places, between peoples, and increasingly aware that circumstances of birth carry more weight than accomplishments or good deeds, Song fears he may live as an outsider forever. This is a far­reaching and atmospheric story spanning nearly half a century and half the globe, and though it is set in the past, Song's story of emigration and the quest for opportunity is, in many ways, a very contemporary tale.

Michelle Jana Chang is an award­winning journalist and Travel Editor of Vanity Fair. She is also Contributing Editor at Condé Nast Traveller , presenter of the BBC’s ‘Global Guide’ and a writer for the Wall Street Journal , the Financial Times and Travel & Leisure . Michelle has been named the Travel Media Awards’ Travel Writer of the Year.

Rights: World All Extent: 320 pp Publication: June 2018

THE HOURGLASS ­ Liz Heron (Quality Commercial Fiction)

Inspired by Janacek’s opera The Makropulos Case ­ in which a singer lives for nearly 300 years ­ The Hourglass is a love letter to Venice and to the immortal power of music.

Paul Geddes arrives in Venice to seek out a cache of papers about Esme Maguire, a forgotten opera singer from the 1900’s, in whom he has an ardent interest. Eva Forrest is a wealthy widow in possession of a tantalising archive, but the fragments Eva allows him to read centre instead on the young Elena Merlo, a gifted singer who first visits Venice in 1684 and narrates an impossibly long life ­ she is painted by Pietro Longhi and photographed by Nadar ­ all the while her beloved city changes and grows around her.

As Paul and Eva gow closer, she resists his probings about her own life and the history of the Venetian house where he is staying, but when her past begins to come to light the effects are devastating. Is Eva delusional, unsound of mind? Is she a hoaxer, a fantasist, or a middle­aged woman whose anxiety about ageing has overwhelmed her? Or has Eva ­ Esme ­ Elena the gift of time itself?

Liz Heron’s books include Truth, Dare or Promise , a compilation of essays on childhood, and Streets of Desire , an anthology of women’s 20th­century writing on the world’s great cities. Her work has appeared in various anthologies and her short­story collection, A Red River , was published to critical acclaim. She lives in Venice, working as a translator.

Rights: World All Extent: 288 p Publication: August 2018

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 7

FUKUSHIMA DREAMS / Zelda Riando (Quality Commercial Fiction)

A cross­cultural relationship drama set in post­tsunami Japan, where a missing child continues to haunt his parents long after the waves have receded.

"Half real, half dream, subtly constructed with screens between and within characters, that are gradually slid open to reveal strange depths and a shocking truth." Tim Pears

Sachiko lives with her English husband Harry and infant son Tashi in a small coastal village. They are both struggling to adapt to life with their new son. When Sachiko’s village is hit, she awakes to find her family are missing. After a fruitless search she, like many others, is forced to leave the area due to radiation fallout. She moves to Tokyo, and a different life.

Harry had already planned to leave. He uses the disaster as cover, and flees to a mountain refuge, where he lives hovering on the border of sanity and haunted by the spirit of their son. Winter sets in. When eventually he is forced to return, husband and wife must confront the ghosts of the past.

Zelda Riando’s first novel Caposcripti was self­published in 2012, and went on to win the Kidwell eBook award, and was an Amazon bestseller. The audio version of the book has had over 57,000 listens on SoundCloud.com. Zelda travelled to Japan to research Fukushima Dreams .

Rights: World All Extent: 224 pp Publication: March 2018

MONSTERS ­ Raphaela Weissman (Quality Commercial Fiction)

As frank and painful as a family dinner, a portrait of three people on the brink.

Every evening, Annie and Paul Mayfield and their son Thomas sit together in the seething silence of their Brooklyn apartment, still haunted by the memory of the attack on the Twin Towers a year earlier. The nights are plagued by Thomas's vivid nightmares, Annie's unexplained sleepwalking, and Paul's growing paranoia as he fears the implications of their disquiet. At eight years old, Thomas is eerily serious, and oddly precocious. He also lives in fear­ of his parents' unexplained behavior, the monsters he imagines hiding everywhere, and the uncertain world he inhabits in his own room.

Tensions mount in the too quiet household as Annie, Paul, and Thomas grapple with being themselves, and being together.

Raphaela Weissman studied French and creative writing at New York University and in Paris. Her fiction and nonfiction work has been published in L Magazine , Bookslut, Gallatin Review, GeekWire, Publishers Weekly and the Euphony Journal . She has worked as a literacy teacher, a campaign fundraiser, a community organizer, a tech sector drone, an amateur comedian, a mortgage banker, a salesperson, and a video transcriber. Originally from Woodstock, she lives in Seattle.

Rights: World All Extent: 240 pp Publication: March 2018

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THE MADONNA OF BOLTON ­ Matt Cain (Commercial Fiction)

Billy Elliot meets Beautiful Thing wearing a conical bra – a story for anyone who ever sang their heart out, looked for love and dreamed of more…

Unbound’s fastest­funding novel to date, with pledges from 28 countries.

#JustGayEnough

Film rights optioned to LiveNation

‘ Charming, funny, touching, a lovely coming­of­age novel – and a celebration of music, Madonna and being true to yourself ’ Kate Mosse

‘ Fabulous Matt and Fabulous Madonna together at last – what a treat ’ Jenny Colgan

Charlie Matthews’ love story begins in a pebble­dashed house in suburban Bolton, at a time when most little boys want to grow up to be Michael Jackson, and girls want to be Princess Di. But on his ninth birthday, Charlie discovers Madonna, and falls in love. His obsession sees him through some tough times in life: being persecuted at school, fitting in at a posh university, a glamorous career in London, finding boyfriends, getting rid of boyfriends, and family heartbreak. Madonna’s music and videos inspire him, and her fierce determination to succeed gives him the confidence to do the same. Ultimately, though, he must learn to let go of his idol and find his own voice.

The Madonna of Bolton will make you laugh, cry and Get Into the Groove. It’s a book to Cherish and a Ray of Light, and it even has a little Hanky Panky.

Matt Cain was brought up in Bolton. He spent ten years making arts and entertainment programmes before stepping in front of the camera to become Channel 4 News’ first ever culture editor. His novels, Shot Through the Heart , and Nothing But Trouble were published in 2014/15. As a journalist he has contributed articles to all the major UK newspapers and is currently Editor­in­Chief of Attitude , the UK's biggest­selling magazine for gay men.

Rights: World All, ex TV/Film Rights sold: Audio Extent: 416 pp Publication: July 2018

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 9

DAISY BELLE, SWIMMING CHAMPION OF THE WORLD ­ Caitlin Davies (Women’s Commercial Fiction)

A tale of love, betrayal and swimming based on the true stories of champion Victorian women.

Margate in 1864, and two­year­old Daisy first learns to swim. When her father is appointed Swimmer Professor at the Lambeth Baths, the family move to London where Daisy makes her debut in Professor Belle’s Family of Frogs and at the age of 14 becomes the first woman to swim the Thames.

Later, she saves Dob McGee, a celebrated sports journalist who almost drowns during a boating trip. With Dob as her husband and manager, they set off to America where Daisy will attempt to make history by swimming across New York harbour. But Dob has his own motives for the tour, insisting she perform ever more dangerous feats. Daisy Belle will have to fight for her right to the title of Lady Swimmer of the World, aided by her brother Billy, her love for American long distance swimmer Johnnie Heaven, and her battle to keep her baby daughter, Hettie.

Caitlin Davies spent 12 years in Botswana as a teacher and journalist and many of her books are set in the Okavango Delta, including the memoir Place of Reeds, described by Hilary Mantel as 'candid and unsentimental'. Her novels include The Ghost of Lily Painter ,and Family Likeness . Her non­fiction books include a celebration of 200 years of outdoor bathing, an illustrated history of the world famous Camden Lock Market, and Downstream : a history and celebration of swimming the River Thames.

Rights: World All Rights sold: Audio Extent: 256 pp Publication: August 2018

THE WRONG'UN / Catherine Evans (Women’s Commercial Fiction)

How far will a mother go to protect her children? And what will it cost them all?

Always in trouble. Always the odd one out. Of all her five sons, Bea’s mother Edie always loved her eldest, Paddy, best. And didn’t love her daughter Bea at all. But she kept the family secrets, kept the family from falling apart.

Meet the Newells, five siblings from a big Northern family of good lookers and hard grafters, with brains and diligence to spare. But there’s always been a wrong’un in their midst, a sixth, who will stop at nothing to destroy his siblings’ lives. Now a family gathering will bring the family’s skeletons, so ruthlessly suppressed by Edie all these years, into the open.

Why does Edie, turn a blind eye to her son’s malevolence? How can she stand by, while he wrecks the lives of her other children? How much is she willing to sacrifice for him and how will the family survive them both?

Catherine Evans is the editor of pennyshorts, a website for short stories of all genres, and a trustee of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. She was born in South Africa, and lived in Swaziland and Malawi; she and her siblings were amongst a band of feral children growing up in the heart of African bushland, often in tiny communities where the good, the bad and the ugly side of human nature was fully represented. After a degree in English Literature and Psychology, she worked in the City for twenty years; now, she writes and edits full time, and hosts Open Mic evenings and organises writing workshops and competitions.

Rights: World All, Rights sold: Audio Extent: 352 pp Publication: May 2018

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 10

BREAKING THE FOALS / Maximilian Hawker (Historical Fiction)

The Troy of myth was a real city. This is its story…

Hektor is the son of Bronze Age Wilusa’s despotic ruler, father to a young son of his own. His life of privilege is forever changed when a stranger, allegedly possessed by the sun god, inspires revolution among the oppressed townspeople of Wilusa – the historical Troy of myth

Breaking the Foals is a breathless gallop through an ancient world carved out by tradition, stained with blood and immortalised in the lives of heroes and villains. It takes a journey far beyond the mythology – a fresh story of family drama, social revolution and war constructed on a platform of historical research and ground­breaking new archaeology. Maximilian Hawker has had poetry and short stories ­ occasionally nominated for awards ­ appear in publications run by Dog Horn Publishing, Kingston University Press, Arachne Press and Rebel Poetry, among others. He holds an MA by Research in English Literature from Kingston University.

Rights: World All, Extent: 272 pp Publication: October 2018

THE PUMILIO CHILD / Judy McInerney (Historical Fiction)

Andrea Mantegna’s dazzling family fresco from the Gonzaga Palace in Mantua comes to life in a dark tale inspired by true events .

Ya Ling’s perfectly cultured life of privilege in Beijing is cruelly cut short when she is abducted and shipped to the slave market in Venice, but when celebrated artist Andrea Mantegna sees her chained to a post, although his finances are perilous, he digs deep and buys her. His initial intention is to paint her exotic beauty, but he soon moves her into the harness room for pleasures of a more private nature… Ya Ling has two ambitions, to ruin Mantegna, then to escape her brutal and sordid life in Mantua and return to her family in China. However, Mantegna’s latest commission, two huge frescos for the ruling Gonzaga family, make him invincible ­ or so it would seem.

Judy McInerney has travelled the world and has a long­standing fascination with China. This is her first novel.

Rights: World All, incl TV/Film Extent: 464 pp Publication: October 2018

THE SHERIFF’S CATCH: Book One of the Sassana Stone / James Vella­Bardon (Historical Fiction) First in a series featuring Abel de Santiago, a Spanish adventurer in 16th century Ireland. For fans of Poldark , Outlander , Capitan Alatriste and red­ blooded historical adventure ...

Army deserter Abel de Santiago has all but avenged his murdered wife, when he is captured and sold as a galley slave. As the Spanish Armada sails for Calais in May 1588, there cannot be a soul aboard more reluctant than him ­ and after a crushing defeat at sea, Santiago finds himself washed ashore in an Ireland, riven by politics and war.

Captured by the brutal Sheriff of Sligo, a twist of fate leaves Santiago fleeing with a jewelled ring worth a King’s ransom, across a strange and stunning land, where danger lurks at every turn.

James Vella­Bardon was born and raised in Malta, an island nation steeped in the millennia of history. This is his first novel.

Rights: World All, incl TV/Film Extent: 336 pp Publication: February 2018

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CULL ­ Tanvir Bush (Speculative Fiction)

Black Mirror meets The Circle via Westminster bureaucracy gone murderous with efficiency in a sharp and outrageous satire about the way we live now… and the where things are going.

'Where is the satirist we need now, with the welfare state in chaos and politics a TV reality show? She is the fabulous, funny, sharp, outrageous Tanvir Bush... [the] inheritor of the satirical genius of Lindsay Anderson's Britannia Hospital and Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. ' Maggie Gee

'Laugh and weep! With wit, flair and imagination, Tanvir Bush unfolds the secret life of a nation…’ Fay Weldon

In a near­future Britain in which contempt for the welfare state furore has reached fever pitch, a lethal combination of government propaganda and aggressive cuts to social and medical benefits has slashed a poisonous divide through the nation: on one side, so­called scroungers, freeloaders, ‘crips’ and fakes; the other, The Hard Working Taxpayer.

Now the government is taking measures to relieve the economic burden of the disabled, elderly and vulnerable on society – by opening residential homes in which these people can be cared for at less expense. However, it soon becomes clear that at Grassybanks, heroine Alex’s local care home, there seems to be a sinister link between patients’ arrival at the facility and, soon after, their departure from this world…

Dr Tanvir Bush is a novelist and film­maker/photographer. Born in London, she lived and worked in Lusaka, Zambia, setting up the Willie Mwale Film Foundation. Her novel Witch Girl was published by Modjaji Books, Cape Town in 2015. She is an Associate Lecturer at Bath Spa University in Creative Writing.

Rights: World All, incl. TV/Film Extent: 352 pp Publication: January 2019

AMERICA UBER ALLES ­ Jack Fernley ( Speculative Fiction / Thriller)

Time­travelling Nazis fight the War of Independence to create a fascist USA in this genre­bending action thriller ­ perfect for readers of alternative history fiction who loved Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle , Len Deighton’s SS­GB , Robert Harris’s Fatherland , William Gibson’s The Difference Engine , and Stephen King’s 11.22.63 ...

The Russians are closing in on Berlin in April 1945, as leading Nazi general Robert von Greim and his mistress, Hannah Reitsch, fly into the beleaguered city. Hitler has ordered them to his bunker. There Germany’s secret weapon is revealed – a weapon that he hopes will win the war for the Nazis and change the course of history for ever.

In December 1776 the War of Independence rages across America. George Washington and his army are close to collapse, while King George’s men are bolstered by the surprise arrival of some extraordinary German troops…

Changing allegiances, the Germans soon become the cornerstone of Washington’s rapid success, their influence spreading quickly. But amidst the fighting, one officer grows increasingly suspicious of these men and their motives. He is shocked by their brutality, and their ideology is a world apart. Which vision of America will win out, a society based on the Declaration of Independence or the values of Mein Kampf?

Wayne Garvey (writing as Jack Fernley) has spent his career in television, in various guises including Head of Entertainment at the BBC and now as Chief Creative Officer for Sony. He now works with a range of production companies that make everything from The Crown for Netflix to the Italian version of The Voice.

Rights: World All, excluding Film/TV Extent: 368 pp Publication: May 2018

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DISCO SOUR / Giuseppe Porcaro (Speculative Fiction)

The existential odyssey of a heartsick politician to save a war­torn, post­austerity Europe from algorithmic autocracy ­ a rollicking debut in the vein of Max Barry’s Jennifer Government.

Winner of the inaugural Altiero Spinelli Prize for Outreach: “Spreading Knowledge about Europe” awarded by the EU.

Bastian Balthazar Bux is a space­lover, a smartphone addict and a leading member of The Federation®, the European network of civil society and local governments. In the aftermath of a continental civil­war, nation­states have collapsed, the European Union™ just prevents anarchy, and it’s mandatory to include branded trademarks in common language.

Bastian has just been unexpectedly dumped through an app, the BreakupShop™ service. Heavy hearted, he just wants to drink, celebrate work success and forget his romantic woes. However, he discovers that Nathan Ziggy Zukowsky, the alleged illegitimate son of Roman Polanski, is planning to sell plebiscitum®, a tinder­like app that is meant to replace elections, at the same conference he is invited to attend in Chile. Haunted by his break­up, he finds himself without his all­important Morph® phone, just a few hours before embarking on his trip to try to save democracy.

Giuseppe Porcaro is the former Secretary General of the European Youth Forum, and the current head of communications for Bruegel, an international think tank specialised in economic policy. He has recently published a series of scientific articles about how the internet of things and algorithms will change policymaking. DISCO SOUR is his first novel.

Rights: World All, incl. TV/Film Extent: 176 pp Publication: May 2018

THE SPEED OF LIFE ­ Richard Jobson (Science Fiction / Pop Culture)

Part pop­culture sci­fi thriller, part love letter to David Bowie, charting the intangible relationship between creator and fan, the loved and the lovers, and the power of music.

Film rights optioned by Tom Tykwer, director of Run Lola, Run , and Perfume, co­creator of Babylon Berlin.

Two beautiful time­travelling aliens arrive on Earth, drawn by a powerful need to search for the meaning of human creativity, to discover the truth behind the words, music and changing faces of David Bowie, whose music has reached their world and sparked something new in them. In their quest to understand Bowie's work, they are exposed to a world of self­destruction and loneliness as they travel through time to key moments in his life.

From Ziggy's Heddon Street, Brixton and Hammersmith in London, to Doheny Drive, and the Mojave Desert outside Los Angeles filming The Man Who Fell to Earth, to the austere beauty and creative flowering of Berlin and finally New York, their travels show them the beauty and the horror of the modern world and introduce them to the humanity's greatest quality, love.

Richard Jobson was the singer and lyricist with Scottish Punk band The Skids. He has published a series of books and spoken word records before becoming Sky TV’s Movie critic and writing/directing 6 feature films, including his memoir the award­winning ‘16 Years of Alcohol’. He lives in Berlin.

Rights: World All excl TV & Film Extent: 224 pp Publication: February 2018

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 13

VICIOUS RUMER / Joshua Winning (Action Thriller)

Haunted. Hunted. Cursed. You’ve never met anybody like Rumer Cross. A thriller for fans of Jessica Jones, Lisbeth Salander and films like The Craft .

“Exhilarating” SFX ‘Rumer is dark, demented and dangerous to know. I can guarantee you’ll love her, just pray you never ever meet her ’ –The Eloquent Page

‘Impossible to put down and Rumer is one of the best female protagonists I’ve ever read. Think Jessica Jones meets Ellen Ripley!’ –Between The Pages

‘Deftly blends horror and classic noir for a gripping mystery with an unhinged heroine’ – Erin Callahan, author of The Art of Escaping

Rumer Cross is cursed. Scraping by working for a dingy London detective agency, she lives in the shadow of her mother, a violent criminal dubbed the ‘Witch Assassin’ whose bloodthirsty rampage terrorised London for over a decade. Raised by foster families who never understood her and terrified she could one day turn into her mother, Rumer has become detached and self­reliant. But when she’s targeted by a vicious mobster who believes she’s hiding an occult relic, she’s drawn into the very world she’s been fighting to avoid.

Hunted by assassins and haunted by her mother’s dark legacy, Rumer must also confront a terrible truth: no matter what she does, everybody she’s ever grown close to has died screaming. Joshua Winning is a film journalist who writes for Total Film , SFX and Radio Times . He has been on set with Kermit the Frog, devoured breakfast with zombies on The Walking Dead , and sat on the Iron Throne while visiting the Game Of Thrones set in Dublin. His dark fantasy series The Sentinel Trilogy is published by Peridot Press.

Rights: World All Extent: 336 pp Publication: August 2018

THE MOOR / Sam Haysom (Horror)

A group of 13­year­old boys go hiking on the moors ­­ and begin to disappear, one by one ­ in a coming­of­age horror novel that explores themes of friendship and the struggle to shake off the bad things that happen to us when we're growing up.

Over a long weekend in 2002, as a group of 13­year­old boys set out on a walking tour across the moors of South West England. Stories shared around the campfire grow darker and the boys begin to fall out. Odd things start to happen. There are noises in the night. A severed rabbit's foot turns up outside someone's tent… As panic sets in and a storm approaches, the remaining boys have to band together to face a darkness not even the local ghost stories could have helped them predict.

Some of them will never return home.

But on 2015 one will come back to face the evil he uncovered all those years before...

Sam Haysom is a writer and journalist covering culture and entertainment for Mashable. This is his first novel.

Rights: World All Extent: 336 pp Publication: August 2018

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A SMALL FICTION ­ James Miller and Jefferson Miller (Gift / Humour / Micro­Fiction)

For fans of Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown, Baking with Kafka by Tom Gauld, Very British Problems by Rob Temple and Sartre’s Sink by Mark Crick, comes a little book of little big stories.

A small fiction is what happens when a writer wants to tell a hundred stories but doesn’t have the time to write a hundred books. Instead, he writes the seeds of them and casts them to the wind. What started as an exercise in creativity on social media has grown to become a wonderful compendium of thoughts on humanity, storytelling and finding the absurd in the everyday.

Through the genre lenses of science fiction, fantasy, contemporary fiction, folklore, and humour each of these small fictions is a peephole that reveals a bigger story.

"Never bite the hand that feeds you," they’d told her. But she took a bite anyway. Then another. From now on she was feeding herself.

"Do you think we have free will?" said the marionette. "Sure," said the other. "Even with these strings?" "Maybe no one is holding them."

"You can't have your cake and eat it too." "Alright. I'll have my cake, and eat your cake." "Wait, no, that's­" "Who else brought cake?"

James and Jefferson Miller are brothers living in California. James is a writer, Jefferson is an artist and graphic designer. A Small Fiction is their first book. They tweet to 45,000 followers on @ASmallFiction

Rights: World All Extent: 208 pp Publication: October 2018

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SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT ­ M.T.A. Smith (Gift / Classic Literature)

A new, illustrated translation of the medieval masterpiece.

It is New Year at Camelot and a mysterious green knight appears at King Arthur’s court. Challenging the knights of the Round Table to a Christmas game, he offers his splendid axe as a prize to whoever is brave enough to behead him with just one strike. The condition is that his challenger must seek him out in a year and a day to have the deed returned. Sir Gawain accepts and decapitates the stranger, only to see him pick up his head, walk out of the hall and ride away on his horse. Now Gawain must complete his part of the bargain, search for his foe and confront what seems his doom…

Michael Smith’s translation of this magnificent Arthurian romance draws on his intimate experience of the North West of England and his knowledge of mediaeval history, culture and architecture. He takes us back to the original poetic form of the manuscript and brings it alive for a modern audience, while revealing the poem’s historic and literary context.

The book is beautifully illustrated by throughout with detailed recreations of the illuminated lettering in the original manuscript and the author’s own linocut prints, each meticulously researched for contemporary accuracy. This is an exciting new edition that will appeal both to students of the Gawain­poet and the general reader alike

Michael Smith studied history at the University of York and printmaking at the Curwen Print Study Centre near Cambridge.

Rights: World All Extent: 240 pp, b&w illustrations Publication: July 2018

WHERE EPICS FAIL: Meditations to Live By ­ Yahia Lababidi (Popular Philosophy/Poetry)

‘Epigrams succeed where epics fail.’ Persian proverb

A decade in the making, Yahia Lababidi returns with a new book of his latest concise meditations, for fans of Rumi’s poetry, Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey and Nayyirah Waheed’s Salt , but aimed at general readers and lovers of language.

Yahia Lababidi has been described as ‘our greatest living aphorist’, with his work collected alongside the likes of Voltaire, Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson in Geary’s Guide to the World’s Great Aphorists . His most recent book, Balancing Acts: New & Selected Poems (2016), debuted at #1 on Amazon US’s Hot New Releases.

The author defines an aphorism as ‘what is worth quoting from the soul’s dialogue with itself’ and his aphorisms resonate with those who appreciate wit and wisdom: inspiration or spiritual sustenance in a sentence.

But as an immigrant, Muslim and writer living in Trump’s alarming America, Lababidi also views his work as more than a series of personal reflections. In that sense, this collection is a kind of peace offering, addressing our shared humanity, and an attempt, through art, to alleviate the mounting fear and loathing in the world.

Yahia Lababidi ’s first collection of aphorisms, Signposts to Elsewhere was selected as a ‘Book of the Year’ by the Independent , while his most recent book, Balancing Acts: New & Selected Poems, debuted at #1 on Amazon US’s Hot New Releases. His writing has been translated into various languages and he has participated in poetry festivals across the world.

Rights: World All Extent: 256 pp Publication: November 2018

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Young Adult and Children’s

IN SECURE / Andrew Pack ( YA / Fantasy)

Teen. Prison. Spells. Trouble.

Imagine “Five Children and It”, if the children were juvenile delinquents, and the ‘It’ was a lot more like Stephen King’s version..

Pretty Jen and silent Casey. Violent Sharp and self­harming Selfie. Lauren, who won't eat and Boo who eats things she shouldn't. Brick, the brilliant hacker full of rage. Robin, the charmer, escape artist and master thief. Hasan, who did something so bad even the adult carers working in their secure unit for troubled adolescents can't hide their dislike of him. Al, the accidental magician with a book of spells that are beginning to cost more than he's willing to pay.

Ten troubled teenagers locked in with their worst fears. And something is stirring inside the magic book. Some thing watch ful . Some thing hungry... Something about to find out what makes these children tick, and whether ten out­of­kilter clocks can manage to synchronise when it really matters.

Andrew Pack works in family law and writes the legal and social work blog Suesspicious Minds.

Rights: World All, incl. TV/Film Rights sold: Audio Extent: 262 pp Publication: April 2018

THE THIEF OF TIME / Mark Bowsher (YA / Fantasy)

A young boy travels to a magical realm and is set three impossible tasks to win the essence of time itself in order to save his dying mother in this debut.

When 12­year­old Krish finds out his mum is dying, he is desperate to give her more time to live. Ilir is a tiny desert world where the days are a handful of hours long and there is magic and treachery on every corner. Here Krish is set three impossible challenges by the brutal King Obsendei to win from him the Myrthali, 'the sands of time'.

Krish is aided by the razor­tongued, young girl­wizard Balthrir, and together they will climb a mountain perched on top of a tree, dive into the pitch black depths of the Night Ocean and witness a firestorm over the Pale Hunting Grounds, where majestic and terrifying birds are born out of flames in the sky. They will meet the ancient sorceress Old Margary, and the brutal Goonmallinns who would use them as bait.. And they will be pursued by the Vulrein; hellish dogs who haunt Krish, picking up his scent every time he closes his eyes. But Krish may be about to learn that there is more than his mother's life at stake as he gets embroiled in a blood­thirsty fight for power in Ilir that will push his friendship with Balthrir to its limits.

Mark Bowsher is writer and filmmaker who has won Best Short awards (plus one Best Screenplay award) at festivals in the UK and the US. He has written short fiction for Lionsgate's Fright Club ezine as well as articles for Den of Geek and Cult TV Times. He created video content for Santander, Pearson, The Big Issue and MyLex as well as music videos based on original concepts for Nisha Chand, Ekkoes, Good Work Watson, Morgan Crowley and Go­Zilla.

Rights: World All, incl. TV/Film Publication: Autumn 2018

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 17 THE INFINITE POWERS OF ADAM GOWERS / Brandon Robshaw (YA / Fantasy )

These days, all YA novels are ‘edgy’. Either they’re bleak slabs of social realism or dystopian visions of the future. The Infinite Powers of Adam Gowers is that rare thing: a teenage novel that makes you laugh rather than wince.

Adam Gowers has problems. He is desperately in love with a girl who doesn’t fancy him in the slightest; he’s gone and got himself booked in for a fight with the hardest kid in the school; he’s worried about failing all his exams; his parents can barely stand the sight of each other. And then one day he is granted an infinite number of wishes by a genie who conveniently pops out of a lamp. Infinite! An infinite number of wishes! Effectively he has become a god. Except that he doesn’t really have the skill­set to go with the god­like powers…

Brandon Robshaw is the author of 21 children’s novels and over 60 educational books. His most recent children’s novel, The Big Wis h, was published by Chicken House in 2015 and was shortlisted for the James Reckitt Hull Children’s Book Award. Brandon is also a freelance journalist and book reviewer .He lectures in Creative Writing, Children’s Literature, and Philosophy for the Open University, and Writing for Children for Westminster University.

Rights: World All Extent: 208 pp Publication: Autumn 2018

THE ARROW OF APOLLO / Philip Womack (11+ and YA / Fantasy)

An epic adventure set in the legendary past: three friends must find the magical Arrow of Apollo before evil consumes the world.

The gods are leaving the earth, tempted by other worlds where they can live in peace. Only a few retain an interest in the mortals left behind, including Hermes, the messenger god, and Apollo, Lord of Light. Other, darker, more ancient forces are wakening, and threatening to take over.

Now two opposing houses are forced to come together to face a terrible danger. Silvius, son of Aeneas, of the Italian House of the Wolf, is given a task by a dying centaur. The dark god Python is rising and massing an army of unstoppable force. The only thing that can save the world is the Arrow of Apollo ­ but it was split into two. Against his father’s wishes, Silvius and his friend Elissa must travel to the land of their enemies, the Achaeans. Meanwhile, Tisamenos, the son of Orestes, is facing his own dangers in the kingdom of Mykenai.When all three meet, they enter a final, terrifying race to reunite Arrowhead and Shaft, and destroy the army of the Python. There’s one more problem: a prophecy tells that one of them will die…

Praise for Philip Womack:

"Violence in the labyrinthine darkness, and the pleasures of food, family loyalty and discovering your own powers as a young man, all reforge Greek myth for the new generation in vivid prose saturated with Homer " New Statesman

'Womack s fifth novel, unsettling, original and absorbing, shows him at the height of his powers' Literary Review

Philip Womack is the author of six critically acclaimed books for children, including The Broken King and The Double Axe . He teaches Creative Writing and Children’s Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London, and contributes to many newspapers and magazines, including The Times Literary Supplement, Literary Review, and The Financial Times Educated at Oriel College, Oxford, where he read Classics and English. He has always had a passion for myths, loves teaching Latin and Greek, and hopes that The Arrow of Apollo will help to provide a new way in to the old stories.

Rights: World All Publication: Spring 2019

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GRAPHIC NOVELS

GRAFITY'S WALL ­ Ram V and Anand Radhakrishnan

When an aspiring street artist by the name of ‘Grafity’ watches the tenements outside his home being razed, he finds an unlikely canvas at the one wall still left standing in the debris. Over the next weeks, he begins creating a mural on the wall, one that chronicles the lives of his friends: a local low­level fixer named Jay who harbours dreams of being a rapper. A brilliant and awkward boy named Chasma who writes love letters between shifts waiting tables at a local Chinese restaurant. And Saira, an aspiring actress with ambitions so fierce that they threaten to consume her and all those around her.

As the mural progresses, the story gives us glimpses into these incandescent lives, their hopes and dreams both inspired and impeded by the impossible city that they live in.

Ram V is a UK­based, Mumbai­born, writer with a number of successful comics and graphic novels to his name. He is a regarded as an exciting new voice in sequential storytelling, creating literary works that feature nuanced, well­drawn characters and compelling original perspectives. Anand Radhakrishnan is a fine artist by training who works primarily as an illustrator. Based in Mumbai, his attention to detail and loose energetic inking results in an organic and dynamic style that has been compared to the work of Moebius.

Rights: World All Extent: 144pp Format: 170x240 Publication: October 2018

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RECENT BACKLIST

An original and moving coming­of­age novel about a boy unravelling his family secrets and the secrets to his identity as he journeys 6,000 miles into his past...

Meet Sonny Anderson as he tips headlong into adulthood. Sonny doesn’t remember his mother’s face; he was kidnapped at age five by his father, Guru Bim, and taken to live in a commune in Brazil. Brits think he’s an American, Americans think he’s a Brit. When he turns 21, Sonny musters the courage to travel alone to the UK in an attempt to leave a troubled past behind, reunite with his mother and finally learn the truth about his childhood. With a list of people to visit, a whole lot of attitude and five mysterious letters from his guardian, Sonny sets out to learn the truth. But is it a truth he wants to hear?

Rights: World All Rights sold: German (HarperCollins) Extent: 208 pp

Four generations. One stitch at a time.

It is 1911, and Jean is about to join the mass strike at the Singer factory. For her, nothing will be the same again. Decades later, in Edinburgh, Connie sews coded moments of her life into a notebook, as her mother did before her. More than 100 years after his grandmother's sewing machine was made, Fred discovers a treasure trove of documents. His family history is laid out before him in a patchwork of unfamiliar handwriting and colourful seams. He starts to unpick the secrets of four generations, one stitch at a time.

“...tenderly evokes the true value of the personal heritage we pass down, through generations and beyond families, with the objects that we love. Illuminating our shared history through the private histories of four remarkable women, this is a hopeful and poignant debut that lingers long after the final page.” Helen Sedgwick, author of The Comet Seekers

40,000 e­books sold ­ over 100 ***** Amazon reader reviews

Rights: World All Rights sold: German (Penguin Random House), Audio, Large Print Extent: 320 pp

How do you solve a murder with hundreds of amateur detectives under your feet?

'... bestrides the territory of English rural comedy, one foot on the throat of Joanna Trollope, the other knocking the bonnet of Miss Marple off her silver head..' Stephen Fry

When hordes of people descend once again on the picturesque village of Nasely for the annual celebration of its most famous resident, murder mystery writer Agnes Crabbe, events take a dark turn as the festival opens with a shocking death. Fan club rivalries bubble below the surface, and then a second Crabbe devotee is found murdered. Though the police are quick to arrive on the scene, the facts are tricky to ascertain as the witnesses, suspects and victim are all dressed as Crabbe's best­known character, the lady detective Millicent Cutter. And they all want to be first to solve that crime too...

Rights: World All Rights sold: Audio Extent: 320 pp

Three soldiers’ wives, and the secrets of three generations at Echo Hall…

In the early nineties, newlywed Ruth Flint arrives at Echo Hall to find an unhappy house full of mysteries that its occupants won't discuss. When her husband, Adam, is called up to the Gulf War, her shaky marriage is tested to the core... During WWII Elsie Flint is living at Echo Hall with her unsympathetic in­laws, with his cousin Daniel as her only support ­ but he’s hiding a terible secret. At the end of the Edwardian era, Rachel and Leah Walters meet Jacob Flint, an encounter leading to conflict that will haunt the family throughout WWI and beyond... As Ruth discovers the secrets of Echo Hall, will she be able to bring peace to the Flint family, and discover what she really needs?

Rights: World All Extent: 320 pp

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 20

An assured, lyrical debut exploring the loss and confusion of love, and the stories we tell ourselves, for fans of Salley Vickers and Kate Atkinson

Anna, a troubled art curator, leaves the psychiatric wing of a hospital in London, and finds herself in a remote village, sharing a rented cottage with her partner. When Anna discovers in the attic the long­lost diary of a model from a Victorian painting, she embarks on a journey back to the 19th century and the complicated relationship of two young women studying at Oxford University.

As the threads of her life intertwine with those of a century earlier, she finds a way to run from the pain of her losses, both old and new. But the past is not all it seems and Anna’s escape routes are taken from her, one by one, until she must face the truths of her present

Rights: World All Rights sold: Audio Extent: 320 pp

The literary debut of composer Tot Taylor is a novel about the nature of creativity – at the level of genius. ­ mixing real and imagined lives in the tale of a young singer­songwriter.

"...an astonishing and iconoclastic creation . . . Finnegans Wak e infused with Melody Maker and botany." Geoffrey Rush Featured in The Guardian’s Best Books of 2017

John Nightly finds his dimension in pop music, the art form of his time, and his solo album becomes the third best­selling record of 1970. But success turns out to have side effects. After a dazzling career, John renounces his gift, denying music and his very being, until he is rediscovered thirty years later by a teenage saviour dude who persuades him to restore his quasi­proto­multi­media eco­mass, the Mink Bungalow Requiem. Can John Nightly be brought back to life again?

Rights: World All Extent: 900 pp

"Deftly mixes gritty urban settings with sinister countryside in a multi­layered plot that keeps you guessing right up to the end.” Brooke Magnanti

The most violent thunderstorm in living memory occurs above a sleepy village on the West Coast of Scotland. A young couple take shelter in the woods, never to be seen again...

DCI Jack Russell is brought in to investigate. Nearing retirement, he agrees to undertake one last case, which he believes can be solved as a matter of routine. But what Jack discovers in the forest leads him to the conclusion that he is following in the footsteps of a psychopath who is just getting started. Jack is flung headlong into a race against time to prevent the evolution of a serial killer…

15,000 e­books sold

Rights: World All Extent: 368pp

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NON­FICTION

GIRL WITH A GUN: A Teenage Freedom­Fighter in Iran / Diana Nammi and Karen Attwood (Memoir/Current Affairs)

Diana Nammi became a frontline fighter with the Peshmerga when she was only 17, becoming one of the Iranian regime’s most wanted.. But this hadn’t always been her fate... A gripping and moving first­hand account of one woman’s fight to change the world around her, a survival story and a love story.

Originally known as Galavezh (Morning Star), she grew up in the Kurdish region of Iran in the 1960s and 70s. Becoming involved in political activities while at teacher training college as a teenager and as demonstrations to oust the hated Shah swept the country, Galavezh began to play an active part in the Iranian Revolution of 1979, like many other students. But after the Shah was forced to leave, the new Islamic Regime which came to power supported no opposition, and Galavezh found she had no choice but to become a soldier in the famed peshmerga fighting force, after Kurdistan was brutally attacked. She spent 12 years on the front line, and helped lead the fight for women’s rights and equality for the Kurdish people. She became one of the Iranian regime’s most wanted.

Peshmerga literally translates as “one who sacrifices oneself for others”. The forces, including more than a thousand women on active duty, are currently fighting ISIS in northern Iraq. This is the unique and powerful account of a woman who fought with these troops, travelling across Iran and Iraq, standing up for women and girls and slowly but surely changing the world.

Born in Kurdish Iran, Diana Nammi played an active part in the Iranian revolution before it was hijacked by the Islamists. At seventeen, she became a peshmerga fighter and was on the front line for 12 years. She founded the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (IKWRO) in 2002. Diana is a sought­after expert on honour­based violence and speaks all over the world on the issue of women’s rights and equality including at the European Parliament, in Westminster and on broadcast media, appearing in documentaries about ‘honour­based’ violence. In 2012, Diana was named in a list of 150 women who shake the world by Newsweek and The Daily Beast. In 2014, she received the Special Jury Women on the Move Award from UNHCR and was recognised as one of BBC's 100 Women. In 2015, she won the Women of Courage Award from the Women's Refugee Commission in New York. In 2016, she received an honorary doctorate from Essex University. Karen Attwood is an award­winning writer and journalist with 17 years’ experience working on international and UK national newspapers and magazines.

Rights: World All, incl Film/TV Extent: 320 pp Publication: June 2019

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YOU ARE WHAT YOU READ: How Changing Your Media Diet Can Change the World ­ Jodie Jackson ( Mental Health / Popular Culture / Media )

Why ­ and how ­ the current news cycle is making us miserable, and what we can do about it.

How many of us get a feeling of overwhelming hopelessness, the moment we switch off the evening news? Jodie Jackson asked this question when first started researching the impact of news on our wellbeing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she quickly learned that “the news”, quite literally, makes us miserable. Things got more interesting when she looked into the effects of news about things that were not negative. Stories about progress and possibility, about hope and optimism. It turns out such stories motivate us. They kick us into gear and play into our natural desire to care. As a force for inspiration, the news can, in fact, be hugely powerful. But it requires us to radically change our media diet.

This book will show you how. First, by understanding the way in which our current 24­hour news is produced. Who decides what ends up on our front pages and in our social media feeds, and why does it matter in the first place? Next, we uncover a whole parallel universe, beyond what the news industry refers to as the “good news is no news” principle. Combining research from psychology, sociology and journalism with real­life examples, this book makes a compelling case for the greater inclusion of solutions­focused news into our media diet.

This is not a call for us all to be naïve and ignore the negative. Rather, it asks us to not ignore the positive. For every problem, there is someone, somewhere, trying to do something about it. Or at least thinking about what we should be doing about it. Only by including this ‘What Next?’ part of the story will we get to a better place – both in our minds and in the world.

Jodie Jackson is an author, researcher and campaigner. She holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of East London where she investigated the psychological impact of the news. As she discovered evidence of the beneficial effects of solutions focused news on our wellbeing, she grew convinced of the need to spread consumer awareness. She is a regular speaker at media conferences and universities. Jodie is also a qualified yoga teacher and life coach.

Rights: World All Extent: tbc Publication: 2019

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DATA: A GUIDE TO HUMANS / Phil Harvey and Noelia Jiménez Martínez (Science / Technology / Culture)

Data without context is faulty; data without empathy is treacherous. The world is at a tipping point and the way we use data defines how we see people. Even in this, the seemingly most technical area, empathy matters.

Humanity’s most important new resource has the capacity to give us new insight into every aspect of our lives, this planet and the universe at large. Not only does it change what we know, but also how we know it. But data without empathy is useless: the current problem with data science and data analysis is that we forget about humanity; the people who make up the data, the people who work with the data and those expected to understand the results. In the world of data, empathy is a powerful tool that will unlock and amplify success.

The result of over 10 years of experience of working in data, as as well as lecturing and researching data empathy, Data: A Guide to Humans will include insight from work with hundreds of people across data science, data engineering and data philosophy. It will be packed with examples of good and bad behaviours by governments, businesses and individuals, and provide a new way to think about and approach data work.

But as long as data and tech teams all over the world are lacking in diversity, different voices, backgrounds and opinions, we will never be able to accurately assess the valuable potential of data we need to understand humanity on a truly global scale, and so the book argues too for greater inclusion across the world of data science. Chapters will cover why empathy leads to success, the technical details of empathy and data quality. At its heart this is a book not just about data but about empathy, and how one is useless without the other.

Phil Harvey works as a Cloud Solutions Architect for Data & AI in the Microsoft One Commercial Partner organisation, and is on the front line with innovative partners looking to make the best of Microsoft Cloud & AI technologies.

Noelia Jiménez Martínez is Head of Data Science and Astrophysics at Unbound. She holds a PhD in Numerical Astrophysics applied to Galaxy Formation and Chemical Evolution. She has worked as a Data Science Consultant in London, and before that, as an Astrophysics Researcher at science institution all over Europe.

Rights: World All Publication: Fall 2019

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MERRY MIDWINTER ­ Gillian Monk s (Lifestyle / Gift)

For fans of Unbound’s The Almanac (30, 000 copies sold) comes a little book about the new old ways to reclaim Christmas.

We’ve tried LYKKA and HYGGE, and had plenty of LAGOM chopping NORWEGIAN WOOD… and now it’s time to reconnect with the season and live winter well.

Merry Midwinter is a gentle and warm winter companion which explains why it is important to celebrate the whole season, not just one or two days. It puts into practical terms the physical and spiritual relevance that the solar activity around the Winter Solstice holds for every living thing, and tells us how our most well­known and best­loved Christmas traditions have little or nothing to do with any one religion, but everything to do with the continuation of life and the importance of family and community.

Celebrating midwinter is not about what you do, buy, eat or spend – but about your attitude to life. The true significance of midwinter is not found in any individual spiritual or religious belief or practice. The movement of the earth around the sun causes the winter solstice – an opportunity to celebrate what we all as humans share. Celebrate winter days with these ideas for how to make your own decorations (kissing boughs, advent wreaths, crackers, stockings and much more); your own alternative gifts which cost nothing except your time and thought; your own entertainments and games; and simple, seasonal recipes from years gone by.

Merry Midwinter chimes with that thirst for books about finding peace of mind in a frenetic modern world by rediscovering old traditions and ways. The book will be lightly illustrated, with instructions for simple recipes and crafts.

Gillian Monks trained as a teacher and graduated from Lancaster University. A Quaker, Theosophist and practicing Druid she is developing a spiritual retreat on a five­acre plot where she also leads and facilitates workshops in self development and spirituality

Rights: World All Extent: 140x194 Publication: October 2018

IRELAND’S GREEN LARDER ­ Margaret Hickey ( Cultural History / Food & Drink)

Rich in cultural detail, this is the first definitive history of Irish food and drink, for fans of Bee Wilson’s Consider the Fork , Darina Allen’s 30 Years of Ballymaloe , and Oliver Rowe’s Food for All Seasons .

“The only book on the social history of Ireland that you’ll ever need.” Richard Corrigan

From from the ancient field system of the Ceide Fields, established a thousand years before the Pyramids were built, right up to today's thriving food scene, in no country has the contrast between feast and famine been greater than in Ireland.

Hickey digs down to what has formed the day­to­day life of the people, drawing on diaries, letters, legal texts, ballads, government records, folklore and more. The story of how Queen Maeve died after being hit by a piece of hard cheese sits alongside an the story of one of Ireland's magnificent cheese makers, and Jonathan Swift's complaint about dubiously fresh salmon is countered by the tale of the writer's day trip on the wild Atlantic coast, collecting the world's freshest native oysters. Beautifully illustrated and dotted with recipes, there are chapters covering everything from strong tea to the Irish rituals and superstitions associated with food and drink. With a light touch and a flair for finding the most telling details, Hickey draws on years of research to bring this sweeping history brilliantly to life.

Margaret Hickey read English at Trinity College, Dublin. Formerly the Food and Drink Editor at Country Living magazine, she regularly contributes articles on food, drink and travel to national press, including The Financial Times, The Guardian and The Times . She has lectured at University College, London and University College, Limerick on the subject of oral history.

Rights: World All Extent: 304 pp Publication: Spring 2018

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 25 DON’T HOLD MY HEAD DOWN / Lucy Anne Holmes (Memoir / Sex & Sexuality)

Bridget Jones meets Erin Brockovich and Elizabeth Gilbert – wearing a strap on, at a sex party….

This is a memoir about sex. It starts with me having a disappointing and drunken masturbation session to internet porn and ends with me having three day long orgasms and taking on the most powerful newspaper in the country. Here’s what happens:

I have an epiphany. I’m in my mid thirties and I don’t think I’ve skimmed the top of how amazing sex can be – what have I been doing with my time?!

I make a list. I want to experience slow sex, different types of orgasm, work out what to do with a penis, be sexual with other women, try some BDSM, go to a sex party, make porn.

I attempt to do the things on the list . Um…would you er, like to try um, you know..with me? GAHHHHH!

I am beset by obstacles and disasters. I hate my body, I hate myself, I am incapable of asking for what I want, I use alcohol for courage, it takes me ages to find someone to practice with, he dumps me after the worst handjob in the world, etc etc…

Amazing things happen.

Lucy Anne Holmes is a writer and campaigner. Her last novel Just a Girl Standing In Front of a Boy won the Romantic Novelists Association 'Rom Com of the Year 2015' and she founded the successful No More Page 3 campaign.

Rights: World All Extent: 320 pp Publication: March 2019

THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF SEX ­ Kate Lister (Culture / Sex & Sexuality)

A cornucopia of giggles, gaffs, titillation, temptations, and exceptional expertise in all things historically sexual from Dr Kate Lister aka @Whores of Yore.

A look at the curious history of sex, drawing from the best of the Whores of Yore blog archive with tons of exclusive, new material. Dr Kate Lister explores all the strange and baffling things human beings have done in the pursuit (and denial) of the almighty orgasm. To say that humans have overthought sex is something of an understatement.

Kate Lister started the Whores of Yore project in 2015. The digital engagement project aims to give voice to the voiceless, to start a much­needed conversation on the history of sexuality, the plight of modern sex workers, and, ultimately, to extract the prudish stick from the arse of society. The archive provides a platform for academics, activists, sex workers, and archivists to share their experience, research and stories around sexuality and sex work.

The Curious History of Sex will be a beautifully designed hardback, with full­colour illustrations, and feature the popular Historical Hotties and Whores of Yore's Word of the Day, as well as fascinating stories from the secret side of historical sex alongside modern day voices.

Dr. Kate Lister is a lecturer at Leeds Trinity University, where she researches the history of sexuality and curates the online research project Whores of Yore, whose Twitter feed has over 100,000 followers. She is a board member of the International Sex Work Research Hub and an advocate for Basis Sex Work Project in Yorkshire, a charity who support sex workers working across all sectors.

Rights: World All Extent: 384 pp, full­colour illustrations Publication: September 2019

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 26

THE SURFBOARD: How Using My Hands Helped Unlock My Mind / Dan Kieran (Self­Help / Memoir / Inspirational)

Brief, lucid and inspirational, The Surfboard is the story of a person challenging themselves to think differently, and finding mental clarity by a physical route ­ a story both deeply personal and entirely universal.

'Dan is a true disruptor' Richard Branson

'Profound, original and beautifully crafted.' Roman Krznaric, author of Carpe Diem Regained

The Surfboard is Dan’s account of a week he spent in Cornwall building a seven­foot surfboard, even though he had never surfed in his life. Interspersed with the story of making the board – the intricate craft he had to learn, and the clarity of mind that came with that challenge – are reflections on the the obstacles, rewards and realisations he encountered while starting and then running a successful company. He went away to build a surfboard at a time when he felt he had reached the limit of his development at a person and as a leader: he had to find a way to push beyond his preconception of what he could do.

This startlingly honest and original book is an indispensable guide to exceeding your own limitations and making great things for their own sake, out of love.

Dan Kieran is co­founder and CEO of Unbound. Before that he was a Sunday Times bestselling author, publishing twelve books including Crap Towns, The Idle Traveller and Three Men in A Float . He was Deputy Editor of The Idler for many years and still writes occasionally for the Guardian, The Times, the Telegraph and Die Zeit . He has given talks and workshops on raising money, entrepreneurship and how to have ideas at the Do Lectures, Cambridge University and the European Parliament.

Rights: World All Rights sold: German (Heyne) Extent: 144 pp Publication: September 2018

HOW TO COME ALIVE AGAIN: A Guide to Killing Your Monsters ­ Beth McColl ( Self­Help / Mental Health / Memoir)

A different kind of guide for dealing with depression ­ from the young and for the young .

You’re really depressed. That’s sad.

But it’s also okay. I don’t mean that like it’s great and you should just shrug and get out of my office. I don’t even have an office. I’m sitting on the floor eating a banana. No, what I mean is it doesn’t matter to me that you’re depressed. Why should it?

Because hey, guess what ­ me too. You are not an oddity here, you’re not a family secret. You’re not a joke. You’re not a disappointment. You’re not a waste of space, or a fuck up, or a failure. You’re none of those things here. You’re just someone who’s been depressed. Someone who’s still depressed. Someone who can’t stand life so much some days you’re not sure how you’re still even on this planet. Someone who desperately wants to know their own worth and be alive better.

You have depression. It has flattened you and broken you and made you into soup. It hasn’t done this to you because you’re weaker or worse than other people, it has done this to you because that’s what mental illness does. We know that bravery is in the little resistances; the dishwasher filled and turned on. The bill paid. The floor hoovered, the call to the doctor made, the window open.

The light coming in.

Beth McColl is a twenty­something writer. She’s an advice columnist for Dazed & Confused magazine and has written about love, sex and mental health for Brooklyn Magazine , Gradient , Ask­Men , and her 50,000 Twitter followers.

Rights: World All Extent: tbc Publication: 2019

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 27

EILEEN: The Making of Orwell ­ Sheila Topp (Biography)

“Now,” George told a friend the night he met Eileen O’Shaughnessy, “that’s the kind of girl I would like to marry.” The year before, Eileen had published a futuristic poem called "End of the Century, 1984." Later, George would name his greatest work, 1984, in homage to the memory of Eileen.

The never before told story of George Orwell’s first wife, a woman who shaped, supported and even saved the life of one of the 20th century’s greatest writers.

“[Eileen] has always been something of a black hole at the centre of Orwell Studies. Sylvia Topp’s painstaking researches have breathed life into this enigmatic figure, and all Orwell fans owe her a huge debt of gratitude.” D.J. Taylor, author of Orwell: A Biography

“One cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of Eileen O’Shaughnessy in the life of Eric Blair, and hence of George Orwell. Her influence upon him was profound, in his life and his work. It’s now splendid to have her biography.” Peter Stansky, author of Orwell: The Transformation.

The first biography of this extraordinary woman, Eileen examines the Blairs' nine year marriage, from a tiny village where they grew vegetables and tended their own goats and chickens, through the dangers of the Spanish Civil War, nursing George in Morocco after a severe bout of tubercular bleeding, narrowly escaping the destruction of their London apartment in World War II, and even adopting a baby boy when it became apparent that they were unable to have their own child. And their partnership produced some of the greatest works in English literature. The book is a vivid picture of bohemianism, poverty, political engagement and sexual freedom in the 30s and 40s, with an undertow of sadness. This touching story offers a completely new perspective on Orwell himself.

Sheila Topp was the longtime wife and creative partner of Tuli Kupferberg, a Beat poet who later was a co­founder, in 1964, of the Fugs, a legendary rock and roll band. Together Sylvia and Tuli wrote and designed over thirty books and little magazines, including As They Were, 1001 Ways to Live Without Working, and Yeah magazine. Sylvia has worked in the publishing world since college, starting as a copy editor on medical journals, then moving to freelance editing at major literary publishing houses. After that, she joined the staff at The Soho Weekly News and later The Village Voice , ending her publishing career recently, after sixteen years in the editorial department at Vanity Fair.

Rights: World English Publication: Fall 2019

AGRIPPINA: Empress, Exile, Hustler, Whore ­ Emma Southon (History)

Great­granddaughter of Augustus. Great­niece of Tiberius. Sister of Caligula. Wife of Claudius. Mother of Nero. The story of Agrippina ­ at the centre of imperial power for three generations ­ is the story of the Julio­Claudian dynasty, and of Rome itself, at its bloody, extravagant, chaotic, ruthless and political height.

Beautiful and intelligent, she was portrayed as alternately a ruthless murderer and helpless victim, the most loving mother and the most powerful woman of the Roman empire.

This book follows Agrippina as a daughter, born in Cologne, to the expected heir to Augustus’s throne, as a sister to Caligula who raped his sisters and showered them with honours until they attempted rebellion against him and were exiled, as a seductive niece and then wife to Claudius who gave her access to near unlimited power, and then as a mother to Nero who adored her until he had her killed.

From the camps of Germany during a mutiny, through senatorial political intrigue, assassination attempts and exile to a small island, to the heights of imperial power, thrones and golden cloaks and games and adoration, Agrippina scaled the absolute limits of female power in Rome. Her biography is also the biography of the first Roman imperial family ­ the Julio­Claudians, and of the empire itself.

Emma Southon has a PhD in Ancient History and researches sex, the family, gender and religion.

Rights: World All Rights sold: Spanish (Pasado & Presente) TV: (Dancing Ledge) Publication: March 2018

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 28

JAKI LIEBEZEIT: Life, Theory and Practice of a Master Drummer ­ Jono Podmore. Ed. (Music / Biography / Music Theory and Practice) For readers of How Music Works by David Byrne, the story of drummer Jaki Liebezeit: remembered as the groove and power behind the experimental German rock band Can, he left another legacy – a complete practical theory of drumming.

This theory, often referred to as E­T after the Morse code symbols for dot and dash, is based on natural principles of movement that Jaki observed during his lifelong ethnological research into drumming. He died in 2017, but fortunately the basic principles had already been transcribed, and with the help of Jaki’s widow and discographer the editors have amassed a comprehensive overview of not only the drum theory, but also Jaki’s profound theoretical and practical vision as applied throughout his life

● a full biography with exclusive, previously unpublished material, identifying themes in Jaki’s life that manifested in his thinking and playing ● an explanation of Jaki’s E­T theory and the technical and craft aspects that were its expression ● an exploration of the philosophical aspects of Jaki’s work and outlook and his first ever complete discography ● an overview of Jaki’s selection of drums and percussion, highlighting his modified and hand­made equipment

“[a] rigorously minimal and quietly influential drummer, Mr. Liebezeit was a virtuoso” New York Times

Jaki Liebezeit (1938 ­ 2017) was a German drummer, best known as a founding member of experimental rock band Can. He was called "one of the few drummers to convincingly meld the funky and the cerebral" He recorded widely, before and after Can disbanded., including on Brian Eno’s 1977 album, “Before and After Science” and Eurythmics’ 1981 debut album, “In the Garden.” Jono Podmore (aka Cumo) is a producer, composer, musician and professor of music has been at heart of the underground since the 80s. While working with artists from Jamiroquai to Can to Jose Padilla, Jono’s own music has explored more experimental areas, including the analogue electronic collective Metamono. He runs the label Psychomat.

Rights: World All Publication: Fall 2019

THE PLEASANT PROFESSION OF ROBERT A. HEINLEIN / Farah Mendelssohn (Literary Criticism / Biography)

A major new critical study of the writings of Robert A. Heinlein ­ a giant of the SF genre, and together with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, one of the trinity of American science fiction masters ­ by a Hugo award­winning critic and historian.

The book will deal with both the literary and political aspects of Heinlein's work, seeking to re­appraise his legacy of science­fiction with a strong socio­political theme, a legacy still at work today. The key thesis of the book is a challenge to the idea of Heinlein as a libertarian and re­situating him as a classical Liberal in the terms he understood; a man who prized the individual highly but understood the individual as at their best when enmeshed in the complex structure of a nurturing society.

Heinlein began publishing in the 1940s at the dawn of the Golden Age of science fiction and carried on writing until his death in 1988. His short stories contributed immensely to the development of science fiction’s structure and rhetoric, while his novels demonstrated that you could write hard SF with strong political argument. His vision of the future was sometimes radical ­ he continues to influence many writers whether in emulation or reaction. Recent controversies in science fiction have involved fighting over Heinlein’s reputation and arguing about what his legacy is and to whom he belongs. A close reading of Heinlein’s work, including unpublished stories, essays, and speeches, the book sets out not to interpret a single work, but to think through the arguments Heinlein made over a lifetime about the nature of science fiction, about American politics, and about himself. Although not a biography it tries to understand Heinlein’s work both as product and insight into the man.

Farah Mendelsohn chaired the Science Fiction Foundation and served as the President of the International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts, as program director for the Montreal World SF Convention and Director of the Exhibits Hall in for the London World Science Fiction Convention. She has taught History, American Studies, Publishing and Creative Writing. She is the author of Diana Wynne Jones and the Children’s Fantastical Tradition , Rhetorics of Fantas y, The Inter­Galactic Playground : science fiction for children and teens, and co­author of A Short History of Fantasy and Children’s Fantasy Literature: A n I ntroduction . Nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Related Book five times, she won for The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction .

Rights: World All Extent: 608 pp Publication: March 2019

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 29

CREATIVE SUPERPOWERS: Equip Yourself For the Age of Creativity ­ Laura Jordan Bambach, ed. (Business Innovation / Popular Psychology)

An evolved version of the creativity classics – One Plus One Equals Thre e by Dave Trott), Hegarty on Advertising by John Hegarty and The Advertising Concept Book by Pete Barry – for the digital age.

We are about to enter a new Age of Creativity that will require a new set of superheroes to help the world thrive. This book will make you one of those creative superheroes by unleashing new creative superpowers to help you solve your biggest business problems, namely the powers of:

Hacking – learn how becoming a hacker will help you tackle problems in different ways. Making – learn how getting your hands dirty and making things opens up new parts of the brain as well as creating happy accidents. Teaching – learn how teaching yourself and others consolidates experience in a fast­paced world. Thieving – learn how looking to what already exists helps you solve your problems.

'A delightful compendium of wonderful, useful and progressive thoughts, ideas, approaches, from a range of talents and viewpoints. An easily digestible, compelling and fresh take on how to approach change and do it' Tom Goodwin, Head of Innovation at Zenith USA Creative Social (www.creativesocial.com) is a club for brand and creative leaders who believe creativity and innovation will lead to better business and culture. Its purpose is to accelerate creative thinking. Rights: World All Extent: 256 pp Publication: June 2018

TAKE PRIDE: How to Build Organizational Success Through People ­ Sheila Parry (Business Innovation)

The strategic consultant to the likes of Adidas and Siemens launches her PRIDE model, a methodology based around five key motivators: Purpose, Reputation, Integrity, Direction and Energy.

Building pride at work delivers higher performance, builds brand reputation and achieves customer loyalty. It also increases innovation, quality, productivity and profit. And those who are more fulfilled at work tend to achieve more and lead happier, healthier lives. Take PRIDE distills forty years of experience into a practical business philosophy: it is aimed at leaders and influencers in organisations large and small who have the imagination to think differently about work.

Sheila Parry has worked in business for forty years. In 2001, she founded theblueballroom.com, a strategic and creative consultancy that has championed excellent communications and the power of employee engagement in building successful businesses. Working for Adidas, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Mars Drinks and Siemens, among others, she has developed a deep understanding of how large organisations succeed through getting the best out of people.

Rights: World All Extent: 240 pp Publication: September 2018

THE INTRAPRENEUR: Confessions of a Corporate Insurgent ­ Gib Bulloch (Business Innovation / Memoir)

“An inspiring personal account of how purpose and well­being can transform the business world.” Arianna Huffington

For over a decade, Gib Bulloch led a team within one of the world’s largest global consulting organisations – a corporate “guerrilla movement” working deep within the system, to try to change the system. Their goals were huge: they wanted to revolutionise the role of business in the aid and development sector and offer our skills and expertise to not­for­profits in parts of the world with greatest need, but least access. The Intrapreneur is a call to action for a new breed of social activist working within, about to join, or completely disillusioned by today’s business world ­ to be the change you want to see in your company.

Gib Bulloch is an award winning social intrapreneur who consults, writes and speaks on topics relating to the role of business in society. After an early career spent at BP and Mars, Bulloch's epiphany came from a year as a business volunteer with VSO in the Balkans in 2000. Over the next 15 years, Gib founded and scaled Accenture’s global "not­for­loss" consulting business, ADP. He left Accenture in 2016 to explore new ways of supporting purpose­driven insurgencies within the corporate world.

Rights: World All Extent: 288 pp Publication: August 2018

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 30

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An untold story of a creative, fiercely independent scene that led the way for the future of gaming.

The Macintosh challenged games to be more than just child’s play and quick reflexes. It made human­computer interaction friendly, inviting, and intuitive. Mac gaming led to much that is now taken for granted by PC gamers and spawned some of the biggest franchises in video game history, including Myst and Halo. Drawing on archive material and interviews with key figures from the era, this is the story of the communities and the game developers who survived and thrived in an ecosystem ignored by the outside world. it’s a book about people who followed their hearts first and the market second, in their quest to show how clever, quirky and downright wonderful video games could be.

Rights: World All Extent: 432 pp

Secrets Behind the Success of the World’s Education Super­Powers As a teacher in an inner­city school, Lucy Crehan was exasperated with ever­changing government policy claiming to be based on lessons from ‘top­performing’ education systems. She resolved to find out what was really going on in the classrooms of countries whose teenagers ranked top in the world in reading, maths and science, so she emailed teachers in Finland, Canada, Japan, China and Singapore (all countries regularly at the top of the education superstar charts). Having spent time helping out schools in each country, often staying with teachers, s he takes us on a guided tour of these education systems, painting a picture of school life, and making sense of the theories, facts and figures through the stories of real teachers and children, inviting us to reflect on the goals of education in light of these varying possibilities.

"... refreshingly fair­minded… makes a case that there is a lot to learn about how other countries learn." Books of the Year, Economist

"Audacious and important" Prospect

"Mind­expanding and topical . . . completely fascinating." Bookseller

Rights: World All Rights sold: Japanese, Swedish, Turkish, Russian, Greek, Chinese Complex Extent: 320 pp

How to get what you want, whether you are closing million pound deals, arguing over the washing up with your partner or trying to get your kids to go to bed ­ without being a ****

Having spent decades negotiating deals worth hundreds of millions of pounds, lawyer, coach and negotiator Hilary Gallo realised that bullying behaviour rarely got him or his clients the outcomes they were looking for. Over the years he began to develop a new way of approaching negotiations – the power of soft – and soon found his work and home life getting richer. The power of soft started as a negotiation tactic and soon became a philosophy for life. Gallo pulls examples from the archives of human history – referencing everyone from Machiavelli to Butch Cassidy, F. Scott Fitzgerald to 007 – and draws on his own experience to show how we can all make use of the power of soft,

Rights: World All Extent: 272 pp

How the boy from Wolverhampton rocked the world with Slade

In the 1970s, Slade were the biggest band in the UK, and went on to have 23 Top 20 hits and six number one singles. Three of these singles entered the chart at number one (an achievement that eluded even the Beatles). Released in 1973, Merry Xmas Everybody went on to sell a million copies and has charted every year since. Many musicians have cited Slade as an influence, including grunge bands Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins, punk and indie pioneers the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, the Undertones and the Clash, heavy metal acts such as Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard and Quiet Riot and rock groups including Cheap Trick and Oasis. Slade continue to tour, including playing Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden in 2016 alone.

Rights: World All Extent: 288 pp

Unbound ­ LBF’18 p. 31

CONTACT:

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Jason Cooper Chief Operating and Commercial Officer [email protected]