London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide
FOR RIGHTS ENQUIRIES OR MANUSCRIPT REQUESTS
Sarah Brooks Head of Rights, Contracts and International Sales Hachette Australia [email protected] London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide Table of Contents
Commercial Fiction 4 The Very Last List of Vivian Walker...... 5
The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital...... 6 The Long Weekend...... 7
Thursdays at Orange Blossom House...... 8 The Last Reunion...... 9 Crime Fiction 10 Still...... 11
The Others...... 12 Literary Fiction & Poetry 13 How Decent Folk Behave...... 14
The Other Half of You...... 15
Small Joys of Real Life...... 16
Non-Fiction: Biography & Memoir 17 Sonny Bill Williams...... 18
Dissolve...... 19 Believe...... 20 The Platoon Commander...... 21
Daring to Fly...... 22
Accidental Weatherman...... 23 Non-Fiction: Inspirational 24 Find your Unicorn Space...... 25
Work. Love. Body...... ,,, 26
Step Into You...... 27
Generation Alpha...... 28 Non-Fiction: History 29 The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins...... 30 The Battle of the Bismarck Sea...... 31
Other Titles 32 Australia-focused Titles...... 33 Backlist Titles...... 35 Domestic Titles...... 36 3 London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide
COMMERCIAL FICTION
4 London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide COMMERCIAL FICTION
The Very Last List of Vivian Walker
MEGAN ALBANY FEBRUARY 2022 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 288PP | FICTION Vivian Walker is dying. This is not on her list of things to do. A darkly funny debut that proves even the most imperfect of lives is worth celebrating.
Now that I've got cancer, I know I should be letting go and just being in the moment with my child but, seriously, what mother has got time to spend with their kids? Vivian Walker's life is exceptionally ordinary. Average husband, check. Darling son, check. Refrigerator in a state of permanent disarray, check. Everything is thoroughly and frustratingly routine, even being terminally ill. After receiving her diagnosis, Viv's family won't let her lift a finger . . . for at least a week. But once the novelty wears off, she's lucky to get a cup of tea for her trouble. In preparation for D-day, self-professed control freak Viv has made a list of essential things to do, such as decluttering the playroom and preparing her taxes. She doesn't expect to become spiritually enlightened or have any outlandish last- minute successes. All she wants is to finish her unfinished business. As her final days unfold, Viv realises her life has become a love letter to the mundane but she still manages to keep her wicked sense of humour and cynical take on life unapologetically intact. The Very Last List of Vivian Walker will make you ugly cry, snort tea out your nose with laughter and want to embrace humanity in all its selfishness, beauty and awkwardness.
Megan Albany was both a writer and editor for leading Indigenous magazine Deadly Vibe; the founding editor of InVibe magazine for Indigenous youth in custody; and was a researcher for Can It Hurt Less?, an SBS documentary into Australia's juvenile justice system. The Very Last List of Vivian Walker, her first novel, was shortlisted for The Banjo Prize in 2020 and highly commended in the Australian Society of Authors 2020 Award Mentorship Program.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Rebecca Saunders RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests Taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide COMMERCIAL FICTION
The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital JOANNA NELL OCTOBER 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 384PP | CONTEMPORARY FICTION Three women come together as volunteers in this moving and funny tale of friendship and community, by the bestselling author of The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village and The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home.
Hilary, Joy and Chloe: three very different women who find themselves working together in the kiosk at St Jude's Hospital – a beloved institution within a beloved institution.
When they discover that the kiosk is under threat of closure, this unlikely trio must band together to save it. Before long, each of the tea ladies of St Jude's Hospital will find that there is much more on the me nu at the kiosk than just coffee and stale egg sandwiches.
The latest heartwarming and hilarious story from the bestselling author of The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village and The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home.
PREVIOUS TITLES Joanna Nell was born in the UK and studied medicine at Cambridge and Oxford universities. Her short fiction has won multiple awards. A GP with a passion for women's health and care of the elderly, Joanna is drawn to writing character- driven stories for women in their prime, creating young-at-heart characters who are not afraid to break the rules and defy society's expectations of ageing. Keep up with Joann a by visiting her website joannanell.com.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Rebecca Saunders RIGHTS SOLD: Available
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Proof pages PREVIOUS RIGHTS SOLD: UK & Commonwealth (Hodder & Stoughton); German (Rowohlt) RIGHTS HELD: World, Film & TV London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide COMMERCIAL FICTION
The Long Weekend
FIONA PALMER
DECEMBER 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 336PP | CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Four perfect strangers. One weekend at a rainforest writing retreat. But on this creative getaway, nothing will go according to script.
Four strangers converge upon a lush rainforest retreat.
Simone, the youngest at 26, is a successful Instagram star but she’s hiding behind a facade.
Beth is a solo parent and busy career woman haunted by a tragic car accident.
Jamie is the only man. He’s a handsome personal trainer – but he looks out of place with a pen in his hand.
Finally, Alice is a mum and wife recovering from post-natal depression. She and Jamie soon realise they are not such perfect strangers after all.
The new unputdownable drama from beloved storyteller, Fiona Palmer.
PREVIOUS TITLES Before becoming an author, Fiona Palmer was a speedway driver and now spends her days writing, working as a farmhand and caring for her two children in the tiny rural community of Pingaring. The books Fiona's passionate readers know and love contain engaging storylines and hearty characters. Her novels are consistently Top 10 national bestsellers. For more information, visit fionapalmer.com or follow Fiona on Twitter.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Rebecca Saunders RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide COMMERCIAL FICTION
Thursdays at Orange Blossom House SOPHIE GREEN
AUGUST 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 432PP | CONTEMPORARY FICTION From the author of beloved bestsellers The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club and The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle comes a delightful new novel about friendship, love and finding yourself.
Far north Australia, 1993. At 74, former cane farmer Grace Maud is feeling her age, and her isolation, and thinks the best of life may be behind her. Elsewhere in town, high school teacher Patricia has given up on her dreams of travel and adventure and has moved back home to look after her ageing parents, while cafe owner Dorothy is struggling to accept that she may never have the baby she and her husband so desperately want. Each woman has an unspoken need: reconnection. That's how they find themselves at Orange Blossom House, surrounded by perfumed rainforest, being cajoled and encouraged by their yoga teacher, the lively Sandrine. Together, they will find courage and strength – and discover that life has much more to offer than they ever expected. Set amid the lush beauty of tropical Queensland, Thursdays at Orange Blossom House is a heartwarming story of friendship and family, of chances missed and chances taken, and the eternal power of love.
PREVIOUS TITLES
Sophie Green is an author and publisher who lives in Sydney. She has written several fiction and non- fiction books, some under other names. Sophie's debut novel, The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club, and her sophomore novel, The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle were Top Ten bestsellers.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Fiona Hazard, RIGHTS SOLD: UK & Commonwealth (Little, Rebecca Saunders Brown)
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Final pages PREVIOUS RIGHTS SOLD: Germany (Goldmann); Netherlands (De Fontein); Norway (Cappelen RIGHTS HELD: World Damm) London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide COMMERCIAL FICTION
The Last Reunion KAYTE NUNN
APRIL 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 384PP | HISTORICAL FICTION Five women come together at a New Year's Eve party after decades apart, in this thrilling story of desire, revenge and courage, based on a brave group of Australian and British WWII servicewomen.
Burma, 1945. Bea, Plum, Bubbles, Joy and Lucy: five young women in search of adventure, attached to the Fourteenth Army, fighting a forgotten war in the jungle. Assigned to run a mobile canteen, navigating treacherous roads and dodging hostile gunfire, they become embroiled in life-threatening battles of their own. Battles that will haunt the women for the rest of their lives.
Oxford, 1976. At the height of an impossibly hot English summer, a woman slips into the Ashmolean Museum and steals several rare Japanese netsuke, including the famed fox-girl. Despite the offer of a considerable reward, these tiny, exquisitely detailed carvings are never seen again.
London and Galway, 1999. On the eve of the new millennium, Olivia, assistant to a London-based art dealer, travels to meet Beatrix, an elderly widow who wishes to sell her late husband's collection of Japanese art. Concealing her own motives, Olivia travels with Beatrix to a New Year's Eve party, deep in the Irish countryside, where friendships will be tested as secrets kept for more than fifty years are spilled.
PREVIOUS TITLES Kayte Nunn is a former editor, and the author of two contemporary novels. The Botanist's Daughter was Kayte's first novel of transporting historical fiction, followed by The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant and The Silk House. You can find Kayte at kaytenunn.com.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Rebecca Saunders RIGHTS SOLD: UK & Commonwealth (Orion); Italy (Newton Compton) MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Final pages PREVIOUS RIGHTS SOLD: USA & Canada RIGHTS HELD: ANZ and North America (Harpercollins); Germany (Piper); France (City (Translation rights now held by Orion) Editions); Italy (Spain (Maeva); Serbia (Vulkan); Lithuania (Baltos Lankos); Netherlands (The House of Books) London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide
CRIME FICTION
10 London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide CRIME FICTION
Still
MATT NABLE
JUNE 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 336PP | THRILLER NUMBER 1 AUSTRALIAN BESTSELLING FICTION
Still is an evocative, confronting and page-turning thriller from a brilliant Australian writer. If you loved The Dry and Scrublands, you will love Still.
"Matt Nable's ability to breathe life into vivid characters shines against the grittiness of the harsh Australian landscape." - Jane Harper, author of The Dry
Darwin, Summer, 1963. Senior Constable Ned Potter looks down at a body that has been dragged from the shallow marshland. He doesn’t need a coroner to tell him this was a bad death.
Late one night, Charlotte Clark drives the long way home. She is a 23-year-old housewife, married to a cowboy who is not who she thought he was. The days ahead feel suffocating, living in a town where she is supposed to keep herself nice and wait for her husband to get home from the pub. Charlotte stops the car, steps out to breathe in the night air, looking over the water to the tangled mangroves. She does not hear a sound until the hand is around her mouth.
Both Charlotte and Ned are about to learn that the world they live in is full of secrets and that it takes courage to fight for what is right. But there are people who will do anything to protect themselves and sometimes courage is not enough to keep you safe.
Matt Nable is a novelist, scriptwriter and actor. He wrote and starred in The Final Winter (2007), an independent Australian film that has since been released internationally, and is currently appearing in The D ry alongside Eric Bana. Two of Matt's screenplays are currently in development. With his wife and three children, Matt divides his time between Sydney and Los Angeles. Still is his fourth novel and his first for Hachette Australia.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Vanessa Radnidge RIGHTS HELD: World (excl. North America)
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Final pages RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide CRIME FICTION
The Others
MARK BRANDI
JULY 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 384PP | LITERARY FICTION
From the bestselling author of Wimmera and The Rip comes an unforgettable novel that explores the darkness in our world with the light only a child can find.
I heard voices talking last night. I've never heard my father talk to someone else. Not that I can remember. I was in bed, and I heard my father's voice first. He was talking to someone, and then I heard another man with a deep voice. The man got angry, I could tell, even though I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying. Then my father said, 'I'd kill you first.'
On his eleventh birthday, Jacob's father gives him a diary. To write about things that happen. About their farm. About the sheep, the crop, the fox and the dam. But Jacob knows some things should not be written down. Some things should not be remembered.
The only things he knows for sure are things his father has taught him. Sheltered, protected, isolated. But who is his father protecting him from? And how far will his father go to keep the world at bay? All too soon, Jacob will learn that sometimes we all have to do terrible things.
PREVIOUS TITLES
Mark Brandi's bestselling novel, Wimmera, won the coveted British Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger, and was named Best Debut at the 2018 Australian Indie Book Awards. His second novel, The Rip, was published to critical acclaim by Hachette Australia in March 2019. Mark's shorter work has appeared in The Guardian, The Age, the Big Issue and in international journals.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Vanessa Radnidge RIGHTS SOLD: Available
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Final Pages PREVIOUS RIGHTS SOLD: UK & Commonwealth (Legend Press) RIGHTS HELD: World (excl. North America) London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide
LITERARY FICTION & POETRY
13 London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide LITERARY & POETRY
How Decent Folk Behave
MAXINE BENEBA CLARKE
NOVEMBER 2021 | PAPERBACK| 192PP | POETRY
A vibrant, thought-provoking collection from one of Australia's most celebrated poets.
One of the most compelling voices in Australian poetry this decade' - Overland Literary Journal
A mother talks to her son about being a good man, women march with two-dollar- a-pack-at-coles tea light candles, they say him is a lone white wolf. This essential collection unsparingly interrogates the world around us, casting an eye from the Black Lives Matter movement, violence against women and police violence, to feminism, wage theft, bushfires and the pandemic.
From the ABIA and Indie award winning author of The Hate Race and Carrying the World (winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Poetry 2017), this explosive and thought-provoking collection brings together thirty of Maxine Beneba Clarke's best poems from The Saturday Paper, with ten new poems never seen before.
Maxine Beneba Clarke is a widely published Australian writer of Afro-Caribbean descent. Maxine's short fiction, non-fiction and poetry have been published in numerous publications including Overland, The Age, Meanjin, The Saturday Paper and The Big Issue. Her critically acclaimed short fiction collection Foreign Soil won the ABIA for Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2015 and the 2015 Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction, and was shortlisted for the 2015 Stella Prize. Maxine has published three poetry collections. The Hate Race, a memoir about growing up black in Australia won the NSW Premier's Literary Award Multicultural NSW Award 2017 and was shortlisted for an ABIA, an Indie Award, the Victorian Premier's Litera ry Awards and Stella Prize. The Patchwork Bike, Maxine's first picture book with Van T. Rudd was a CBCA Honour Book for 2017.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Fiona Hazard RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide LITERARY & POETRY
The Other Half of You
MICHAEL MOHAMMED AHMAD
JUNE 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 272PP | LITERARY FICTION
A moving and timely novel about the complexities of balancing modern love with the demands of family, tradition and faith, from the Miles Franklin shortlisted author of The Lebs.
I only ever asked you for one thing,' my father said, a quiver in his voice. 'Just this one thing.' It was as though I had smashed the Ten Commandments. Oh father,' I cried, grovelling at his ankles while my mother and siblings looked on. 'The one thing you asked of me - is everything.'
Bani Adam has known all his life what was expected of him. To marry the right kind of girl. To make the House of Adam proud.
But Bani wanted more than this - he wanted to make his own choices. Being the first in his family to go to university, he could see a different way.
Years later, Bani will write his story to his son, Kahlil. Telling him of the choices that were made on Bani's behalf and those that he made for himself. Of the hurt he caused and the heartache he carries. Of the mistakes he made and the lessons he learned.
In this moving and timely novel, Michael Mohammed Ahmad balances the complexities of modern love with the demands of family, tradition and faith. The Other Half of You is the powerful, insightful and unforgettable new novel from the Miles Franklin shortlisted author of The Lebs.
Michael Mohammed Ahmad is an Arab-Australian writer, editor, teacher and community arts worker. Mohammed's essays and short stories have been widely published in Australia. His debut novel, The Tribe, received a 2015 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelists of the Year Award. His second novel, The Lebs, won the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Multicultural NSW and was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award 2019.
PUBLISHER: Vanessa Radnidge RIGHTS HELD: World, Film & TV
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Final Pages RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide LITERARY & POETRY
Small Joys of Real Life
ALLEE RICHARDS
AUGUST 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 288PP | LITERARY FICTION
Shortlisted for the 2019 Richell Prize, Small Joys of Real Life is a poignant and unpredictable novel from an exciting new literary talent.
The night Eva shared a smile with Pat, something started. Two weeks later, lying together in her bed, Pat said, 'You can't live your life saying you'll get around to doing something you know will make you happy. You just have to do it.'
Eva didn't know how devastating those words would turn out to be. Pat dies and the aftershock leaves Eva on unsteady ground. She is pregnant. And she has to make a choice.
Suddenly, the world, her career, her roommates and friends, and life in the inner- city are all even harder to navigate. Her best friends, Sarah and Annie, are also dealing with the shifts and changes of their late twenties, and each of them will at times let the others down.
Small Joys of Real Life is a poignant and unpredictable novel from an exciting new literary talent about how the life you have can change in an instant. It's about growing up to accept that all you can do is be in the moment and look to find the joys in between.
Allee Richards's short fiction has been published widely in literary magazines and anthologies. Small Joys of Real Life is her first novel. It was shortlisted for the 2019 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers and the 2020 Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award. Allee has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne.
PUBLISHER: Vanessa Radnidge RIGHTS HELD: World English Language (excl. North America) MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Final Pages RIGHTS SOLD: Available NON-FICTION BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
17 London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Sonny Bill Williams You Can't Stop the Sun from Shining
SONNY BILL WILLIAMS WITH ALAN DUFF
OCTOBER 2021 | HARDBACK | 336PP | AUTOBIOGRAPHY/SPORT For the first time ever, sporting legend Sonny Bill Williams is telling his story. Working with Alan Duff, award-winning author of Once Were Warriors, this will be the must-read autobiography of the year.
Sonny Bill Williams is a once in a hundred-year athlete with immense sporting talent in Rugby League, Rugby Union and Boxing. Sonny Bill has built an incredible career and sporting reputation across the globe. But there is so much more to Sonny Bill Williams' life and journey than his on-field and in-the-ring triumphs.
Sonny Bill's love of family, his faith, his skill and performance throughout his unparalleled sporting career, his grace in owning his mistakes, the challenges of leaving home as a young man and dealing with a negative culture and the temptations that followed, and his courage in speaking out for the vulnerable and calling out injustice are all aspects of an inspiring life story.
Sonny Bill Williams was the first Muslim to play for the All Blacks. Driven by a fierce moral compass, S onny Bill Williams thoughtfully and authentically uses his standing and platform as both a UNICEF Ambassador and an elite sportsperson to speak out on political issues that confront the world today and to benefit those struggling in life. He is a dedicated family man, devoted to his faith, committed to his teammates, respectful of his fans and aware that the path he has taken can inspire and empower others.
Sonny Bill Williams has won 58 caps for the New Zealand All Blacks and was a member of the teams that won the 2011 and 2015 Rugby Union World Cups. Away from sport, Sonny Bill Williams focuses on his family, his Islamic faith and is very involved in charity work and promoting social justice. Alan Duff is a novelist, columnist, advocate and businessperson. His first published novel, Once Were Warr iors, was a critical and commercial success, and was subsequently made into an award-winning feature film.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Vanessa Radnidge RIGHTS HELD: World ex. UK
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests Taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Dissolve
NIKKI GEMMELL
AUGUST 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 224PP | MEMOIR This story of a writer finding her voice, struggling to have a room of her own, is the story of ALL women finding space for themselves against the 'very important men' in their lives. It's the story of every woman's life
Dissolve is a deeply personal, profoundly intimate reflection on love and female creativity in a man's world, and what happens when it all collides. Having lived through the humiliation and bewildering complexity of a time of failure, Nikki Gemmell eventually resurfaced. Decades later she has written a meditation on women's lives and creative desires.
This is a conversation. A conversation with the beautiful young women of her teenage daughter's generation, and of course with men. With husbands and male artists.
Dissolve is a hopeful, exhilarating book about women finding their voice.
Nikki Gemmell is the bestselling author of 13 novels and four works of non-fiction. Her books have been translated into 22 languages. She was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, and lived in London for many years, but has now returned to Australia. Her distinctive writing has gained her critical acclaim in France, where she's been described as a 'female Jack Kerouac'. The French literary magazine Lire included her in a list of the 50 most important writers in the world - those it believes will have a significant influence on the literature of the 21st century. Gemmell pens a weekly column for The Weekend Australian Magazine and she also writes novels for children. Four of her books - Shiver, Cleave, The Bride Stripped Bare and The Book of Rapture - made the longlist of Favourite Australian Novels as chosen by readers of Australian Book Review.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Louise Adler RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests Taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Believe
SAM FROST
MARCH 2022 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 304PP | AUTOBIOGRAPHY Former Bachelorette and current Home and Away star Sam Frost has very publicly shared her mental health struggles. This is a warts-and-all story, told from the heart, because as scary as it is to be vulnerable, it's also the best way to show other people that they aren't alone.
Sam Frost is a 30-year-old actor who, as she writes on her website, has in the past few years gone through a public battle with depression, anxiety and relationship breakdowns. Throughout this time, she has been very humbled and grateful to have had a large amount of support and love from people who have reached out to her personally, via email or social media, to detail their own dark battles — asking for advice and guidance.
The vulnerability of these stories has moved her deeply and inspired her — alongside with her sister Kristine — to create Believe.
In this book Sam Frost shares her own experiences and, with Kristine, offers support and guidance for those who, like her, have struggled with mental health challenges. Believe is a personal story, a battle cry and a reassurance for the many of Sam’s fans who have struggled with life, as she has. Sam knows life isn’t perfect, but we can try each day to make it so — Believe will show us how.
For readers of Sarah Wilson's First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, this will be an accessible book about anxiety, depression and mental health.
Sam Frost first came to public attention when she ‘won’ the second season of The Bachelor. She later became Australia’s first Bachelorette. For the past few years she has played the role of Jasmine on Home and Away.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Sophie Hamley RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
The Platoon Commander
JOHN O’HALLORAN WITH RIC TEAGUE
JUNE 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 352PP | BIOGRAPHY At the start of the Vietnam War John O'Halloran was a national serviceman from Tamworth and never expected to serve overseas. He would go on to lead with distinction as a platoon commander in 6RAR's B Company at three of the biggest conflicts of the Vietnam War.
John O'Halloran was a country boy from Tamworth, NSW, who was called up for national service not long after the start of the Vietnam War. As a tough and determined 21-year-old, he guided 6 RAR's B Company 5 Platoon through some of the biggest conflicts of the war, including Operation Hobart and the Battle of Long Tan. But he faced his hardest military challenge at Operation Bribie, leading a fixed bayonet charge against a deadly Viet Cong jungle stronghold.
The Platoon Commander is an unmissable and devastating first-hand account of the realities and brutalities of war, and especially this war fought in jungles, not trenches, which would go on to bitterly divide Australians. O'Halloran's sense of duty and strong character carried him and his men through fierce battles and uncertainty. His sense of humour kept him going through the years afterwards. His indomitable spirit inspired the men of 5 Platoon to fight against the odds to achieve the mission - no matter how treacherous - and even away from the action and in the many years since O'Halloran kept the respect of his men.
Now regarded by many of his peers as a national treasure, John Patrick Joseph O'Halloran has been quoted in almost every important book written about Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, yet has never told his own remarkable story. Until now.
John O'Halloran led 6 RAR's B Company 5 Platoon through some of the toughest conflicts of the Vietnam War, including Operation Hobart, the Bat tle of Long Tan and Operation Bribie. Now retired, he lives in Perth with his wife, Lesley. Ric Teague is a retired newspaper and television journalist and documentary maker. His career spanned 46 years across Australia, England and South Africa.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Sophie Hamley RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Final Pages RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Daring to Fly Facing Fear and Finding Joy on a Deadline
LISA MILLAR
SEPTEMBER 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 320PP | AUTOBIOGRAPHY
A story about conquering fear and finding joy... a girl from country Queensland who found a way to see (and report on) trauma and horror, while still holding on to joy.
There are significant moments in life that you only really appreciate long after they have passed... And then there are moments that are so magnificent you understand in an instant that they need to be treasured because the universe is offering you something truly inspiring. Lisa Millar has spent her whole life showing up, getting things done and making things happen. Despite the risks, despite the fear, despite life getting in the way. As a child growing up in country Queensland, she had dreamed of a big life. Working as a foreign correspondent gave her that. But it also meant confronting the worst of what humanity can bring - the dead children at Sandy Hook, the sorrow of grieving relatives after the Bataclan theatre terrorist attack and the aftermath of Manchester. Three decades as a journalist witnessing grief and unspeakable tragedy had a cost. And an ever-escalating fear of flying threatened to rob her of her ability to work at all.
Back home, in the year that everything stopped, Lisa had a chance to look back. And in the quiet of a world slowed down, she thought hard about the meaning of fear, acknowledged her grief at what she lost and found joy in all that she gained. For that young girl from small-town Kilkivan, who had to push herself to keep going, push herself to conquer her fear, push herself to tell important stories, came the realisation that sometimes all we really need is what we already have. And she shows us that we are all stronger and more resilient than we give ourselves credit for if we just dare to let ourselves fly.
Lisa Millar is the co-host of ABC TV's News Breakfast. Millar returned to the ABC in Australia after finishing a decade-long posting as bureau chief in both London and Washington DC, covering some of the world's biggest stories. Lisa won a Walkley Award in 2005 for investigative reporting.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Sophie Hamley RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Accidental Weatherman
SAM MAC
MAY 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 304PP | MEMOIR
Accidental Weatherman is the story of what happens when a cheeky outsider who knows nothing about meteorology scores the weatherman gig on the highest rating breakfast TV show in Australia.
Accidental Weatherman is the story of what happens when a hilarious Adelaide boy who knows nothing about meteorology scores the coveted weatherman gig on the highest rating breakfast TV show in Australia.
As a breakfast TV weatherman, Sam Mac has bungee jumped, swum with sharks, got his cat on the cover of Pussweek magazine, taken his mum to the Logies when he was nominated for gold, stripped naked for The Real Full Monty and even recorded a song with The Wiggles. But, ultimately, his job is about people – from primary schoolers to pensioners, Sam's gift is how he connects with them all. He uses heart and humour in his role on Sunrise to introduce viewers to the true characters of Australia. He prides himself on bringing awareness to causes such as mental health and animal rescue, and on championing underdogs who might need a hand up or a shout out. His genuine nature and open-book approach to social media has won him hundreds of thousands of fans along the way – although even he would admit that many of them only like him for his cat Coco (who is rapidly catching up to him in Instagram followers).
After presenting more than 25,000 minutes of live TV in over 800 different Australian towns, Sam has seen the absolute best of Australia, and it's brought out the best in him.
Born in Adelaide, Sam Mac started his career in radio, hosting breakfast shows and daytime shows. But his true passion had always been for TV and he received his big break with Channel Ten's The Project, where he hos ted field segments and eventually the entire show from the desk. In 2016 Sam was offered the TV gig of a lifetime, becoming the Sunrise weatherman. His combination of humour and heart has seen him gain hundreds of thousands of fans across the country.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Sophie Hamley RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Final pages RIGHTS SOLD: Available NON-FICTION
INSPIRATIONAL
24 London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide INSPIRATIONAL
Find Your Unicorn Space
EVE RODSKY
JANUARY 2022 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 352PP | WELLBEING
From the New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play, ‘the Marie Kondo of relationships’, comes an inspirational guide for setting new personal goals, rediscovering your interests, cultivating creativity, and reclaiming your Unicorn Space.
In her acclaimed New York Times bestseller (and Reese’s Book Club pick) Fair Play, Eve Rodsky urged women to rebalance their domestic responsibilities and reclaim time for themselves. Her book launched a movement toward greater equality on the home front – and then quarantine hit, and life as we knew it was upended. Now all of us are faced with an even more pressing question: how can we – even on the toughest of days – carve out a little time for ourselves? This personal time – what Rodsky calls Unicorn Space – isn't just a luxury. It's necessary for our mental health, our physical wellbeing, and our very sense of self. But how do we find a moment for ourselves in a time when we have less autonomy than ever before? And what do we do with that freedom when we actually get it? With her trademark mix o f how-to advice and big-picture inspirational thinking, Rodsky shows us how to reclaim the lost art of having fun, manifest your own Unicorn Space in an already too-busy life, and unleash your talents on the world. Whether readers are partnered or not, have three children or none, or whether their work is paid or unpaid, Find Your Unicorn Space is a practical guide to reclaiming (or uncovering) the natural gifts, interests, and talents that make you uniquely you, and to finding the purpose that will allow you to live a happier, more fulfilled life. Eve Rodsky received her B.A. in economics and anthropology from the University of Michigan, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. She created the Fair Play system ni response to her own need to juggle work and family life when she realized that she could apply her expertise in family mediation, strategy, and organizational management to a problem closer to home, before publishing her first book Fair Play in 2019. Fair Play was a worldwide bestseller and Hello Sunshine bookclub pick.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Fiona Hazard RIGHTS HELD: UK & Commonwealth
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide INSPIRATIONAL
Work. Love. Body.
JAMILA RIZVI AND HELEN MCCABE
SEPTEMBER 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 320PP | WELLBEING
Never before has change been thrust so abruptly on modern women. 2020 impacted our working lives, relationships, and our health and wellbeing. So where do we go from here?
The future lives of women have changed drastically. As a growing number of women agitate for change, it is time to demand what women want. Through the lenses of work, love, and body, this powerful and essential essay collection asks: Will the world of tomorrow be more equal than the one we were born into? Or will it be a country where women and girls remain left behind? One thing is very clear: The future is now and it is female. In the early months of 2020, women went about their daily business. They went to work. Picked kids up from school or checked in on sick neighbours. Made dinner. Ticked off their to-do list and postponed looking after themselves because life and commitments got in the way.
Then, in March, everything changed. Countries were told to lock down. Women held the health of our communities in their hands as they took on the essential jobs to care, to nurse and to teach despite an invisible danger. For all the talk of equality, it was primarily women who juggled the intense demands of work, kids, schooling and care of ageing parents.
Jamila Rizvi is Chief Creative Officer for Nine's Future Women and a bestselling author for adults and children. She is an opinion columnist for the Nine newspapers and hosts two podcasts, The Weekend Briefing and Anonymous Was A Woman. Jamila has advised governments at the highest levels on gender equality, child care, media and employment. She was named in the Australian Financial Review's 100 Women of Influence and is a 2020 Women and Leadership Australia award winner. Helen McCabe is founder and managing director of Future Women. In 2004 Helen was appointed Night Editor of The Australian newspaper, and later Deputy Editor of The Sunday Telegraph, and also spent six years as editor in chief of the Australia Women's Weekly.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Louise Adler RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide INSPIRATIONAL
Step Into You
LORRAINE MURPHY
JANUARY 2022 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 320PP | WELLBEING The ultimate life guide for any woman lacking motivation or feeling overwhelmed, Step Into You will leave you recharged, re-focused and ready to stride into your best future.
Are you lacking motivation or feeling overwhelmed, burnt out or not sure where you want life to take you next? Are you feeling like a ‘low res’ version of yourself, having focused all your energy on your career, your family or your community? If you answered ‘yes’, it’s time to re-set.
In Step Into You, entrepreneur and mentor Lorraine Murphy shares her best advice on how to re-focus on you and your personal version of success. She presents essential tips, advice and hacks that have transformed her own life, as well as real, raw and relatable examples from other busy women.
Covering everything from growing a healthy mindset, getting shit done, developing your unique vision and goals, putting self-care first, progressing your career, managing your relationships and getting to grips with parenting, you’ll feel like you’ve had a one-on-one mentoring session with Lorraine and will be recharged and ready to step into your best life.
Lorraine Murphy is an award-winning entrepreneur, bestselling author, speaker, mentor and mother. Lorraine founded her first business in 2012. Australia's first influencer talent agency, it grew from a start-up to multi-million d ollar turnover and earned Lorraine and the business several accolades including being named as one of BRW's Fast Starters, Entrepreneur of the Year, Content Marketer of the Year, Emerging Agency of the Year and Australian Start Up of the Year. In December 2017, Lorraine sold the business to focus on her 'soul-on-fire work' - writing, speaking and mentoring. She now creates online programs, events and mentoring programs, as well as her weekly podcast, The Lorraine Murphy Show. Lorraine has also trained teams from brands including Uber, Unilever, Westpac and Woolworths. You can find out more about Lorraine and her programs on her website: lorraine.murphy.com.au and follow her on Instagram: @lorraineremarks.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Fiona Hazard RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests Taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide INSPIRATIONAL
Generation Alpha
MARK MCCRINDLE AND ASHLEY FELL
MAY 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 336PP | PARENTING
From internationally renowned social research experts Mark McCrindle and Ashley Fell come the insights and answers we need to help our switched-on, 21st-century kids thrive.
Generation Alpha are the most globally connected generation of children ever. Covering those born between 2010 and 2024, these kids are living through an era of rapid change and a barrage of information – good, bad and fake. For parents, teachers and leaders of Generation Alpha looking for guidance on how to raise their children, worried if their kids are spending too much time on screens, concerned how global trends are impacting them and wondering how to prepare them for a world where they will live longer and work later, this is the book you need. Renowned researchers McCrindle and Fell deliver everything you need to know about Generation Alpha, the term Mark coined, including:
Understanding and empowering this generation The significance of technology How to get education right for them The future of work Their consumer habits and their role as influencers Where and how this generation will live as adults The importance of mental and physical wellbeing What their future looks like
Through meticulous research and interviews, Generation Alpha shows us what we all need to know to help this group of children shape their future . . . and ours.
Mark McCrindle is an award-winning social researcher and futurist who coined the term 'Generation Alpha'. Mark has appeared across many television networks and is a bestselling author, TEDx speaker and Principal of McCrindle Research.
Ashley Fell is a social researcher, TEDx speaker and Communications Director at McCrindle Research.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Fiona Hazard RIGHTS HELD: ANZ and North America (Translation rights now held by Headline), Film & MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Final pages TV
RIGHTS SOLD: UK & Commonwealth (Headline) NON-FICTION HISTORY
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The Battle of the Bismarck Sea MICHAEL VEITCH AUGUST 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 352PP | HISTORY In March 1943, in the sky and sea near New Guinea, Australian and American pilots faced some of the darkest days of World War II. Bestselling author Michael Veitch tells the dramatic tale of the battle that thwarted Japan's final, desperate lunge for the South West Pacific.
In the thick of World War II, during the first week of March 1943, Japan made a final, desperate lunge for control of the South West Pacific. In the ensuing Battle of the Bismarck Sea, a force of land-based Australian and American planes attacked a massive convoy of Japanese warships. The odds were against them. But a devastating victory was won and Japan's hopes of regaining the initiative in New Guinea destroyed.
More importantly, the victory decisively removed any possibility that Australia might be invaded by Japanese forces. It was, for us, one of the most significant times in our history - a week when our future was profoundly in the balance.
Bestselling author Michael Veitch tells the riveting story of this crucial moment in history - how the bravery of young men and experienced fighters, renegades and rule-followers, overcame some of the darkest days of World War II.
Michael Veitch is well known as an author, actor, comedian and former ABC television and radio presenter. His books include the cri tically acclaimed accounts of Australian airmen in World War II, 44 Days, Heroes of the Skies, Fly, Flak, Barney Greatrex, Turning Point and The Battle of the Bismarck Sea. He lives in the Yarra Valley, outside Melbourne.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Sophie Hamley RIGHTS HELD: World
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide HISTORY
The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins PETER FITZSIMONS NOVEMBER 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 544PP | HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY The extraordinary, must-read story of the brave, bold Hubert Wilkins, Australia's most adventurous explorer, naturalist, photographer, war hero, aviator, spy and daredevil, brought to life by Australia's greatest storyteller.
Sir Hubert Wilkins is one of the most remarkable Australians who ever lived. The son of pioneer pastoralists in South Australia, Hubert studied engineering before moving on to photography. In 1908 he sailed for England and a job producing films with the Gaumont Film Co. Brave and bold, he became a polar expeditioner, a brilliant war photographer, a spy in the Soviet Union, a pioneering aviator-navigator, a death-defying submariner - all while being an explorer and chronicler of the planet and its life forms that would do Vasco da Gama and Sir David Attenborough proud. As a WW1 photographer he was twice awarded the Military Cross for bravery under fire, the only Australian photographer in any war to be decorated. He explored the Antarctic with Sir Ernest Shackleton, led a groundbreaking ornithological study in Australia and was knighted in 1928 for his aviation exploits, but many more astounding achievements would follow. Wilkins' quest for knowledge and polar explorations were lifelong passions and his missions to polar regions aboard the submarine Nautilus the stuff of legend. With masterful storytelling skill, Peter FitzSimons illuminates the life of Hubert Wilkins and his incredible achievements. Thrills and spills, derring-do, new worlds discovered - this is the most unforgettable tale of the most extraordinary life lived by any Australian.
Peter FitzSimons is Australia's bestselling non-fiction writer, and for the past 30 years has also been a journalist and columnist with the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD and the SUN-HERALD. He is the author of a number of highly successful books, including BURKE AND WILLS, MONASH'S MASTERPIECE, KOKODA, NED KELLY and GALLIPOLI, as well as biographies of such notable Australians as Sir Douglas Mawson, Nancy Wake and Nick Farr-Jones. His passion is to tell Australian stories, our own stories: of great men and women, of stirring events in our history.
ACQUIRING PUBLISHER: Matthew Kelly RIGHTS HELD: World ex. UK
MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Requests taken RIGHTS SOLD: Available OTHER TITLES
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Australia-focused Titles
CURRENT AND UPCOMING
On Politics and Stuff MARK HUMPHRIES & EVAN WILLIAMS
JULY 2021 | PAPERBACK | 104PP | POLITICS This book will take you inside the halls of power of Australian politics, covering both sides of the houses of parliament and beyond.
The Boys' Club MICHAEL WARNER
JUNE 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 336PP | SPORTS, CORRUPTION
The Boys' Club lifts the lid on the scandals, secrets and deals that have shaped AFL, Australia's biggest sport.
The Accidental Prime Minister
ANNIKA SMETHURST JULY 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 352PP | POLITICS The first definitive biography of Australia's thirtieth prime minister, Scott Morrison. London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide
Australia-focused Titles
CURRENT AND UPCOMING
Blessed JOHN DOYLE
AUGUST 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 320PP | HUMOUR, MEMOIR Who is Rampaging Roy Slaven? John Doyle, the man who knows him best, delves into the early years of the master of midfield mayhem.
Twelve Summers ADAM ZWAR
DECEMBER 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 304PP | SPORTS, MEMOIR For all the significant moments in Adam’s Zwar's life, cricket was in the background – or foreground. Twenty Summers is the everyman’s memoir – hilarious, moving and thought provoking. Even if you hate cricket, you’ll find a lot to love in this book.
The Brumby Wars ANTHONY SHARWOOD
SEPTEMBER 2021 | TRADE PAPERBACK | 304PP | ANIMALS, HISTORY A wild population of brumbies roams free in the High Country and Snowy Mountains of south-eastern Australia. Some think the horses shouldn’t be harmed; others believe they should be removed, or destroyed, to prevent ecological disaster. But this is not just a war over horses. It’s a battle for the soul of Australia. London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide
Recently published – rights available RIGHTS ENQUIRIES [email protected] London Book Fair 2021 Rights Guide
Domestic Titles – ANZ only
CURRENT AND UPCOMING RIGHTS ENQUIRIES [email protected]