John Connolly is busy dominating the Irish Bestseller lists with his latest two novels. The Book Of Lost Things rises is the Irish Paperback Bestseller List to No8 in its fourth week on the shelves.
SWEET CHILD O' MINE... Lee Child's The Hard Way is blazing a trail across the globe -in its third week on The New York Times Bestseller List at No8 and in its EIGHTH WEEK on The Sunday Times Paperback Bestseller List - The Hard Way entered the paperback list at No1. Tenth in the Jack Reacher series - The Hard Way hit the NYT No3 slot in the first week and continues to be the bookshops' favorite : No1 in Borders US and No3 at Barnes & Noble. Other BESTSELLER CHART LISTINGS to date are: No5 on The Washington Post Bestseller List. Two weeks at No1 on the Book Sense Bestseller List, currently at No3. Voted No3 in prestigious trade rag Publishing Weekly - Lee's first top-five PW debut.
Another record year for the agency at the London Book Fair. We saw more publishers from more countries than we've ever seen before. Over 3 days the agency's foreign rights team took over 120 meetings with publishers from over 20 countries. A number of deals were brokered at the tables and well over 400 of our author's titles will be sent out over the coming weeks. Emma White, Head of Foreign Rights at the Agency, says: "It was a very enjoyable fair this year - back in West London the atmosphere was much more relaxed than last year in the Docklands! I'm happy to report that the Rights Department and had a record number of appointments with foreign Publishers that we've not seen before. I'm confident of a good number of deals in the coming months. I'd also like to congratulate Maddie on doing such a wonderful job at the fair. Having only joined the Agency 3 weeks before the fair, she was phenomenal!!"
The Book of Lost Things hits the Irish Mass Market bestseller lists at No9 this week - further proof of its continually growing popularity. John Connolly's masterful work The Book Of Lost Things caused a stir among booksellers and literary judges at home in Ireland and the UK and across the Atlantic. So far prizes and recommendations are as follows: - Shortlisted for the Hughes & Hughes Irish Book of the Year Award. - Selected to be The Times Book Club choice for April ’ 07. In the US: The Book of the Month club will feature it in their main selection for the of the Book of the Month smart reader sub-club, in May.
We are delighted to announce that Madeleine Buston has now joined the Rights Department as a 'Rights Manager' as of the 26th March. Madeleine will be a full time member of the Rights Team and replaces Lucie Whitehouse, who is sadly leaving us at the end of March after 5 years at the Agency to pursue her already successful writing career.
The British Book Awards - the oscars of the publishing world - bring together and eclectic mix of literary giants, sports stars, comedians and bestselling mainstream authors. The winners will be announced on the 28th March. See the action on Channel 4 on the 30th March. Find out more at: http://www.britishbookawards.co.uk/pnbb_index.asp?
Read an interview with prolific author Sunday Times bestseller Anne Baker who this year sees her 22nd novel in print...
Lee Child with hard-man series character Jack Reacher has shot straight to No1 in The Sunday Times paperback bestseller list with The Hard Way! Janet Maslin in The New York Times calls Lee Child "THE BEST THRILLER WRITER OF THE MOMENT". Bad Luck and Trouble is published in the UK in April and the US in May this year.
Not only was Martina THE NO1 BIGGEST SELLING ADULT HARDBACK FICTION WRITER OF 2005! Spanning forty years of the criminal underworld Close is intense, shocking, unsettling and utterly addictive and features one of her strongest and most appealing heroines yet - Lily Diamond.
This year Bernadine Kennedy takes part in both the Essex Book Festival and the Southend Libraries Book Festival where she will be talking about her latest novel Past Chances. Both events highlight some of the best home-grown talent and feature readings, discussion and family events. Book tickets for these events go to:http://www.harlow.gov.uk/news/events/events and http://www.southend.gov.uk/resources/SBFbookletlowresproof.pdf In her compelling novel Past Chances Bernardine Kennedy brilliantly conveys how the damage caused in the past can cause one's life to spiral out of control.
Tana French's stunning debut novel In the Woods has now been sold in THIRTEEN TERRITORIES. To date In the Woods is sold in the UK, US, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Israel, France, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Romania and Lithuania...and all this before the book is even out in hardback! Listen to an interview with Tan here:
Clare Dowling's fabulous new novel No Strings Attached has now spent FIVE WEEKS IN THE IRISH TIMES TOP FIVE BESTSELLERS! After a series of toxic bachelors, Mia finally meets David. But the night before their wedding, David's car is discovered on the top of a steep cliff, with his clothes neatly folded on the bonnet. To add insult to injury, his credit card number shows up two days later in the south of France. Has he got cold feet? Or has something more sinister happened to David? Mia sets off to France in search of answers, accompanied by David's best friend Lenny, the most toxic bachelor of them all. He's on a mission to convince Mia that relationships were never meant to last forever. And he's game if she is!
Congratulations to David Wishart on publication of his ELEVENTH Marcus Corvinus novel - In At The Death hits the shelves in hardback on the 22nd March! FURTHER CONGRATULATIONS for breaking into the US with Ovid - the first in the Marcus Corvinus series. Paperback rights to Ovid and Germanicus have been licensed to Maggie Topkiss at Felony & Mayhem and Ovid will be published in Fall 07. **Comic, bawdy and extremely engrossing, Ovid is an intriguing tale of mystery and suspense*** "Like Chandler's Marlowe, Corvinus wisecracks his way through a weary world of murder and intrigue until he hunts down the truth. A taut thriller in which ancient Rome springs to life." "Wishart is a fine Scholar and perfectly at home in the period." - The Sunday Times "Ancient Rome's shrewdest and most sardonic detective...the best balance of hystery and mystery yet." - Kirkus Review. "Innate humour and pace carry one through to the tragi-comic climax." - The Irish Times
Successful talent-spotting Agent Darley Anderson - who when it comes to animals is well known for his love of cats (His own cat – called ‘Little Cat’ is something of a media star having featured prominently in the work of two Agency clients: an hour long documentary of ‘Sunderland’s Granny’ Sheila Quigley, and in the paintings oft Kwon Kuen Shan whose cat books Anderson sold to Random House) is convinced he’s found a big bestselling dog book, and Val Hudson at Headline – who has done a number of successful dog books in her time – agrees and pre-empted in less than 24 hours with a high six figure offer. The inception of the book was as follows: Darley, who is an avid reader of Country Life (“I’m a country house property voyeur” he says), came across a tiny piece about Graeme Sims – a clergyman, successful farmer shepherd and self-taught experienced dog trainer who had just come back from a successful US lecture tour on Dog Whispering. Darley Immediately sensed a bestseller – Graeme is so knowledgeable and so promotable – so signed him up and worked with him editorially until the manuscript was ready to submit. Graeme says:“ When Darley Anderson rung to say that Headline had bought my book I had two sleepless nights (not through worry but for joy) Everyone at Darley Anderson's seem able to combine professionalism with bucketfulls of charm and my meetings with Val Hudson at Headline have been my idea of fun and productivity. It means that I can afford to do what I have always dreamed of which is to live in the most rural area spending my mornings training my dogs and the afternoons and evenings writing about them. I learned about dogs as a shepherd among Celts now I shall return to sheepdog country where the place names have built in musicality and the valleys echo to the sounds of sheep and the whistles of the shepherds. My first real job was writing blurbs at a publishing house; I never, in my wildest dreams , imagined that one day someone might write one about my book. It's a great feeling!” Val Hudson says:“Thanks to Darley, we are now the proud publishers of the nation’s most renaissance author. Graeme Sims is an ex-advertising director, award-winning children’s book illustrator, country vicar and – most importantly – a man with the unique and uncanny ability to ‘speak dog’. His book tells you how you too can control, help and communicate with your best friend. His is a simple series of instructions, truly original and – quite simply – one that works like magic. I’ve published quite a few books about man’s best friend in my time, but Graeme combines sparkle and instruction and sheer ‘trustability’ in a unique way, one that I know will appeal to the Great British Dog-owning public. His books will be at the top of the lists, and Headline will have a lot of fun getting him there.”
US rights to two of Martina's titles have been sold in the US for a high advance to Jamie Raab of Time Warner. Close - which went into the No1 spot in the Hardback Bestseller charts AFTER ONLY THREE DAYS SALES - spent sixteen weeks in the Top Ten. WHSmith boasted selling a copy every 30 seconds.
Carole Matthews has been shortlisted to win the Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2007 for her fabulous novel Welcome to the Real World. The Romantic Novel of the Year Award was established in 1960 by the associatin to recognise excellence in romantic fiction. Vote by visiting: http://www.rna-uk.org
Nicole Gallagher is the proud winner of the inaugural Lesley Pearse Women of Courage Award. The announcement was made at a special Awards lunch attended by the five Award finalists, their friends and family, representatives of Penguin Books, Love It!, Woolworths and of course Lesley's agent Darley Anderson. Elizabeth Smith, Penguin's Commercial Marketing Director, said:'We have been incredibly moved by the stories we have received; all the women nominated have shown such bravery and sacrifice in their lives. Nicole's story touched us all. Her selfless and positive approach to dealing with such a heart-breaking situation is incredibly inspiring; she is a deserving winner of the first Lesley Pearse Women of Courage Award. Karen Pasquali Jones, Editor of Love It!,said: ' Reading about how Nicole has loved and cared for both her children was an incredibly moving story. Being a mother is one of the hardest jobs in the world. All any mum wants for her children is that they can lead healthy and happy lives. Nicole is making sure that both her beautiful children manage to live fulfilled, contented lives, despite the challenging medical problems they face. The fact Nicole has managed to do so with such selflessness and grace shows that she is a true woman of courage, and an inspiration to us all.' Gerry Berkley, Woolworths' Books Trading Managersaid: ‘We at Woolworths are incredibly proud to be associated with the Woman of Courage Award and are delighted that the prizes went to such worthy and deserving winners’. Read more about Lesley and her bestselling books at: http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/lesleypearse/books.html#hope
Emma White has been promoted to Head of Rights at the Agency effective from the beginning of this year. White joined the Darley Anderson Agency in May 2004 as Rights manager.
ITS A FIRST FOR JOHN CONNOLLY. AND A FIRST FOR THE DARLEY ANDERSON AGENCY. A young woman goes missing from the streets of New York. Those who have taken her believe that nobody cares about her and that no one will come looking for her. They are wrong. She is “blood” to the killer Louis, the man who stands at the right hand of private detective Charlie Parker and Louis will tear apart anyone who stands in the way of his attempts to find her. But as Louis’ violent search progresses, Parker comes to realize that the disappearance is part of an older mystery, one that is linked to an ornate church of bones in Eastern Europe, to the slaughter at a French monastery in 1944 and to the quest for a mythical prize that has been sought for centuries by evil men: the Black Angel. Yet the Black Angel is more than a myth. It lives. And men are not the only creatures that seek it... Congratulations John!
Simon & Schuster is holding a competition to celebrate publication of The Yorkshire Pudding Club by debut novelist Milly Johnson. To enter email Amanda Shipp (amanda.shipp@simonandschuster.co.uk) with your name, work address and job position and the approximate baby due date.
Sobini films in association with Lionsgate have bought the film rights to John Connolly's bestselling thriller Bad Men. Sobini most recently produced Peaceful Warrior which was released by Lionsgate.
Read about Clare's books, where she gets her inspiration from, her heroes and favorite reads and what's in store for the 2006/2007!
The UK's No1 selling hardback adult fiction author Martina Cole is the FIRST EVER WRITER TO SPONSOR AN AWARD at the Bookseller Retail Awards.
John Connolly's dark and magical novel The Book of Lost Things is proving a massive hit in the US where it has been picked as December's Book of the Month by Booksense as well as starred and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by the Library Review.
t was another great year for the agency's Foreign Rights department who had over 150 meetings with scouts and foreign publishers. The Foreign Rights team say:
The Agency's oldest author Elizabeth Waite has just celebrated her 84th birthday! Her first book was taken on by Darley Anderson and bought by Little Brown when she was seventy years old.
Bestselling writer Lynda Page shone brightly at her first ever spanish book signing in Costa Blanca!!
Alex Barclay's debut crime novel Darkhouse is now published in FIFTEEN languages!!!
Darley Anderson catches up with Harper Collins Managing Directors Sally Gritten and Amanda Ridout at their wonderful annual author party at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington gardens.
It's official. The Lesley Pearse Women of Courage Award in association with The Sun and Woolworth's has been launched!
Cathy Cassidy flies into the Top Twenty Bestseller list at No17 with her latest novel Scarlett !! Can Scarlett manage her anger or will she die of boredom?
Headline Books will throw a lavish lunch party for bestselling saga writer Anne Baker to celebrate publication of her 21st book! Anne's editor Marion Donaldson says: "I'm thrilled to be celebrating publication of Anne's 21st book with Headline with her agent, Darley Anderson. Carousel of Secrets is the latest in a series of wonderfully evocative, page-turning sagas from an author who has won the hearts of legions of readers over the years, and we are thrilled and proud to have been her publishers from the very first one.We look forward to the next 21!" Carousel of Secrets was published on June 5th 2006.
Agency authors are featuring strongly on Bestseller Lists AROUND THE WORLD... *** Martina Cole's latest crime thriller The Take has taken the No1 slot on the Sunday Times Paperback Fiction Bestseller List IN ITS FIRST WEEK OF PUBLICATION!*** ***Constance Briscoe's memoir Ugly has now been on The Sunday Times Hardback Bestseller list for TWENTY WEEKS. *** ***Cathy Cassidy's Scarlett has entered the Bestseller List at No17 with her wonderful novel Scarlett*** ***Lincolnshire's queen of the romantic saga, Margaret Dickinson spent SEVEN weeks on the Heatseeker's list with Pauper's Gold - her latest heart rending story of love and survival .*** ***Lee Child's The Hard Way is now A COAST TO COAST BESTSELLER, listed on TWELVE BESTSELLER LISTS ACROSS THE US including the New York Times, Publisher's Weekly, the Dallas Morning News, the Independant Mystery Booksellers association,The NAIBA, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Denver Post, the Washington Post, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Rocky Mountain News and the San Francisco Chronicle.*** ***The Hard Way also celebrates a TOP TEN rating in the New York Times Book Review.*** ***Lee Child's thriller One Shot spent SIX weeks in The Sunday Times Top Ten Paperback Bestseller List.One Shot hit the lists at No2 in only its second week***.
US rights to Paul Carson's thrillers Ambush and Betrayal have been sold to Daniela Rapp at St. Martin's Press in the US. Betrayal will be published in Hardback in Spring ' 07 - followed up by Ambush in Spring 08.
Bruckheimer and Disney have bought the film rights for Ahmet Zappa's The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless for a monstrous $1.5 million through Helen Breitwieser of the Cornerstone Literary Agency,an associate to the Darley Anderson Agency. Walt Disney emerged victorious after the feverish auction with Buena Vista Motion Pictures and Warner. The screenwriter is Tim Firth - who's latest screenscript was Kinky Boots. Watch this space for more news on The Monstrous Memoirs' mighty screen appearance!
We've had a flurry of sales for Kate Wild's The Hercules Gene, published in Spring 2007 by Chicken House. Taiwanese rights go to Crown, Italian rights to Salani and Danish rights to Sesam, all in record breaking deals for the agency.
Watch this space for further news...
Exciting new talent Tana French has been snapped up by publishers Hodder in the UK, Hodder Headline in Ireland and Viking/Penguin in the US for her stunning debut novel In The Woods. Jointly acquired for a large six figure sum by Sue Fletcher at Hodder UK and Ciara Considine of Hodder Headline Ireland In The Woods is SET FOR GREAT THINGS. Darley Anderson says: "Tana has a great talent. Her characters are absolutely superb. So is her plotting. She will be a BESTSELLER." Emma White, who sells US rights at the agency, negotiated a six-figure sum with Viking/Penguin US for two thrillers by Tana including In The Woods. Viking's Kendra Harpster says: "Everyone at Viking was absolutely floored from the very first page of Tana's novel. We have a massively appealing masterpiece that readers are sure to love.This is a very exciting addition to the Viking list."In The Woods is a haunting psychological crime thriller that starts with the discovery of a little girl's body on an archealogical site just outside Dublin. Investigating the crime is detective duo Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox. What Rob hides from his colleagues is that the murder brings back memories of a traumatic event in his own past, and the investigation becomes inextricably entangled with that long-ago event. Sue Fletcher says: "It's hard to believe this is Tana 's first novel, because it is so confident and assured. She has superb plotting skills and the gift of creating sympathetic, flawed characters." Ciara Considine says: "From the first page this stands out from the crowd, completely engaging and full of surprising twists and turns. This surely marks the BEGINNING OF A BESTSELLING CAREER for Tana."
Thursday 6th April saw the hugely successful signing and launch of Sheila Quigley's latest thriller - Living On A Prayer at Ottakars in Sunderland. The event was a lively mix of fans, friends and family - with Sheila signing well over hundred copies! Over the forthcoming weeks Sheila will be touring bookshops nationwide!
On 7th April Pan Macmillan hosted a celebratory champagne tea at Ottakars in Lincoln for Margaret Dickinson - Lincolnshire's queen of the romantic saga. The party celebrated publication of Margaret’s 21st novel Pauper’s Gold and 50 years of writing – a staggering achievement! The party was attended by a wonderful mix of people. Philippa McEwan, Catriona Row and Sandra Taylor were there from Pan; Julia Churchill from the Darley Anderson Agency; Sue Coley, Dawn Bradley, Sue Walker and Sue McNair from Skegness Library; Gill Hart and Peter Lord were there from Ottakars. Friends and family also came, and of course Dennis, Margaret’s husband. The Mayor of Lincoln also came to toast Margaret’s success! Two of Margaret’s biggest fans were there too, having won a competition run in The Lincolnshire Echo. They had both read all of Margaret’s books – one of the winners even shares names with one of Margaret’s characters. That morning Margaret signed 250 books at WHSmith Skegness, with queues out of the door, and the following day she signed 115 books at Ottakars in Lincoln. She has a promotional tour of nearly 30 events and signings, on top of her normal busy schedule. She really is indefatigable... Find out where Margaret's next signing is at: www.panmacmillan.com/events
Ahmet Zappa's thrilling debut children's novel - The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless has been sold to Puffin after a very hard fought auction for an almighty six figure advance. Zappa, son of legendary rock star Frank Zappa, says it was his childhood obsession with monsters that provided the origins of The Monstrous Memoirs - the story of monster hunts, a kidnap and a daring rescue. Brother sister duo Max and Minerva McFearless set out to save their father - a renowned monster hunter - from the most loathsome diabolical monster in the universe. "Scientific data" on all the things that go bump in the night and recipes for keeping bloodthirsty beasts at bay abound in this fabulously illustrated hysterical adventure story. Sarah Hughes at Puffin says:"It has such direct child appeal, it's the kind of book that turns non readers into readers. This kind of distinctive talent doesn't come along every day." The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless will be published in the UK and US in August 2006.
Martina Cole takes on both the The Sunday Times paperback Bestseller List AND the Irish Bestseller List with her latest page-turning thriller The Take going straight in at No2!!!
Lee Child's highly acclaimed latest thriller The Hard Way is now in it's THIRD WEEK in The Sunday Times Hardback Bestseller List - after going straight in at No2.
This week long term Agency author Lesley Pearse climbed to No4 in The Booktrack HARDBACK Bestseller Lists with her latest novel Hope - her highest hardback position yet! Lesley has previously pipped the top spot at No1 in The Sunday Times paperback Bestseller lists...
It was another great year for the Agency at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival with Cathy Cassidy a favorite nominee for the Red House Children's Book Award. The Agency got together with authors, publishers, booksellers, and friends for a culinary feast and champagne, organised by Julia Churchill.
IT'S STANDING ROOM ONLY AT EVERY LEE CHILD EVENT across the US on his tour to talk about and promote his new book The Hard Way now in its second week in THE NEW YORK TIMES HARDBACK FICTION LIST. The Hard Way debuted at No3!! The highly influential New York Times critic Janet Maslin says The Hard Way : "TAKES OFF LIKE A SHOT...Jack Reacher is the rough, tough superman of the crime-busting genre...as smart and charismatic as he is unbeatable" But now Reacher is confronted by a situation so disturbing and deceptive that the truth eludes him. Has he painted targets on the good guys’ backs?
The Hard Way is published in the UK on 3rd July 2006.
Martina Cole's bestselling novel The Take has won the prestigious Crime Thriller of the Year award at the British Book Awards 2006 - the Oscars of the publishing world. The Take - which went straight to No1 in The Sunday Times hardback Bestseller List - was the biggest selling HARDBACK ADULT FICTION title in 2005. Find out more at www.britishbookawards.co.uk
Lee Child's thriller One Shot spent SIX weeks in The Sunday Times Top Ten paperback Bestseller List.One Shot hit the lists at No2 in only it's second week. 'Sharp... addictive...a first rate thriller' - One Shot is our annual, much awaited Reacher-fix. 'Jack Reacher is irresistible.’ ‘Hot, indomitable… knockout...pure escapist gold.' Read about the man behind Jack Reacher at www.jackreacher.co.uk
It was a double whammy for Alex Barclay's stunning debut novel Darkhouse which went into both The Sunday Times Bestseller List at No7 AND Irish Bestseller List at No4 - quickly rising to No1 (ahead of Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code).
Monday 6th March 2006 Lee Child and Darley Anderson jointly hosted a lavish party to celebrate TEN YEARS OF WORLDWIDE PUBLICATION at the exclusive Westminster Penthouse overlooking the Houses of Parliament. Hailed as THE PARTY OF THE LONDON BOOK FAIR it was a lively mix of Lee's worldwide publishers, movie people, friends and fans from the industry. The atmosphere was buzzing - with champagne on tap and delicious canapes - and both Lee and Darley made a point of thanking the various guests for their hardwork and contribution to what will soon be the Jack Reacher phenomenon. Lee encapsulated the mood saying :"This party is for all of you". And there was huge excitement when Lee's Hollywood agent Steve Fisher proudly announced the sale of the Jack Reacher Book Series Film rights to Paramount. In his speech Darley looked back on what has been an amazing success story and recalled his excitement on reading the first manuscript about 'sex-on-legs' Reacher with that universal theme of "feared by the bad loved by the good, Robin Hood, Robin Hood." To further set the mood was an enormous world map showing in red the countries where Lee is currently published and the bold insignia - THE SUN NEVER SETS ON JACK REACHER. Click here to view the party snaps. Read more about Lee in his interview with The Bookseller at www.thebookseller.com
Another record year for the agency at the London Book Fair. We saw more publishers from more countries than we've ever seen before. Over 3 days the agency's foreign rights team took over 100 meetings with publishers from over 30 countries. A record number of deals were done at the table and well over 400 of our author's titles were requested and will be sent out over the coming weeks. **CHANCE ENCOUNTER ** In a chance encounter Darley Anderson gave one aspiring author Linda Chapple some key insights into the trade. Here's what she wrote: I'd been harbouring a grudge against Darley Anderson for eight years. Ever since he'd dismissed my phone call - and rather pathetic first attempt at a novel with 'I don't do issue books.'
One of the Agency’s newest authors, Milly Johnson, is celebrating going international with her debut novel The Yorkshire Pudding Club. Full of heart and humour The Yorkshire Pudding Club is the story of three Barnsley friends whose lives are turned upside down when they all become pregnant – shortly after a picnic on a prehistoric fertility symbol. At the centre of the book are moving stories about love and family. Early readers have compared Milly’s powerful, warm and funny writing to the books of Marian Keyes and The Full Monty. The Yorkshire Pudding Club will be published in the UK by Simon & Schuster and in March 2007.
We are delighted to announce the arrival of a major new talent in children’s fiction. Kate Wild's first two books have been acquired by legendary talent spotter Barry Cunningham at Chicken House. The Hercules Gene is the first in a series of adventure thrillers for 10+ featuring gypsy boy Freedom Smith. Two hundred years ago, legendary bare-knuckle champion Hercules Smith passed on a dangerous inheritance to his descendents - a rogue gene giving phenomenal strength and fighting skills. Sixteen year old Freedom has inherited it but all it does is cause him trouble. And things are about to get worse. Barry Cunningham says: 'Kate Wild is a great new writer - bold, exciting, and with a real grasp of terrific 'all action' plotting, plus a feel for unusual and colourful characters who will hook right in to children's imagination.' The Hercules Gene will be published in the UK and US in Spring 2007.
A major new deal will see Agency novelist Danny King's The Burglar Diaries transformed into a TV sitcom. BBC3 is described by the BBC as an outlet for "New drama, New talent, British comedy, top films and accessible news". Danny King's The Burglar Diaries will be in good company at BBC3, the home of Little Britain, The Smoking Rooms and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.
BBC Creative Head for Mainstream Comedy, Michael Jacob who commissioned the show said ' We're all very excited ... Burglar has the same feel as 'The Smoking Rooms' - classy writing, a bit out of the ordinary, great characters and very funny.'
Danny King's latest novel Milo's Run was published by Serpent's Tail on 15th March.
Watch this space for more news about 'Burglar' screening dates...
Constance Briscoe's childhood memoir, Ugly, made the hardback fiction No1 spot after only one week of sales. Ugly is now in its EIGHTEENTH week in the charts holding strong at No3 (UGLY Spent nine weeks at No2). Constance has appeared on numerous television and radio programmes, from GMTV to Newsnight and her story has also featured in most national newspapers including The Daily Mail, The Sunday Times,The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Independent. As a child, Constance was beaten and mentally abused by her mother, yet went on to become one of our first black female judges. Her autobiography, Ugly, tells how the injustice she suffered as a child fuelled her determination to climb to the top in the legal world.
John Connolly's latest crime novel The Black Angel flew to No1 in the Irish Bestseller List after going in at No2 in its first week of publication. The Black Angel swooped into the the Sunday Times paperback Bestseller List at No4 in it's first week on the shelves.
Joan Jonker died on Monday 13th February. Joan was a remarkable woman quite apart from being a bestselling writer. In 1976 Joan set up the charity Victims of Violence in Liverpool and over a period of 23 years she and her charity helped 12,000 people and opened the first shelters for victims in the country. She was recently voted one of the Greatest Merseysiders in a BBC poll. Her long term editor and close friend at Headline Books, Clare Foss, said ‘Joan was an incredibly special woman whose novels touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people of all ages and of all walks of life. A day seldom went by without a letter arriving from one of Joan’s adoring fans and it was little surprise when a few years ago Joan was voted “Lancashire Woman of the Year”. She was a treasured friend as well as favourite author and she will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with her family’. Her agent, Darley Anderson, said: ‘It was always a pleasure, a privilege and an education to be involved with Joan as her literary agent which I was for many happy and successful years. You don’t meet many truly special people in your life. Joan was one of the very few special people I have been fortunate to know. She touched so many people's lives and made them better.’
A Lesser Evil, Lesley Pearse's latest bestseller, went straight into the paperback lists at No3. Lesley's sales are up 30% on the Secrets paperback published last year. To win a copy of this latest book, send an email to enquiries@darleyanderson.com with the subject line "A Lesser Evil". Two winners will be picked at the end of the month..
Read about Bernardine's books, where she gets her inspiration from and what's coming up in 2006.
SPAIN’S COSTA DEL Sol became the Costa del Bestsellers when it played host to Headline’s top crime author Martina Cole, as she undertook a series of signings for holidaymakers and expats at resorts along the Mediterranean coast for the international launch of the hardback of The Take. Headline is planning a global “brand-building” strategy, to be launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair, when Cole will meet foreign publishers, booksellers and distributors. Read more about this story at www.publishingnews.co.uk Visit Martina's website at http://authorpages.hoddersystems.com/MartinaCole
Fifty years ago this year, at the age of fourteen, Margaret Dickinson sent her first short story to Woman’s Own. For as long as she can remember, Margaret dreamed of being a published author, determined that one day she would walk into a book shop and see her own paperback book there on the shelf. It was not accepted and neither were many more short stories and a first novel written between the aged of sixteen and twenty. But the rejections acted not as a deterrent but as a spur. Margaret was resolved to become a writer, typing out scripts on a portable typewriter in the evening after a full day’s work as a secretary. In 1968 Robert Hale accepted her novel Pride of the Courtneys. Between 1969 and 1984, seven other titles followed, but success was tempered by more rejections and today, seven novels (each representing at least a year’s work) lie unpublished in her loft. ‘And there they will stay,’ Margaret says. ‘If they weren’t good enough for publication then, they certainly aren’t now! But I look upon them as a learning curve.’ There then came a seven-year gap when Margaret had to set aside her writing ambitions because of family commitments. But in 1991 with her dream still unfulfilled – she hadn’t yet achieved paperback publication - Margaret had that piece of luck that everyone needs at some time in their life. She found Darley Anderson. It was the turning point for her. Darley advised her to write a regional saga and, eighteen months later, he was able to hold an auction between five paperback publishers for Plough the Furrow. A week of bidding followed when Margaret describes herself as being “on cloud nine” when Pan Macmillan won the auction and offered a two book contract. Plough the Furrow was published in September 1994 and a month later, Margaret walked into WHSmith in Cardiff (a fair distance from her home in Lincolnshire!) and the paperback was on the shelf. It had taken thirty eight years, but at last it was there! The dream had come true, 2006, as well as celebrating her fiftieth year as a writer, sees the publication of Margaret’s twenty-first novel, Pauper’s Gold, which is also her thirteenth for Pan Macmillan. And her future ambitions? ‘Ah well, now that would be telling, but Darley will be the first to know,’ Margaret says and then adds, ‘Of course, I could try another short story for Woman’s Own…’
Martina Cole has taken the prestigious Christmas number one spot for the second year running. She sold 25,000 of The Take harback in one week to bring her back up to the top spot in 2005. Congratulations Martina! M
The Agency is delighted to announce the arrival of a brand-new major crime talent. Patrick Lennon has signed with Hodder & Stoughton for the first books in a new series of Cambridge crime novels featuring Detective Inspector Tom Fletcher. The first novel in the series is Corn Dolls which Hodder will publish in August. Tom Fletcher begins to investigate a pair of suspicious deaths in an isolated fenland community and discovers a trail that leads him back to a trio of suspicious deaths in the 1970s and an enigmatic Russian gangster hell-bent on revenge. Corn Dolls is extremely accomplished, announcing Patrick as a writer of enormous originality and style. He has a unique voice, a real understanding of character and psychology and the ties that bind father to son, country to city, past to present…
Alex Barclay's outstanding thriller, Darkhouse, debuted at number seven in The Sunday Times hardback besteller list. Darkhouse caused a real stir when the Agency started to sell translation rights at last year’s London Book Fair, with some seriously hot bidding for the rights to publish. Successful bidders included Hakurosha of Japan, Luebbe in Germany and Editions Michel Lafon in France. Alex has since been invited to sales conferences across Europe to introduce her book to foreign booksellers. Her adventures have included a day of go-karting with German booksellers at the Schumacher brothers’ track!Read all about the author and her bestselling book in this month's author interview. Click on the Q&A to hear about how she got started and the bones of her latest work...
Rights in Rani Manicka’s sweeping epic debut, The Rice Mother, have now been sold into TWENTY languages. Russian rights were sold to the Ukraine-based Family Leisure Club. The Rice Mother has captured the imaginations of readers across the world. In particular, the Dutch edition has sold more than 100,000 copies and the Portuguese edition has been a number two bestseller this spring.
This month's author interview is with Lesley Pearse. Click on Q&A to hear about her latest offerings and insights.
21st March 2005 Rebecca Shaw, author of the hugely successful Turnham Malpas and Barleybridge series, proved that tales of village life are as popular as ever with her latest novel, Whispers in the Village, entering The Sunday Times hardback Bestseller List at an impressive No 8. The eleventh book in the Turnham Malpas series, Rebecca has been steadily climbing up the lists since the publication of her first novel, The New Rector, in 1994. Her enchanting tales of village life have secured her place as one of the most popular writers on Orion’s list.
21st March 2005 The Agency is delighted to announce that Kira |
