Uncategorized

Happy publication day to BREADWINNERS, the must-read book on how to address the power dynamics in your work, life and love by award-winning science journalist Melissa Hogenboom, out today with Canongate Books.

Happy publication day to Melissa Poett and THE ENEMY’S DAUGHTER, the incredibly addictive debut YA enemies-to-lovers romantasy, which publishes in the UK today from HarperFire.

North American rights to Cali Adeline’s debut novel PEOPLE WATCHING IN THE DESERT have been won by Edie Astley at Harper US, at auction. Rights were sold by Katie Greenstreet.

Perfect for fans of ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE and REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES, Cali’s debut is set at a luxury Arizona resort, and follows a lonely young woman who prefers to live in a world of her own making, scribbling observations in her notebook, and the seismic repercussions that follow when she’s forced to step outside of her fictional world.

Congratulations, Cali!

Happy publication week to Tasha Coryell and her “gripping, tense, and funny” second novel MATCHMAKING FOR PSYCHOPATHS, which publishes today in the US from Berkley, and this Thursday in the UK from Orion.

Matchmaking for Psychopaths is an unbelievably twisty and gripping read about obsession, filled with Tasha Coryell’s signature observational humour and satirical slant.

Like every good romance, this story ends with a wedding. And like every good mystery, it begins with a murder…

When Alexandra’s fiancé runs off with her so-called best friend, her life veers sharply away from the romance films she’s obsessed with. She’s worked so hard to get her fairytale ending after the horrors of her past, and despite this setback, she’s determined she’ll still find her happy ever after.

To distract herself, Alexandra tries to focus on her job where she has a secret specialty: matchmaking psychopaths. But in losing the two people closest to her, she’s unignorably lonely. So when a hot, overprotective new client wants to date her, and another gorgeous new client wants to become her best friend, she can’t help but find the attention a little comforting.

Things take a turn the day the human heart is left on Alexandra’s doorstep. But is the culprit one of her new admirers, or has a monster from her past returned to destroy her happy ending forever?

PRAISE FOR MATCHMAKING FOR PSYCHOPATHS:

Matchmaking for Psychopaths by Tasha Coryell is SO MUCH FUN… Impressively ASTUTE on male/female dynamics. – Marian Keyes ― No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of MY FAVOURITE MISTAKE

There is real vulnerability and softness in this story… Supremely readable and unexpected. Tasha has a voice that is very much her own! I like how she looks at the effects of loneliness with a new lens – how do the decisions we make when we’re feeling truly alone ripple out into our wider lives? I’ll never think of Valentine’s Day in the same way again… I don’t doubt that other readers will also fall in love with the damaged but well-intentioned Lexie and hope the book does really, really well — Silvia Saunders ― winner of the Comedy Women in Print Award

A gender-flipped Dexter thrown in a blender with a Hollywood romcom, Matchmaking for Psychopaths is wild, suspenseful, and fiendishly smart. I found this poisoned love letter to romance, sex, and murder impossible to put down. Tasha Coryell has crafted a story so entertaining you might not realize just how deep it’s sunk its claws into you until the last breathless page. ― Andrew DeYoung

Devious, propulsive, and oh-so-twisty, Matchmaking for Psychopaths is a romp not to be missed! ― Stephanie Wrobel

I LOVED this book. I tore through it in a day. I think it’s even better than Love Letters! Absolutely loved the clever twist on the matchmaking-romance trope. It was so up my street, it was practically parked on my drive! Gripping, tense and funny in all the right ways, I couldn’t put it down. — Katy Brent ― author of How to Kill Men and Get Away With It

Bloody brilliant. A wildly original take on the difficulties of love and friendship in today’s society. Coryell masterfully weaves a thrilling dark romance that will make you believe some psychopaths deserve a happy ending. — Asia Mackay ― author of A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage

I loved this! A brilliant blend of dark humour and gripping suspense, delivering a fresh and thrilling exploration of obsession and identity. — Joanna Wallace ― author of You’d Look Better as a Ghost

Congratulations to A.B. Poranek on hitting the Sunday Times bestseller list! Her YA fantasy A TREACHERY OF SWANS has hit #2 on the Children’s & YA chart. It is an enthralling sapphic retelling of Swan Lake, for fans of Allison Saft and V.E Schwab.

A.B. Poranek is the New York Times bestselling author of WHERE THE DARK STANDS STILL.

Magic has long been outlawed in Auréal. Odile has always known she’d be the one to restore it.

Raised by a sorcerer, Odile has spent years preparing for the heist of a lifetime. It’s perfectly simple: impersonate a princess, infiltrate the palace, steal the enchanted crown and restore magic to the kingdom.

But when the King is unexpectedly murdered, she’s forced to recruit the help of Marie, the real princess, and the two begin to unravel a web of lies and deceit that leaves Odile uncertain of whom to trust.

Soon though Odile must decide – her mission or the girl she’s falling for?

The fate of the Kingdom depends on her making the right choice…

Austin Taylor’s debut NOTES ON INFINITY has been chosen as Belletrist’s July book of the month!

Published in the US in June and forthcoming in the UK next week, NOTES ON INFINITY is a singular, extraordinary debut about Zoe and Jack, Harvard students who find themselves propelled into the intoxicating biotech startup world when they announce they’ve discovered the cure for aging.

Belletrist is run by actress Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss, who will be joined by Austin for this month’s virtual book club. Congratulations, Austin!

Congratulations to Lauryn Hamilton Murray on hitting the Sunday Times bestseller list! HEIR OF STORMS topped the Children’s & YA chart at number 1, and was number 3 in the overall chart.

A Waterstones’ Young Adult book of the month and the first of the STORM WEAVER series, HEIR OF STORMS is an epic romantasy in the style of TWIN CROWNS and early Sarah J. Maas with a touch of THE HUNGER GAMES.

I am the girl who wove the storm that shook the world.
And I’m coming for my crown.

When Blaze came into the world, she almost drowned it.

Blaze, a Rain Singer, is born into one of the most powerful fire-wielding families in the empire. Her birth summoned a devastating storm that resulted in the deaths of thousands, and she has spent her life as an outsider, reviled and feared.

When Blaze and her twin brother, Flint, are selected to compete in the Choosing Rite, the trials which decide the future rulers of the empire, she’s suddenly thrust into the limelight – and into battle.

Threats abound at the Golden Palace, where intrigue and romance await with not one but two handsome suitors: the enchanting Crown Prince and a dangerously alluring newcomer at court.

As her powers strengthen and her fellow competitors fall, the throne is suddenly within her grasp. But in order to take the crown, she’ll have to leave behind the stories that others have told about her and find the courage to write her own.

Happy publication day to A.B. Poranek! A TREACHERY OF SWANS publishes today in the UK from Penguin Children’s. Her debut novel, WHERE THE DARK STANDS STILL was an instant New York Times’ bestseller.

A TREACHERY OF SWANS is an enthralling sapphic retelling of Swan Lake.

Magic has long been outlawed in Auréal. Odile has always known she’d be the one to restore it.

Raised by a sorcerer, Odile has spent years preparing for the heist of a lifetime. It’s perfectly simple: impersonate a princess, infiltrate the palace, steal the enchanted crown and restore magic to the kingdom.

But when the King is unexpectedly murdered, she’s forced to recruit the help of Marie, the real princess, and the two begin to unravel a web of lies and deceit that leaves Odile uncertain of whom to trust.

Soon though Odile must decide – her mission or the girl she’s falling for?

The fate of the Kingdom depends on her making the right choice. . .

Paper Literary’s Katie Greenstreet has been featured as one of six ‘next great agents’ in Poets & Writers magazine, where she has been named a rising star in the publishing industry.

In an interview discussing her journey from Wall Street corporate lawyer to assistant to the Head of Books at ICM Partners, and then her journey across the pond to C&W in London, ending up at Paper Literary in 2022, Katie talks about her agenting ethos, what she’s looking for – in submissions, and in authors – and what she sees as coming next. You can read the full interview below.

Congratulations on this very well-deserved recognition, Katie!

Katie Greenstreet’s allegiance to her authors runs deep: “Several of my early mentors had such strong relationships with their clients, some that spanned decades—as someone who really values deep relationships in my professional life, it’s a style of work I’ve tried to emulate.” Since moving to the world of agenting in 2015, Greenstreet has begun to build just such relationships, representing “exclusively adult upmarket fiction across all genres,” and has earned a reputation for scouting new talent and “incredible deals,” says her Paper colleague Catherine Cho.

What draws you to being an agent? 
Agenting is a great match for both my personality and my skill set. I’m competitive to a fault and also deeply independent, so I love that the sky is the limit for my business and my clients. I also love the thrill of the chase and eagerly open my submissions inbox each morning desperate to find a new voice that I can’t stop reading. There’s also the enormous satisfaction of working on a story and with an author across both the life of the book and their careers. And finally, I love having a hand in all aspects of rights—the initial English-language deal, the excitement of bringing a story to readers across the world in translation—and as a lifelong film and TV junkie, cementing the Hollywood piece of the puzzle never ceases to thrill me.

What was your trajectory to your current position? And what experiences have shaped your approach to agenting?
I came to publishing in a slightly roundabout way, after a quick career as a corporate lawyer, working for large firms on Wall Street. A turning point came for me when I was working on a merger between two publishing companies. It hit me that I’d give anything to be the client in that scenario. Growing up without any connections in publishing, or really in New York, and graduating from a university with a heavy focus on science and finance, it didn’t seem like a feasible path for me. I decided to bet on myself, enrolled in the Columbia Publishing Course, and was lucky to land my absolute dream job as an assistant to the head of books at ICM Partners…. Fast-forward two years and my husband was offered a job in London…. We jumped at the chance to move on his visa, and I started at C&W (part of Curtis Brown U.K.) a few months later, where I worked for two amazing agents and began to build my own list. Shortly after Catherine Cho founded Paper, we began talks about my joining, and after five happy years with C&W, I joined Catherine and threw myself into helping her build the boutique agency of our dreams.

When you have that first call or meeting with a potential client, what signs tell you you’ve found someone you want to represent? 
We have a no-jerks policy at Paper—so being a nice person is a prerequisite! But I also look for someone who is both enormously ambitious for the career piece of their writing to take off but who would also write happily, just for themselves, because they simply love the craft of storytelling…. I think the second an author becomes cynical, they’re in trouble. I’m also not looking to work with folks with just one great idea—I take the long-term career part of my pitch very seriously.

What are some of the most rewarding moments—either public-facing or more interpersonal—you’ve had in working with the writers you represent? 
Some recent wins include helping my incredible author Kate Fagan transition from a successful career as a journalist and nonfiction author into a debut novelist with a laundry list of brilliant reviews and picks—and a second book deal. I’m also still buzzing from my client Rosanna Pike’s longlisting for the Women’s Prize, one of my favorite prizes run out of the U.K. because of its emphasis on both brilliant storytelling and beautiful prose. Her debut, A Little Trickerie, was not the most commercial prospect given the specificity of its voice and a historical setting outside of the time periods popular in publishing, so the critical acclaim has been a real reminder to trust my gut.

Ideally agent-writer relationships can last a lifetime; what do you think it takes to build that kind of successful partnership? 
To me the ideal author-agent relationship is akin to a successful marriage. It requires good communication, trust in each other’s instincts, and a really collaborative mindset. And an understanding that both parties are human. I think when the teamwork mentality falls away, there’s ripe opportunity for strife—as there would be in any business relationship.

What’s at the top of your manuscript wish list right now? 
I always say that literary suspense is my truest love, and as such I’m desperate for some character-driven thrillers to land in my inbox ahead of the summer. Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods was a real highlight for me last year—I would love to see a similarly layered family drama with a backdrop of crime or mystery come my way. Sense of place is also very important to me, so anything with a strong escapist setting—especially if that setting has elements of both glamour and decay, an underbelly—I’m sold! I also love a classic upstairs-downstairs story and would love to see a twist on that setup, again with a suspense-crime-mystery element. I realize in many ways I’m describing all three seasons of The White Lotus, so I should mention that as a comp that will always, always have me dropping everything to dive into a submission.

How do you see agenting, or publishing more generally, evolving, and are there particular parts of that evolution that you hope to effect? 
I think agents need to fight harder than ever to protect their clients’ interest in what has become a bit of a rights land grab from publishers and also, of course, in the face of the changes to be wrought by AI. I’d love to see agents become more collaborative across/outside their own agencies, as unless you work for one of the big talent agencies, it can be difficult to dig in and win on important deal points. There’s strength in numbers, but the agency model doesn’t always lend itself to sharing information.

BBC Books will publish The Moon Cruise by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, a brand new Doctor Who story featuring The Doctor and his companion, Belinda. The book will be published on 13th November this year.

Esmie previously wrote the novelisation of the 2023 Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road.

The TARDIS lands on board a luxury space liner owned by the interstellar shipping magnate, Marilyn Moon. The Moon Cruise offers its wealthy passengers up-close views of astounding cosmic wonders and the Doctor and Belinda are soon high rolling it on the top deck.

But there is a sinister side to life on board. What is the secret of the smiling, blonde-haired mannequins? What happens to the cruise ship workers when they go off shift?

The Doctor soon learns that not all prisons come with bars on the windows, while Belinda faces one of the greatest cruelties in the universe – a zero-pay contract in retail and hospitality that can never be broken…