Big deals signed for study of a 19th-century family of killers, Hell’s Half-Acre, and Murder Isn’t Easy, a mortician’s take on Agatha Christie’s forensics The spectre of true crime was stalking the aisles at this year’s London book fair, with publishers snapping up investigations into past evils in the wake of successes in podcasting and television such as Dirty John, Serial and The Teacher’s Pet.Offers were flying in for former Waterstones bookseller Susan Jonusas’s first book Hell’s Half-Acre, a study of the the Bender family of serial killers in Kansas in 1873. Jonusas, 24, left Waterstones in December to write full-time. “Buried on a homestead seven miles south of the town were 11 bodies in varying states of decay. Further investigation revealed a well containing remains of even more victims. The number of people murdered was estimated at 20,” said Jonusas’s literary agency. “The idea that a family of seemingly respectable homesteaders were capable of operating ‘a human slaughter pen’ appalled and fascinated the nation. But who the Benders really were, why they committed such a vicious killing spree and what became of them when they fled from the law is a mystery that has remained unsolved to this day.” UK rights are still being finalised, with Viking snapping it up for a six-figure deal in the US. Agent Georgina Capel, who was fielding offers for the book, said: “I suspect the true-crime podcast thing is driving the current interest.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
Pan Macmillan has signed a non-fiction title about the nature of obsession for a significant six-... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 20/10/2011 - 15:13 Weidenfeld & Nicolson has acquired a debut novel in a "major" six-figure pre-empt deal, with the agent likening it to The Book Thief and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. W&N fiction publishing director Kirsty... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Wed, 05/10/2011 - 14:15 Omnibus Press is to publish a biography of double Grammy-winning singer Adele, penned by The Bookseller's non-fiction previews editor Caroline Sanderson. Omnibus commissioning editor David Barraclough acquired world, all English and electronic rights to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 25/07/2011 - 15:44 Summersdale has bought world rights to a book about anorexia by Emma Woolf, the writer of the Sunday Times column An Apple a Day. Commissioning editor Jennifer Barclay bought the rights from Sarah Such of Sarah Such Literary... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 13:28 J K Rowling's agent Neil Blair has left the Christopher Little Literary Agency, setting up a new company, The Blair Partnership. Rowling is moving with Blair, having "terminated her association" with the Christopher... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 07/06/2011 - 16:18 Conville & Walsh is to launch a speakers agency later this month, with 40 of the literary agency's authors, including Helen Castor, Gavin Pretor-Pinney and Tom Holland, already on its books. Hire Intelligence will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 08:25 A history of the Royal British Legion and a six-figure deal for a food allergy cookbook are among five acquisitions signed by Collins ahead of the London Book Fair. Publishing director Iain MacGregor bought world rights in all... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 04/03/2011 - 10:14 Sceptre has signed a six-figure deal for two novels by debut author Jess Richards, including Snake Ropes, set on an island "off the edge of the map". Deputy publisher Jocasta Hamilton made the deal for UK and Commonwealth... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 14/02/2011 - 17:21 HarperCollins Childrens Books publishing director Helen Mackenzie Smith has bought her first books since joining the publisher from Random House earlier this year. She bought four books by picture author and illustrator Rachel... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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