It’s been a hugely exciting week on the UK & US deal front. But first, we’re kicking things off with a cover reveal.

The stunning cover for Nuala Ellwood’s new psychological thriller, The House on the Lake has been revealed and it’s just gorgeous. The novel is due for publication in February next year by Penguin Random house / Viking.

UK & Commonwealth rights to Emma Stonex’s stunning debut literary novel, The Lamplighters was snapped up at auction by Macmillan / Picador, to be published as a super-lead title in Spring 2021. US rights sold to Penguin Random House / Viking, and Canadian rights were acquired by HarperCollins Canada. Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Lithuanian and Portuguese (SA) rights have been sold across the world, and as of this week, Hungarian rights have sold to General Press / Lira, Bulgarian rights to Labyrinth and Romanian rights to RAO. The story is based on the true story of three lighthouse keepers who disappeared from their remote posting off the coast of Cornwall.

UK & Commonwealth rights to Katherine Faulkner’s debut psychological thriller Greenwich Park have sold to Bloomsbury / Raven Books in a four-way auction. Exploring grief and female friendships, set in the leafy suburbs of Greenwich Park, US & Canadian were soon snapped up, too. US rights sold to Simon & Schuster / Gallery Books, and Canadian rights went to Simon & Schuster Canada.

UK & Commonwealth rights to Jodie Chapman’s “astonishing” debut novel, Another Life, following Nick who falls in love with the passionate and strictly religious Anna, have sold to Penguin Random House / Michael Joseph. Further rights have sold to Mondadori in Italy and Penguin Random House/ Suma in Spain, and it is currently at auction in Germany.

Kate Weston’s hilarious Young Adult novel, Diary of a Teenage Feminist has sold to Hachette Children’s. The story follows Kat, who is desperately trying to achieve her goals, whilst also trying to figure out how to be a good feminist.

Three books in Jordan Kopy’s debut middle grade series have sold to Walker. The first book in the series, Theodora Hendrix and the Monstrous League of Monsters, tells the story of Theodora and her somewhat unusual family…

All four of million copy bestselling author Teresa Driscoll’s thrillers, The Promise, The Friend, I Am Watching You and I Will Make You Pay were ranking in the Kindle Top 100 this week – a phenomenal feat!

Mark Edwards received a stunning endorsement from Ian Rankin this week for his newly published novel, Here To Stay. Ian said:

Rona Halsall’s brilliant thriller, The Honeymoon was ranking at No.1 in Amazon’s “Psychological Thrillers” category in Australia this week, and at No.4 in the overall charts!  Huge congratulations, Rona.

Sarah Hagger-Holt’s brilliant middle-grade novel, Nothing Ever Happens Here was featured as “One to Watch” in The Bookseller this week.

As reported in The Bookseller, we’re absolutely thrilled to announce that the brilliant Catherine Cho will be starting at the Agency as of next week! Starting on 22nd October, Catherine will oversee the digital rights strategy, while building a list of fiction and non-fiction. You can submit to her via the usual channels.

Madeleine Milburn, Liane-Louise Smith, Georgina Simmonds and Hayley Steed flew over to Frankfurt this week to pitch to editors from across the world, holding a total of 162 meetings across five days. We’ll have a full round up of events soon.