We have all been glued to the news recently, with no doubt that everyone has been affected by what has been going on, including those in the book world. But every endeavour has been made to ensure that business here continues as normally as possible. And as these highlights show, the MM Community is as vibrant and busy as it’s ever been.

This stunning jacket for Kathryn Foxfield’s brilliantly creepy YA novel, Good Girls Die First, has been revealed and we absolutely love it. The novel is published in July by Scholastic.

We are completely over the moon that the hugely talented Poonam Mistry has been shortlisted for the prestigious CILIP Kate Greenaway novel for the second consecutive year in a row, this year for her stunning picture book, You’re Snug With Me (Lantana).

Jennifer Iacopelli’s wonderful YA novel, Break the Fall (Hodder Children’s) has been included in Buzzfeed‘s 10 YA Books To Rev You Up For The 2020 Olympics.

Clare Pooley’s gorgeous novel, The Authenticity Project (Pamela Dorman Books / Penguin Random House), hit No. 9 on the Canadian Globe and Mail bestseller lists this week – the equivalent to the UK Sunday Times and the US New York Times – an outstanding achievement.

Both Jane Healey’s The Animals at Lockwood Manor (Mantle / Macmillan) and Elizabeth Macneal’s The Doll Factory (Picador / Macmillan) were included in The Times bestseller list over the weekend. The Animals at Lockwood Manor was in at No. 5 in the Hardback Fiction chart, while The Doll Factory zoomed into the Top 3 in the Paperback Fiction charts.

We are delighted to announce that UK & Commonwealth rights to Inga Vesper’s stunning book club mystery debut, The Long, Long Afternoon, have sold to  Manilla Press / Bonnier Books in a two-book deal. It will be published in February 2021.

US copies of Ben Oliver’s dystopian YA novel, The Loop, landed this week…

Some hugely exciting publications happened this week, too.

Stephanie Wrobel’s The Recovery of Rose Gold was published in the US and Canada by Berkley / Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster Canada. Although Stephanie won’t be able to do her US tour due to recent events, she’s going to be doing a radio tour instead. Stay tuned for more details.

The Woman in the Mirror, Rebecca James’ spooky gothic novel, was published in the US by Minotaur Books.

Inky Willis’ fabulous middle grade novel, Scribble Witch, was published by Hachette Children’s.

Deborah O’Connor’s utterly gripping thriller, The Dangerous Kind, was published by Zaffre / Bonnier.

The third novel in Mel Sherratt’s twisty DS Grace Allendale series, Liar Liar, was published in paperback this week by Avon / HarperCollins.

The Best, Most Awful Job, a stunning collection of essays on motherhood which was curated and edited by Katherine May, and including pieces from agency authors Leah Hazard and Michelle Adams, was published by Elliot & Thompson. In place of a physical book launch, Katherine, Michelle and Leah took part in a virtual Twitter launch yesterday.

And on the publicity front…

The first review is in for Miranda Malins’ incredible historical debut, The Puritan Princess. Though we cannot announce who it was, they are a hugely influential in historical writing. What did they say? “I adored it!”

Danielle Jawando’s stunning YA novel, And the Stars Were Burning Brightly, was called by Tes  a “powerful novel about young person’s suicide”.

The audiobook for Hannah Tovey’s The Education of Ivy Edwards has been shaping up with a Chatterbox Q&A with Voice Actor Claire Morgan.

Abbie Greaves, whose stunning debut The Silent Treatment is published in April by Century / Penguin Random House, was named as The Media Eye’s rising star this week. They said: “Already attracting praise from best-selling author JoJo Moyes, who branded the novel ‘a remarkably assured debut which doesn’t go where you expect it to go’ and said ‘I very much look forward to seeing what she writes next’, it seems Abbie Greaves is set for some big things after The Silent Treatment’s April release.”

C.L. Taylor, whose brilliant new thriller, Strangers, is published on April 2nd by Avon / HarperCollins, will be holding a Facebook Live event for her launch at 8:30 on 02/04/2020. Register your attendance here.

And there’s still no stopping our international rights team…

Jane Healey’s The Animals at Lockwood Manor has gone to Oscar Fantastica in Italy.

The German cover for this wonderful novel has also been revealed… And it’s a beauty:

And Czech and Slovak rights Holly Bourne’s The Places I’ve Cried In Public have sold to Slovart.

It’s been an incredible week for the Agency, too!

Both Madeleine Milburn and Liane-Louise Smith have been shortlisted in separate categories for the British Book Awards 2020, or the “Nibbies” as they are known within the industry.

Madeleine Milburn has been shortlisted for the Literary Agent of the Year 2020, just two years on from claiming the coveted title in 2018. This year, the judges said: “Madeleine Milburn… had a best ever year for deals and big hits from authors… as well as keeping sales rolling for Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant.”

And equally as exciting is Liane-Louise Smith being shortlisted for Rights Professional of the Year 2020. The nomination stated: “Liane-Louise Smith is the sole literary agency pro on the shortlist. After joining at the start of 2019, she hit the ground running with committed [author] support… and grew international rights sales.”

And with more brilliant news from the Agency, our fabulous agent Catherine Cho‘s stunning memoir, Inferno, was published this week by Bloomsbury. Huge congratulations from everyone here, Catherine!

And in some slightly older news, our Book to Screen Agent, Hayley Steed, attended the Books at Berlinale event in Berlin in February, where she was presenting Clare Pooley’s stunning up-lit novel, The Authenticity Project to several hundred producers from all corners of the world. This week, a photo arrived of her in action:

And despite some of us working remotely, the MM Agency team is closer than ever with daily check ins and the occasional tea break, too.

And finally, for those of you who want to support local bookshops and keep reading in these uncertain times, there’s a brilliant website called Hive. When ordering from their website, you can choose a local bookshop which will receive a percentage of the revenue every time you buy a book. We need to look after each other as much as possible right now, and this is a very easy way of ensuring that the indies can continue to serve their communities as much as possible.

Have a wonderful weekend, and stay well.