We are over the moon to share that Fourth Estate acquired the rights to Yomi Adegoke’s timely, daring and hugely addictive debut novel, The List.
After a fierce eleven-way auction, editorial director Kishani Widyaratna secured rights to The List from Hayley Steed in an exciting two-book deal. Meanwhile, US rights went to Jessica Williams at William Morrow in an aggressive pre-empt that will see both of the HarperCollins imprints publishing The List as a super-lead title in 2023. Translation rights have also already sold in pre-empt or at auction in Croatia, Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, and Romania.
This debut novel by the award-winning journalist and best-selling co-author of Slay in Your Lane, is a sensational, page-turning story about secrets, lies and our lives on the internet and is already taking the publishing industry by storm:
Ola Olajide, a high-profile journalist at Womxxxn magazine, is preparing to marry the love of her life in one month’s time. Young, beautiful, successful – she and her fiancé are the ‘couple goals’ of their social networks and seem to have it all. That is, until one morning when they both wake up to the same message: ‘Oh my god, have you seen The List?’
Offering a nuanced and daring exploration of the real-world impact of online life and anonymity that will be hotly debated by readers, The List is perfect for fans of Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid, My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell and Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You. For those who simply cannot wait, The List is already available to preorder online via Waterstones and Amazon.
Kishani Widyaratna said: ‘Wildly entertaining, fiercely clever, sharply satirical and dazzlingly clear-sighted, The List throws our contemporary society and its morally complicated internet culture into stark relief. Yomi pulls this all off with such exceptional style and flair that it blew all of us at 4th Estate away. This is a sensational debut novel with important things to say, and we couldn’t be prouder to publish it and Yomi Adegoke.’
Yomi Adegoke said: ‘Being able to continue my publishing journey as I move into fiction where it began, with 4th Estate, is truly a dream come true. The industry response to the novel has already knocked me for six and it has been a joy to see such conversation generated around it before release. I’m so excited for readers to meet Ola, Michael, their friends, their foes and everyone in-between in The List!’
Steed, who turned down multiple significant pre-empts within 24 hours of submission, said: ‘I’ve never seen a reaction quite like the response we had to Yomi’s debut, and it couldn’t be more deserved. The List is a whip-smart, decade-defining piece of fiction – a book you immediately want to recommend and discuss with everyone you know. 4th Estate showed incredible vision and ambition for Yomi’s novel and I can’t wait for publication next summer.’
Yomi Adegoke is a multi-award-winning journalist and author. She is currently a columnist at the Guardian and British Vogue. She has written for the Sunday Times, Independent, Stylist and the New Statesman, among others, and was the host of the Women’s Fiction Prize podcast. In 2018, she co-wrote the bestselling book Slay In Your Lane and in the same year was named one of the most influential people in London by the Evening Standard. She is a recipient of the Groucho Maverick award and a Marie Clare Future Shaper award, and in 2021 she was named one of Forbes 30 under 30. Congratulations, Yomi, on such a thrilling start to your fiction-writing career!
Image photographer: Mollana Burke
