Torva, an imprint of Transworld, has acquired Neurobollocks: Why Nearly Everything You Know About Your Brain Is Wrong by Dr Joseph Devlin.
Editorial director Lucy Oates pre-empted world all-language rights from Jack Fogg at DunnFogg in an eight-way auction, with Spanish rights to Paidós at Planeta. Torva will publish the book in Spring 2027.
Devlin is a leading figure in cognitive neuroscience, recognised for his research on language processing and consumer decision-making. He directs the Applied Consumer Neuroscience Lab at UCL, and works with organisations like Audible and National Rail to understand consumer behaviour through applied neuroscience.
Simon & Schuster UK has acquired Nightfaring: In Search of the Disappearing Darkness by Megan Eaves-Egenes. Assallah Tahir, Editorial Director, Adult Non-Fiction, pre-empted world exclusive NA rights from Jack Fogg.
NA rights were sold separately to Grand Central Publishing by Zoë Pagnamenta at Calligraph, on behalf of DunnFogg. The US editor is Morgan Spehar, and Nightfaring will be published in the UK and in the US and Canada in early 2026.
Bloomsbury has won a seven-way auction for Penny Lancaster’s autobiography, Someone Like Me.
Katy Follain, head of Bloomsbury General, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights through Jack Fogg at DunnFogg, working in collaboration with the author’s agent, Nicholas Young at Crawfords. The book will be available in a dyslexic-friendly format, and the audiobook will be voiced by the author. It publishes on 25th September.
Blink acquire historian and Antiques Roadshow presenter Steve Moore’s book, The Stuff of History for publication this autumn.
Century, an imprint of Penguin Random House, has triumphed in an eight-way auction for a “full-throttle” guide to cars from motor journalist Mat Watson. Ben Brusey, Century Publishing Director, bought world rights to Auto Biography: An A-Z of Cars from Jack Fogg at DunnFogg, on behalf of Richard Guy at Mat Watson Cars.
Faber has appointed Dr Emily MacGregor, a musicologist and cultural historian, broadcaster and author, as well as a visiting research fellow at King’s College London, as editor-at-large, classical music.
MacGregor appears regularly on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and has a forthcoming memoir on grief and music, While the Music Lasts: A Memoir of Music, Grief and Joy (September Publishing) publishing this year.
https://www.thebookseller.com/news/faber-appoints-emily-macgregor-as-classical-music-editor-at-large
Publisher Helen Conford acquired world rights from Ben Dunn at DunnFogg for publication in September 2025. Rights have also been sold in the US, Germany, Spain and a complex Chinese edition will be published in Taiwan in 2026.
With original artwork by Shrigley, How to Art aims to show how making art and looking at art can “be an enriching part of all our lives”.
Bryan said: “I have always wanted to write this book. I hope it offers an antidote to the academic and elitist structures that often keep people feeling on the outside looking in. Art is for everyone, it has been since the dawn of humankind, it’s time we took if back on our own terms!”
Shrigley added: “Kate’s mission to demystify art and to make it accessible to everyone is a noble undertaking and I am flattered that she chose my work to accompany it.”
Conford commented: “I love the humour, knowledge and spirit of inclusion and enjoyment that runs through How to Art. Unlike choosing the movies we like or the books we don’t, art retains a mysterious air. Here, it becomes something for everyone. I was delighted that Kate and David chose us as their partners for this mission.”
Mountain Leopard Press, an imprint of Headline, has scooped False Idols, a suspenseful novel about the wellness industry from actor and screenwriter Karla Marie Sweet.
The novel follows Sadie who becomes a member of Deep Flow, an exclusive wellness class, after a chance encounter with its magnetic leader, Lilith. As she becomes more embroiled in the world of Deep Flow, Sadie finds herself having to defend the community and insists it is not a cult. However, when the group comes under threat, she learns the cost of being part of Lilith’s inner circle.
Sweet has previously penned Another Life, an Audible Original originally published in September 2024. False Idols is her print debut.
The author commented: “The wellness industry has undoubtedly offered me so many valuable tools over the years but it’s also fraught with capitalism, cultural appropriation and false idols. There’s a lot to satirise and I hope readers see something massively recognisable as they delve deeper into the world that exists within this novel.”
Hutchinson Heinemann has acquired a celebration of London’s suburbs from Simon Pollock, the creator of the Instagram @londonsuburbia.
Publisher Helen Conford acquired world rights to I Love Suburbia at auction from Jack Fogg at the Dunn Fogg Agency, with Vanessa Phan as editor, following a two-way auction. The book will be published in September 2024.
Publisher and founder Hannah MacDonald bought UK and Commonwealth rights in an exquisitely written exploration of music and grief by broadcaster, journalist and musicologist Dr Emily MacGregor – to be published in hardback, audio and e-book in spring 2025.