Swift Press and Liveright, an imprint at Norton, are to publish the debut novel by writer and video game-designer Duncan Fyfe after publisher Mark Richards bought UK & Commonwealth rights from Jack Fogg at DunnFogg; US rights meanwhile were sold to Gina Iaquinta at Liveright in a six-figure deal through Alex Kane at Calligraph. Film, TV and theatre rights are being handled by Penelope Killick at The Artists Partnership. Henry Goodwolf will publish in spring 2028.
‘On a remote and windswept island off the coast of Scotland, a small community of Benedictine monks is being picked off, one by one, by a creature of the deep. Into the besieged priory arrives Henry Goodwolf, monster-hunter of legend and the monks’ last hope. But legends can be deceiving: Goodwolf is not the man, nor monster hunter, he is reputed to be, and the monks are not sure whether he will save them, damn them or lead them to their graves.’
Richards said: ‘Henry Goodwolf is a stylishly written and very funny novel about, at heart, two very different people – Brother Achardus, a pious and dithering priory chamberlain, and Henry Goodwolf, a thrillingly profane monster-hunter. Around this unlikely pair develops a brilliantly off-beat novel, set at a time when the line between reality and fancy was thin.’
Fyfe said: ‘I’m a big fan of medieval monks who had to illustrate manuscripts and bestiaries with creatures they had never seen and in some cases did not exist. Imagining from poems and songs what a lion might look like, they would draw a large and yellow man, nude and very hairy, with a long pink tongue. The image is farcical and yet a sincere representation of the most terrible horror that the minds of these men could then conceive.
‘With Henry Goodwolf, I wanted a novel that lived in that balance, where we find men of the Dark Ages at a time of crisis, not really getting it right but definitely trying their best. I am so thankful to Mark and Gina, and the brilliant teams at Swift and Liveright, for believing in this. I really look forward to working with them to bring Henry Goodwolf into the daylight.’
Gallery Books, Simon & Schuster UK, has acquired a new novel from Sunday Times bestseller and writer and performer Daisy May Cooper. Holly Harris, Managing Director, Adult Fiction, agreed the deal with Ben Dunn at DunnFogg on behalf of The Mason Sisters.
Mary’s husband unexpectedly leaves her after 45 years. At the same time, Emma finally finds the courage to do a runner from hers. For the first time in years, mother and daughter find themselves living under one roof in the Cornish fishing village of Polperro, along with eight-year-old Ivy (and her beloved stuffed giraffe, Tw*t).
They have returned to Mary’s childhood home after the recent death of her mother. But as they navigate their new lives and attempt to reconnect with one another, long-forgotten family truths begin to surface. Going home was never part of the plan; neither was digging up the past.
Her debut novel will publish on November 5th 2026.
https://www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/article-detail/daisy-may-cooper-signs-deal-with-gallery-uk/
Scribe has won a four-way auction to Jan Rosenow’s “urgent blueprint for post-fossil-fuel era”, Electrostates: How the Race to Electrify Will Redraw the World.
Editorial director Maria Bedford acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for the book from Ben Dunn in a four-way auction.
In Electrostates, Rosenow, a British-German professor of energy and climate policy at Oxford, argues that the only way to structurally break the link between global conflicts and rising energy prices is to stop burning fossil fuels and replace combustion with electrification, powered by clean electricity generated at home.
He argues that China is leading the charge in transitioning from being a ’petrostate’ to an ’electrostate’, and other states will be left behind if they don’t follow suit.
Rosenow draws on 20 years of advising governments to reveal why ending combustion changes everything, from industrial competitiveness and geopolitics to household energy security.
The Bodley Head has acquired Satoshi’s Secret: The Hunt for the Mysterious Inventor of Our New Financial Age by New York Times-bestselling author John Carreyrou.
Stuart Williams acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Jack Fogg at DunnFogg, on behalf of Eric Lupfer at Calligraph in New York and Boston. Hilary Redmon at Alfred A Knopf acquired US rights. Publication is expected in autumn 2028.
The synopsis says: “Satoshi’s Secret follows John Carreyrou’s blockbuster investigation for theNew York Times and tells the story of one of the great mysteries of our time – and how he solved it: the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin and of our new financial age. At the heart of this epic detective story – animated by mathematical geniuses, paranoid inventors, billionaires, con artists and corporate intrigues – are the origins of a $2.6 trillion industry; a mosaic of our epoch’s economic, political and cultural fracture; and the unmasking of one of the world’s richest people and one of the most significant inventors of this century, and arguably the last several.”
https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/the-bodley-head-acquires-john-carreyrous-satoshis-secret
Baskerville has acquired The Owl Carver, the debut crime novel by broadcaster and author Andrew Cotter, in a two-book deal.
Jade Chandler, publishing director at the John Murray Group imprint, acquired world rights in all languages from Jack Fogg at DunnFogg. Baskerville will publish The Owl Carver in hardback in February 2027.
The synopsis says: “The Owl Carver introduces private security contractor Cal Hannah as he travels to a remote fishing village in the far reaches of the Scottish Highlands. It’s the last place Cal wants to be. People come from Fasker, they rarely go back. But, returning for his twin brother’s funeral after an absence of 20 years, Cal has little choice…
https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/baskerville-snaps-up-andrew-cotters-crime-debut-the-owl-carver
Huge congratulations to Barnaby on having The Quiet shortlisted for the McDermid Debut Award, alongside five other writers. The award is announced on 23rd July, at the Harrogate Crime Festival.
Baskerville has snapped up a new Elizabethan-set crime series by Nick Beckett.
Publishing director Jade Chandler acquired world rights all languages in a two-book deal struck with Jack Fogg of DunnFogg Literary Agency, with the first in the series – The Book of Martyrs – set for publication in spring 2027. The US rights were acquired by Claiborne Hancock at Pegasus.
The Book of Martyrs introduces “semi-reformed thief” Kate Mayfield and her uncle, the “notorious astrological physician” Simon Mayfield, who is inspired by the real-life historical figure Simon Forman, whose life the author researched for his PhD in Renaissance literature and culture.
The Indigo Press signs Alison Hastie’s history of her shoemaking collective she founded in 1981. Publisher Susie Nicklin acquired world rights to Green Shoes: Forty Years of a Radical Women’s Craft Collective from Jack Fogg at DunnFogg.
The book tells the story of Hastie’s upbringing in the 1980s, knowing she was different from the conventional young people around her. The synopsis continues: “One night, a voice spoke to her in a dream, telling her to ‘make shoes’, and this is how she spent 40 years of her working life. Living on Dartmoor, travelling between the countercultural town of Totnes and the surrounding villages, Alison made a home and a life for herself based on the principles of second-wave feminism, the idea that small is beautiful and a deep, immersive commitment to craft and the collective ideal.
LEAP, an imprint at Bonnier Books UK that focuses on inspiring and informing positive change, has acquired Built from Pain by Klaus Mitchell.
Editorial director George Brooker pre-empted world all language rights from Jack Fogg.
Built from Pain is a “groundbreaking” guide to transforming chronic pain into strength and purpose by journalist and campaigner Klaus Mitchell. The book draws on cutting-edge neuroscience, patient stories and two decades of Mitchell’s lived experience to reframe “one of the world’s most misunderstood conditions” and offer readers a “compassionate, practical road map” for anyone living with persistent pain.
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.