Simon & Schuster has swooped for The Other People, a high-concept gothic thriller from C B Everett, the pseudonym for Martyn Waites. Deputy publishing director Katherine Armstrong acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada and EU rights, in a two-book deal from James Wills at Watson, Little. US rights sold to Lara Jones at Atria Books, Simon & Schuster US. The Other People will be published in the UK on 10th April 2025. “Martyn’s high-concept take on the classic country house mystery had me hooked from page one with its brilliant puzzle plot, singular wi ..read more

Atlantic Fiction has nabbed The Kings Head, a “swaggering debut of conflict and camaraderie” by Kelly Frost, about a London gang known as the “Teddy Girls”. Joanna Lee acquired world rights from Ciara McEllin at Watson, Little while she was at Atlantic, and the book will be published in hardback on 6th February 2025 by James Roxburgh, the publishing director for Atlantic Fiction. “It’s 1957 and the Kings—Harry, Tony, Saint, the most fearless girls in N4—rule the bomb-struck streets of Finsbury Park,” the synopsis says. “The war is over but the real battle’s just begun, as Harry, the ..read more

The awards are curated by independent bookshops, and run as part of Independent Bookshop Week (IBW), which is organised by the Booksellers Association from 15th-22nd June. They celebrate the best paperbacks of the summer across fiction, non-fiction, children’s fiction and picture books. Winner of the Children’s Fiction category is Safiyyah’s War (Andersen Press) by Hiba Noor Khan, described as an extraordinary novel set in occupied Paris which finds a girl engaged in dangerous resistance work after her father is arrested by the Nazis. The Picture Book prize went to The Dress in ..read more

Hiba Noor Khan has been announced as the winner of the Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize for Safiyyah’s War (Andersen Press). The winner was announced on Thursday 30th May 2024 at a ceremony held at the British Library. She was awarded £1,000 and received a work of art created by Yousef Saif, as part of the ongoing Jhalak Art Residency. Khan’s Safiyyah’s War is set in Paris during the Second World War, and was described as “an exquisitely written, hopeful, and necessary book for these impossibly difficult times”. Singh added: “Hiba Noor Khan’s Safiyyah’s War is an ..read more

Headline has acquired Toxic: Tackling ‘Razor’ and Finding the Real Me, a memoir from ex-footballer Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock. Consultant sports publisher Jonathan Taylor acquired world English language rights from James Wills at Watson, Little on behalf of Ben Thomas at Giant. The memoir, which “tells the story of how Ruddock faced the battle of his life: to become a different person”, will be published on 10th October 2024. Toxic charts Ruddock’s journey of self-destruction, the publisher says: a path littered  with food addiction, plummeting self-confidence and a dangerous relatio ..read more

Dialogue Books has acquired Diana McCaulay’s A House for Miss Pauline — a book about ownership, land and identity. Editorial director Hannah Chukwu acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Laetitia Rutherford at Watson, Little in an exclusive submission, and US rights have been sold to Betsy Gleick at Algonquin Books. Publication is scheduled for February 2025. “Written in patwa-inflected prose, A House for Miss Pauline tells the story of Miss Pauline, a woman living in rural Jamaica who builds herself a house from the stone ruins of a plantation,” the synopsis says. “But ..read more

Head of Zeus has snapped up Ring of Fire: A New People’s History of the World at War, 1914 by military historians, broadcasters and battlefield guides Alex Churchill and Nicolai Eberholst. Iain MacGregor, publishing director for non-fiction, acquired world rights from Donald Winchester of Watson Little. The book will be published in hardback, trade paperback, audiobook and e-book in the summer of 2025. “Using access to an enormous quantity of primary material largely untouched by general histories, the authors will tell the story of 1914 with verve, empathy, and an eye on presenting ..read more

As we look forward to the winter holiday, we’ve been chatting in the office about our favourite books this year and what we are looking forward to reading over the festive period! What will you be reading over the break? James: I’ll be reading a graphic novel called THE KILLER by Matz and artist Luc Jacamon. It has just been made into a TV series directed by David Fincher, so once I’ve finished reading, I’ll be watching that. Megan: I am excited to dive in to WELCOME TO THE HYUNAM-DONG BOOKSHOP by Hwang Bo-Reum over the break, as well as finishing SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE by Tia Williams. I wa ..read more

Pan Macmillan has acquired world rights to journalist and podcaster Andrew Gold’s debut book, The Psychology of Secrets: My Adventures With Murderers, Cults and Influencers. Originally snapped up by Pan Macmillan’s Matthew Cole from Donald Winchester at Watson Little, it will be published by editor Ause Abdelhaq in April 2024. As well as being an award-winning documentarian, Gold is the host of popular podcast “Heretics”, which features unconventional guests who have battled with social contagion. His fans started to send him increasingly intense secrets involving betrayal, fraud and eve ..read more

This week, we interviewed long standing literary agent Mandy Little.  Mandy joined what was then Bolt & Watson in 1981 and the agency became Watson, Little in 1983, taking Mandy and Sheila Watson’s names. Mandy was a fulltime agent for over 33 years, and represented a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction authors. She still works part-time, and remains the chairman of Watson, Little. It’s been fascinating to hear from her about her life as a literary agent, and how she feels publishing has changed over the years.   What was your journey to becoming a literary agent? I started ..read more