Publishing party season
The HarperCollins summer party at the V&A
The sun has been shining, the publishing parties have been in full swing and we are now officially in summer mode. This week, the annual HarperCollins author gathering in the stunning John Madejski garden at the V&A was a highlight on a gloriously warm evening where we enjoyed cocktails, Cartier diamonds, canapes and some even took the opportunity to cool off in the museum’s paddling pool. We also had a high old time at the Guild of Food Writers get together at the Royal Institution, the Book Society party at the October Gallery and were so pleased to be at the Orwell Awards at Conway Hall where Mishal Husain’s BROKEN THREADS was shortlisted for the Non-Fiction prize.
There has been lots going on for our authors, as always. They have been speaking at festivals across the country with Mishal Husain, Ben Chu, Julie and Yeshi Jampa and Kathy Slack all hosting events at Hay. Rory Cellan-Jones, Louise Minchin and Adam Hart were treated like royalty up at Borders Festival and Sophie Grigson was over from Puglia to mark the paperback publication of EXPLODING TOMATOES. She and Mishal hosted events at the new Nevill Holt Book Festival which is running alongside the opera. Adam Hart spoke at the prestigious Chalke Valley History Festival where he shared a stage with Colin Bell who, at 104 year old, is the oldest surviving RAF veteran.
We celebrated the publication of Adam Hart’s debut OPERATION PIMENTO: MY GREAT GRANDFATHER’S GREAT ESCAPE with a packed party at the RAF club where it was easy to identify family members by the distinctive and distinguished eyebrows in the room. Further from home, Trine Hahnemann has been travelling around Scandinavia on a photography shoot for her forthcoming book but she flew over to London for a collaboration with Ole & Steen and to mark the publication of a new, updated edition of her much-loved EAT COPENHAGEN.
Our novelists have been hard at it too, with Emma Burstall’s BESIDE THE TURQUOISE SEA released last month and Molly Green’s new saga THE WARTIME LIBRARIAN’S SECRET going on sale in Tesco’s today (because it is a Fern Britton Picks title) ahead of official publication at the end of July.
We tend to avoid making new submissions once holiday season is upon us as it’s difficult to keep the interest and momentum going when editors and wider teams are away from desks. However, sometimes the timing is just too good for a new book idea and we reckon there is still time for a final submissions before we press pause.