The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle continues to collect more right sales, in the last week securing deals with Modernista in Sweden and Slovensky in Slovakia. 

​It was announced last week that client Jennifer Lucy Allan has been brought on as co-host on BBC Radio 3’s Night Tracks and Late Night Junction respectively.
 
The announcement comes as part of BBC Radio 3’s new autumn / winter programming alongside its schedule changes, new programmes and presenter signings.
 
Alan Davey, Controller of BBC Radio 3, said “We want Radio 3 to be a haven where listeners can come to take time out from today’s often-frenetic world and discover something new and follow it in depth.”
 
Jen has been a regular host on the show, however the move sees the role become a more permanent position. Congratulations, Jen!

​The Cliff House by Amanda Jennings is sitting pretty in the Heatseekers Chart for the fifth week running, Yes, that’s right - FIFTH! 

​Kobo are laying on a brilliant Tech Fiction & Thrillers Sale and alongside all the fabulous titles are JD Fennell’s SFF espionage WW2 thrillers, Sleeper and Sleeper: The Red Storm. Joining those are Paul Burston’s gripping psychological thriller The Closer I Get. All three are available for only 99p! You can download your copy by clicking on the titles above.

​While we’re on the subject of JD Fennell’s Sleeper series, we’d like to say a hearty, and much-deserved, congratulations on his shortlisting for the Wilbur Niso Smith Adventure Writing Prize, which took place last week.
 
It was a fabulous evening and we were all terribly proud of what this author has managed to achieve in just a couple of short years. 

​The finalists for the 2019 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have been revealed.
 
The competition, curated and judged by DHH clients Paul Joynson Hicks and Tom Sullam, celebrates funny animal antics and comic scenes of wildlife. To see the full announcement, click here.
 
Alongside this, we saw the cover for the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Vol.3 revealed to the world and we’re not saying** we spent a good portion of the afternoon guffawing at its contents, but we easily could have done.
 
This rib-tickling book will be out on 3rd October 2019 and is available to pre-order now.
 
** we are definitely saying that

​Finally, we can finally show you the cover for Andrew Ewart’s forthcoming debut novel Forget Me (which we are SO excited about). 

​Your partner has had mysterious accident, leaving them with no memory.
 
They don’t remember anything: how you met, your first kiss, not even your wedding day.
 
An experimental medical treatment promises a cure. A chance to relive the memories.
 
Going through it might bring you back together.
 
But discovering the truth about the accident will tear you apart.
 
Do you walk away?
 
Or open Pandora’s box?
 
This achingly clever speculative psych thriller will be published in February 2020 by Orion but you can get ahead of the game and pre-order your copy here.

We’d like to kick this week’s news round-up with a delightful new signing. Welcome to DHH Literary Agency, Pen Avey!
 
Pen has joined Hannah Sheppard’s list and will be working with her on her debut novel.
 
You can find Pen on Twitter @PenAveyAuthor.

There were four DHH clients with books out last week:

• Bloodchild, the long-awaited final instalment of the Godblind trilogy by Anna Stephens
• Her Sister’s Secret by Eve Seymour, a tantalisingly twisty psychological thriller
• One Perfect Family by Anna Jacobs, an uplifting saga novel which is the fourth in the Ellindale series
• Death on the Rive Nord by Adrian Magson (eBook), which is the second in the Inspector Lucas Rocco series, the rights for which have been acquired by the Dome Press, and re-released complete with a re-edited text and newly designed cover

​With just under two months to go until the publication of Anita Frank’s debut The Lost Ones, we were thrilled to see this fantastic pre-pub quote from Kate Riordan, author of The Girl In the Photograph, The Stranger and The Shadow Hour.
 
“This is a proper gothic ghost story I really enjoyed… It’s full of atmosphere and properly creepy at times.”
 
It has also been revealed that with a release of 31st October, The Lost Ones will be Goldsboro Books’ Book of the Month for November. You can pre-order your signed first edition right here.

​Also wracking up the awesome pre-pub quotes is David Wragg’s forthcoming fantasy debut The Black Hawks (Articles of Faith: Book 1):
 
“Wragg captures the classic fantasy spirit of adventure and exploration, wraps it with stabbed backs and cannibals and gifts it to you on a bed of action.”
Ed McDonald, author of Blackwing
 
“Everyone loves a good mercenary tale, but The Black Hawks offers more besides: a protagonist who’s refreshingly rubbish at fighting, a supporting cast who’d be fascinating if they were just standing around in a supermarket, and an author who knows when to dodge clichés, and when to jump in and splash like a kid in a puddle.”
Nate Crowley, author of 100 Best Video Games (That Never Existed)
 
“Check out The Black Hawks - it’s full of fun characters, mercenary antics, twists, turns, and contains my favourite fantasy lemon.”
Peter Newman, Gemmell Award-winning author of The Vagrant and The Deathless
 
“A remarkably assured debut… I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
Anna Stephens, author of Godblind
 
“A an extraordinary debut that is as humorous as it is dark… Wragg has a winner on his hands here. Highly recommended.”
James Tivendale, Grimdark Magazine
 
“Highly recommend this book, it’s great fun and really fast.”
Robin Carter, Parmenion Books
 
This already-highly acclaimed book will be out on 3rd October (pre-order here).

​We are delighted to finally be able to shout about the news that Eve Smith’s debut The Waiting Rooms has struck a deal with Orenda Books!
 
The Waiting Rooms takes place in the very near future where an antibiotic crisis has led to widespread death and a population in peril.
 
The debut was bought as part of a two-book deal, negotiated by Harry Illingworth.
 
To read more about the book and its acquisition, click here.

​We’ve got a couple of exciting cover reveals for you this week:

• Christmas In Peppercorn Street (Peppercorn Series: Book 5) by Anna Jacobs (October 2019)

 
Christmas is approaching but the mood on Peppercorn Street is anything but jolly. Claire is convinced her stalker ex will catch up with her and her young daughter, and Luke is finding that living with his estranged teenage daughter brings its own problems.
 
When a road accident bring them together, Luke impulsively offers them shelter in his home. Will this Christmas give them the best present of all: a new family? Or will Claire’s ex again cause trouble?

• Remember Me by Amy McLellan (November 2019)

 
Last night my sister was murdered. The police think I killed her.
 
I was there. I watched the knife go in. I saw the man who did it.
 
And heard him laugh because he knows he’ll never get caught.
 
He knows I have prosopagnosia - I can’t recognise faces.
 
And if I don’t find the man who killed my sister, I’ll be found guilty of murder.

​We’ve got some excellent eBook deals for you thanks to the good folk over at Kindle and Kobo respectively.
 
Phillipa Ashley’s Confetti at the Cornish Café and her alter-ego Ashley Croft’s The Love Solution are only 99p in the USA on Kindle for the entire month of September.
 
Also included in the September Kindle Monthly Deal are a plethora of Anna Jacobs titles:
The Honeyfield Bequest (£1.19)
Bay Tree Cottage (99p)
Elm Tree Road (£1.19)
Moving On (99p)
Cinnamon Gardens (£1.19)
 
Finally, in the September Kindle Monthly Deal are three of Ragnar Jónasson’s bestselling Dark Iceland series books:
Night Blind (99p)
White Out (99p)
Rupture (99p)
 
Over at Kobo, you can snap up Adrian Magson’s sixth Inspector Lucas Rocco book, Rocco and the Price of Lies for only 99p in their ’99 for 99p’ sale, running from 5th - 18th September.
 
You can buy your copy of all the books mentioned by clicking on the titles above.
 
As the autumnal nights draw in, and the temptation to snuggle up on the sofa under a blanket becomes increasingly impossible to resist, these are the perfect additions to your eReader.

Quick shout-out to client JD Fennell, whose book Sleeper: The Red Storm is shortlisted for the Wilbur Niso Smith Award for Best Published Novel 2019 - the winner is announced this week - good luck, JD, we’ll be there front and centre cheering you on!

Finally, we’d like to remind you all that our submissions for Pitch DHH: Liverpool are still open and we can’t wait to read your work!
 
If you’re a budding writer, have a story you’re working on, and would like feedback on, then why don’t you apply?? Click here for more info and instructions.
 
Good luck!

Orenda Books has snapped up Eve Smith's debut thriller in a two-book deal. 

Karen Sullivan, publisher of Orenda Books, acquired world English language rights for The Waiting Rooms and a second book, with the working title Off Target, in a two-book deal, negotiated with Harry Illingworth of DHH Literary Agency. The Waiting Rooms will be published in July 2020.

The Waiting Rooms, described by Sullivan as a "stunning piece of speculative fiction" by Sullivan, takes place in the very near future where an antibiotic crisis has led to widespread death and a population in peril. 

"Routine operations, even cancer treatment and Caesarean sections, are no longer possible and a simple scratch can be fatal. No one over 40 is allowed antibiotics, and if they become ill, they are sent to the ‘Waiting Rooms’ … ostensibly hospitals with no treatment," the synopsis reads. "There they can choose to have their lives terminated or suffer their infection and face inevitable death. A second plot line focuses on a nurse’s post-crisis search for her birth mother, which leads to a startling revelation that puts her family in danger."

Smith said: "I am so excited to be working with someone of Karen’s calibre on my debut novel The Waiting Rooms. I wanted to pitch normal family life into the aftermath of a real world crisis and, with the World Health Organisation predicting ten million deaths a year from antibiotic-resistant infections by 2050, I decided that scenario was one of the scariest. My near-future world, which legislates against the over-seventies in order to keep antibiotic resistance at bay, explores some controversial attitudes to old age and dying, inspired by my own family’s experiences."

Sullivan said: "At once a powerful page-turner, a devastatingly moving portrait of motherhood and old age, a shocking vision of our unquestionably uncertain future, and an exquisitely evocative and atmospheric journey to the wilds of South Africa, this is an eye-opening read and a simply stunning piece of speculative fiction.

"We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Eve to the team, and her wonderful debut showcases her passion, exceptional talent and impeccable research in a thriller that leaves us simultaneously breathless, terrified and wiser. The Waiting Rooms is the perfect fit for our growing list, and I feel honoured to publish this book."

Illingworth added: "I couldn’t be happier that Eve’s incredibly timely, and indeed terrifying, novel will be published by Orenda. Portraying a future that is all too believable, I believe readers will really connect with this beautifully written and moving story, and can’t wait to see it published with the passion and drive that Karen has built such a reputation around."

Taken from The Bookseller article | Katie Mansfield

We’re beginning our news roundup this week with a very exciting cover reveal…
 
The Mist is the third in the Hidden Iceland series, by Ragnar Jónasson, featuring DI Hulda Hermansdoöttir.
 
1987. An isolated farm house in the east of Iceland.
 
The snowstorm should have shut everybody out. But it didn’t.
 
The couple should never have let him in. But they did.
 
An unexpected guest, a liar, a killer. Not all will survive the night. And Detective Hulda will be haunted forever.
 
This instalment in this fantastic series, reminiscent of Agatha Christie, with a Scandinavian twist, follows The Darkness and The Island and will be published in April 2020 by Michael Joseph. Pre-order your copy here.

Also revealed this week was the cover for Wartime for the Shop Girls, the second book in the warm and uplifting A Store At War series by Joanna Toye. 

Following the first book (of the same name as the series), once again we follow shop girl Lily Collins as she attempts to navigate her new role at Marlow's department store in the height of WW2. 

It’s 1942 and as shortages of staff – and goods – begin to bite, young Lily Collins is thrilled to step up to sales junior in her job at Marlow’s department store.

But bombs are still falling and Lily and fellow shop girls Gladys and Beryl need a stiff upper lip to wave boyfriends, husbands and brothers goodbye, especially with a baby on the way and grim news on the wireless. When Jim, who works with Lily at the store, seems restless, things are bad enough, but nothing can prepare Lily for the secrets that come tumbling out when her favourite brother comes home on leave…

Somehow, she must keep smiling through. Community, family and friends rally round as her home town – and the whole country – is tested once again.

The eBook will be available in October 2019, and the paperback in January 2020 from HarperCollins. 

​Janie Millman, author of romantic comedies Life’s A Drag and Sky’s the Limit (The Dome Press) was featured in last week’s French paper Le Resistant.
 
Her rib-tickling stories have gained fans all over the world (including novelist Armistead Maupin, as shown below!) and we cannot recommend these books enough. 

Allow us to tell you a bit more about them:
 
Life’s A Drag (The Dome Press, February 2017, £8.99 RRP)
Roz and Jamie have moved to leafy Suffolk from London in search of a quiet life so it is a surprise to find that the village is embarking on its riotous annual drag competition.
 
Fuelled by large quantities of alcohol and ubiquitous community spirit, they soon find themselves caught up in a battle for the identity of the village itself.
 
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Drew is fighting his own battle to save his club and the livelihoods of his closest friends. Though they seem worlds apart, it soon becomes clear that appearances are not everything and that sometimes human connections can surprise us. A heart-warming, romantic comedy.

Congratulations to Amanda Jennings whose The Cliff House is standing strong at No.1 in the Heatseekers Chart for a second week!
 
We love this haunting tale of friendship and the secrets kept within even the strongest of bonds.
 
Praise for The Cliff House:
 
“Haunting and evocative.” Clare Mackintosh
 
“A beautiful, stirring story of loss and obsession.” Lisa Jewell
 
“Absorbingly atmospheric… beautiful and sinister.” The Times
 
“A very special and utterly unforgettable tale of obsession, desire, grief and deceit - read it.” Heat
 
If you’ve yet to get your hands on this gorgeous book (seriously, where have you been?), you can buy a copy by clicking this link. 

​Washington Poe continues to go global! M.W. Craven’s The Puppet Show has been sold to Spring in Taiwan, and Black Summer, its follow-up to Ikar in Slovakia. The Puppet Show has now been sold in over nine territories, and Black Summer, hot on its heels with over five territories under its belt. 

The cover for Death On the Rive Nord, the second in the Inspector Lucas Rocco series by Adrian Magson, was revealed last week.
 
A truck drops a group of illegal workers by a deserted stretch of canal in the dead of night near Poissons-les-Marais, desperate travellers in a pipeline, searching for a better life.
 
Days later, one of them surfaces, stabbed to death.
 
For Inspector Lucas Rocco, finding the victim’s fellow travellers presents problems. Most Algerian immigrants are welcome, but trawling for any who aren’t is a sensitive issue loaded with threats of civil unrest, something which terrifies his bosses in the Ministry. And when Rocco is ordered to stay away from one factory, where he suspects illegals are being employed, it goes against everything he knows.
 
However, his difficulties have barely begun. One of the illegals is a young woman with a small child, on the run from her brutal husband, Samir Farek, an Algerian gangster who has threatened to kill them both. But Farek has another, bigger agenda: to take over as gang lord in Paris. With a history of disposing with anyone who crosses him - a fate he is happy to mete out even to a senior policeman who gets in his way - the potential consequences are frightening.
 
Caught between his instinct to protect a vulnerable woman and her child, of obeying bosses interested only in preserving the status quo, and facing the threat of a dangerous gangster who recognises no boundaries in the murderous pursuit of his plans, Rocco begins to wonder how long he can survive.
 
The Dome Press will be publishing this superb detective novel, set in 1960s Picardie, France, on 06/09/19 (pre-order here) complete with a revised text and brand new cover. 

Congratulations to client Anna Jacobs, whose next book, A Daughter’s Journey was published last week. This is the first in her new Birch End series, and follows Australian Jo Melling as she attempts to navigate a new life in England. Buy your copy here.
 
Also published last week was Julie Caplin’s next Romantic Escapes book, The Secret Cove In Croatia. If you’re yet to go on your summer holidays, these books are the perfect accompaniment. Get your copy here.

We’re over the moon for client Rachel Trezise, whose play Cotton Fingers, won the Summerhall Lustrum Award for Excellence at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. 

​Copies of R.C. Bridgestock’s Snow Kills, the fourth in the DI Jack Dylan series, have landed here at DHH and we are so excited to see these beauties out in the wild, come 4th October 2019. It is available to pre-order now and is a fully revised new edition rocking a very snappy new cover.
 
Poetic Justice, the prequel to the DI Jack Dylan series is in Kobo’s Summer Beach Reads promo, with the focus theme of ‘Adventure’. The promo ends tomorrow (Wednesday 28th August) so act now to get your copy!

Paul Burston appeared in the Hastings Observer last week, to talk about his new novel The Closer I Get and the frightening real-life experience that inspired the psychological thriller. 

​DHH agent Hannah Sheppard gave an interview to The Darling Axe, which details her wishlist and some fantastic advice to writers thinking of going out on submissions with the novel. If you count yourself as in this bracket, have a read here.

Finally, we’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that submissions for our next #PitchDHH opened yesterday. Following the success of our pitching events in London and York, we have decided to go on the road again, and this time we’re hitting Liverpool!
 
We will be meeting with the chosen pitchers on Saturday 7th December at a location in the city centre of Liverpool.
 
If your novel is ready for submissions, please click this link to find out how to send your work in. Good luck!

​We’d like to kick off this week’s newsletter with the very exciting news that we are partnering with Capital Crime to launch the New Voices scheme - a new competition to help undiscovered crime and thriller authors further their writing careers.
 
Everyone who buys a ticket to attend Capital Crime in September this year, will be able to read your entry and vote for their favourite. The ten entrants who get the most votes will be revealed on Thursday 19th September, and the winner, judged by the Capital Crime team from the top ten entries, will be announced at Capital Crime’s opening night cocktail party on Thursday 26th September to the readers, agents and publishers in attendance.
 
Entries cost £10 and close at midnight GMT on Wednesday 18th September 2019.
 
The winner will receive a trophy and £250.
 
To find out more and submit your entry, please visit this page on the Capital Crime website.
 
Good luck!

Client Jennifer Lucy Allan hosted three episodes of BBC Radio 3’s Late Night Junction last week:

• On Tuesday 13th August, the episode focused on Japanese avant-folk and new Malian music
• On Wednesday 14th August, listeners were treated to sounds of the hurdy-gurdy, a stringed instrument that produces sound by a hand crank-turned wheel rubbing against the strings
• Finally, on Thursday 15th August, Jennifer sat down with Meredith Monk, composer and pioneer of extended vocal technique.

 
You can catch up with each episode by clicking on the dates above.

​Phillipa Ashley’s (as Ashley Croft) new book The Love Solution was released as an eBook last week and currently, it is at the staggeringly low price of only 99p on both Kobo and Kindle.
 
Sisters Sarah and Molly are close, but they couldn’t be more different. Sarah makes jewellery and is obsessed with all things shiny and glam, whilst Molly is most at home in her white coat and goggles, working in a science lab.
 
When Molly is put on a new assignment, she’s over the moon. It’s an important, top-secret project - and she has a handsome new boss to ogle when she’s not staring into a petri dish…
 
But when Sarah finds herself on the painful end of a disastrous break-up, no amount of Ben & Jerry’s or trashy rom-coms can cheer her up. She wants to take a more drastic approach to dealing with her heartbreak, and the one that only her sister - and perhaps a sprinkle of science - can help with…
 
Is love really a chemistry? Or will Sarah get more than she bargained for?
 
This is the perfect rom-com to download on to your eReader this summer. The paperback will be released on 17th October 2019.

Janie Millman’s hilariously romantic Sky’s the Limit, Jules Wake’s From Rome With Love and Keris Stainton’s One Italian Summer are all included in Kobo’s Summer Beach Reads, the focus this week being ‘Romantic Comedies and Romance Abroad’. If you’re still looking for books to pack your eReader with, we can’t recommend these fab titles enough! Click on the title to take you straight to the deal.

Keris Stainton’s The Bad Mother’s Book Club has been selected by Marie Claire Australia as one of their ‘Must-Read Books of the Moment’. It is in tremendous company, with Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women, The Subject by Sarah Hopkins and See What You Made Me Do by Jess Hill.
 
Already a bestseller, the book introduces you to Emma, the new Mum on the block…
 
Since moving to the Liverpudlian seaside after her husband’s career change, her life consists of the following: long walks on the beach (with the dog), early nights (with the kids) and Netflix (no chill).
 
Bored and lonely, when Emma is cordially invited to the exclusive cool school-mums’ book club, she thinks her luck may finally be about to change. But she soon finds the women of the club aren’t quite what they seem - and after an unfortunate incident involving red wine and a white carpet, she finds herself unceremoniously kicked out.
 
The answer? Start her own book club - for bad mothers who just want to drink wine and share stories. But will this town let two book clubs exist? Or is there only room for one queen of the school gates…?

​Finally, we’d like to give a huge shout out to our client Luke Turner, shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize 2019 for his debut non-fiction memoir Out of the Woods.
 
The winner was announced on the 15th August, and although Luke didn’t scoop the Prize itself, we are immensely proud of our superb, talented client. He was interviewed by Countryfile for BBC Radio and you can catch up here.
 
Out of the Woods is a searingly honest, fierce and highly original work on sexuality, shame and the lure of the trees.

We are delighted to be partnering with Capital Crime to run an exciting new competition to help undiscovered crime and thriller authors further their writing careers.

Everyone who buys a ticket to attend Capital Crime will be able to read your entry and vote for their favourite. The ten entrants who get the most votes will be revealed on Thursday 19th September, and the winner, judged by the Capital Crime team from the top ten entries, will be announced at Capital Crime's opening night cocktail party on Thursday 26th September to the readers, agents and publishers in attendance. 

Entries cost £10 and close at midnight GMT on Wednesday 18th September 2019.

The winner will receive a trophy and £250.

To find out more and submit your entry, please visit this page on the Capital Crime website.

Good luck!

The Cliff House by Amanda Jennings has been selected as a Fern Britton pick for Tesco. The exclusive edition is now available in your local Tesco complete with Q&A and Book Club questions!

Brian McGilloway’s new standalone novel, The Last Crossing, has been bought by The Dome Press. The book begins 30 years ago, when four friends entered woodland near Glasgow; only three of them returned. A lifetime later the same three friends meet again, to return to the woods to see where they buried their friend. The Last Crossing is due for publication in spring 2020.

Congratulations to Erin Green, whose brand new novel New Beginnings At Rose Cottage was published last week.
 
When solo travellers Benni, Emma and Ruth find themselves holidaying together at charming Rose Cottage in Brixham, Devon, they are initially disappointed to be sharing with strangers of a different age group.
 
But 'friendship and home comforts' are guaranteed at Rose Cottage and soon a bond blossoms between the women, who each have valuable life lessons to share.
As the summer unfolds, Benni, Emma and Ruth begin to realise that age is just a number. Before their time at Rose Cottage ends, will they take the chance to grasp the dreams that are now within their reach?

​Rachel Trezise’s new play, Cotton Fingers, has been chosen by the Edinburgh Fringe as one of the top six plays to see at this year’s Festival.
 
Aoife's hungry and bored. Cillian makes a mean
cheese toastie. As boredom and hunger are satisfied by
half an hour in Cillian's bed, Aoife's life changes forever.
As social and political upheaval grips her country, what
hope does Aoife have to regain control? A timely,
politically-charged show written at the time of the
historic referendum of the eighth amendment in
Ireland, Cotton Fingers takes us on a journey from
​Belfast to Cardiff.
 
The Stage has favourably reviewed the play, giving it four stars, calling it “emotionally powerful and rich with poetic language and vivid character.” Cotton Fingers is on at Summerhall’s Main Hall from 13th - 18th August and then 20th - 25th August, at 12:15pm. For more information and to book tickets, click here.

​The covers for M.W. Craven’s forthcoming books with Little, Brown have been revealed. Born In A Burial Gown and Body Breaker are the first and second in the DI Avison Fluke series. They’re available to pre-order now.

Anna Jacobs’ new series, Birch End, which begins with A Daughter’s Journey has revealed its gorgeous cover.

Jo Melling has arrived in Birch End from Australia, still grieving her father's recent death. She's not intending to stay long, but after tracking down her distant family, Jo becomes more involved in village life than she could ever have imagined - and suddenly in danger too.
 
Jo also finds herself drawn to Nick, a handsome newcomer to the village. Nick had planned to settle in Birch End and start a business, but as he grows closer to Jo, he realises he may have to choose between his dreams and a chance at love.
Meanwhile, the new local council are faced with some tough decisions of their own. It's time to take a stand against the poor conditions in Backshaw Moss, the nearby slum, but some councillors want things to stay as they are - and will go to any lengths to make sure they get their way . . .
 
Will the decent people of the valley win a brighter future for themselves? And can Jo find a way to stay with Nick in a place she's grown to love?
 
This heartwarming book will be available in hardback and eBook on 22nd August and you can pre-order here.

​Going on holiday soon? Well there are some fab deals to load up on your eReader:
 
Anna Jacobs’ One Kind Man and One Perfect Family are in the Kindle Monthly Deal for only 99p.

Before we wrap up, we want to tell you about the very exciting news that Pitch DHH is going again and this time we’re going on the road to… Liverpool!
 
On Saturday 7th December, we’ll be holding a pitching event at a location in the city centre and we want you to come and pitch your book to us!
 
For more information on how to apply, click here.
 
Not sure? See below for some testimonials from previous pitchers.

We're going back on the road for our next Pitch DHH session, and this time we're hitting Liverpool, the city that gave us incredible writers such as Beryl Bainbridge and Frank Cottrell Boyce. We cannot wait!

The session will take place on Saturday 7th December 2019 at a venue in the city centre. The event is free and each pitcher will have ten minutes with their chosen agent. The list of pitchers will be decided on based on the strength of their submission. 

Below is an idea of what each agent is looking for:

David Headley is actively seeking well-written stories with strong characters and an original narrative voice across both general and genre fiction with a particular fondness for crime, thrillers, adventure and romance.

Broo Doherty is looking for novels that either put a new spin on the familiar, or take her out of her comfort zone. These could be in any of the following genres: psychological thrillers, crime novels, women's fiction and literary fiction. 

Hannah Sheppard loves novels with an original, standout voice. She's looking for children's fiction from 8+ to YA and commercial adult fiction. She wants an attention-grabbing hook or must-read concept. Amongst other things, she would love to see a swoony, feminist contemporary romance and a thriller with a unique premise. 

Natalie Galustian is looking for compelling narrative non-fiction, literary fiction, short stories and humour.

Harry Illingworth is looking for mould-breaking genre fiction with unique voices and strong concepts; books that can crossover from genre fiction to the commercial market. This could come in the form of epic fantasy, high-concept crime and thriller or accessible science fiction. 

How To Apply:
Email pitchdhh@dhhliteraryagency.com with the name of the agent in the subject line of the email, including a cover letter, one-page synopsis / outline and the first three chapters of the novel, or the first 5,000 words if shorter. You may only approach one agent on the team. If these guidelines are not adhered to, unfortunately we cannot consider your submission. We are also not able to consider pitchers who have attended any previous pitching events with us. 

Important Dates:
Submissions open: 10am on Monday 26th August
Submissions close: 6pm on Friday 4th October
Please do not submit outside of these dates

If you have any questions about this event, please email pitchdhh@dhhliteraryagency.com, but remember - no submissions before 26th August!

TESTIMONIALS

We’re kicking off this week’s roundup with some jolly exciting news, in that client M.W. Craven has been shortlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 2019, for his novel The Puppet Show.
 
The winner of the prize, which rewards ‘compelling storytelling with brilliant characterisation and a distinct voice that is confidently written and assuredly realised’ will be announced at Goldsboro Books on Monday 16th September. The prize, which is judged by the independent’s founder and MD David Headley, and his team, sees the winner awarded a £2,000 and a beautiful, handmade, engraved glass bell.
 
Congratulations, Mike!

We are so pleased to see the cover for Samantha Baines’ Harriet Versus the Galaxy out in the world and available for pre-order!
 
The intergalactic adventure starts at home with Harriet, who discovers that her hearing aid can do more than she ever bargained for when she finds an alien in her room. Discovering that her family secretly work for an intergalactic agency, Harriet becomes the Earth’s first line of defence as she is revealed to be the only one who can understand aliens from across the universe, and it’s all thanks to her hearing aid.
 
Knights Of will be publishing this hilarious and heartfelt debut in October 2019. You can pre-order your out of this world copy right here.

Lizzie Lovell’s fabulously fun gin-soaked book, The Juniper Gin Joint is only 99p in Kobo’s Classic British Summer promo, which runs until the 7th August.
 
It's been a tough year for empty-nester Jen in her seaside Devon town; her kids have left for pastures new and her husband's left for another woman.
 
Home alone with her eccentric home-brewing father and a Jack Russell, she is just getting her life back on track when her job at the local museum is threatened by her first love and nemesis, Councillor David Barton, who intends to sell the beautiful old building to a pub chain. But help is at hand from her colleagues: Jackie, a former Greenham Common warrior; Tish, a flamboyant historian; and Carol, mega-flirt. Plus newcomer and former campaigner, Tom. Who happens to be a widower. And quite sexy. And also the owner of a Jack Russell.
 
The key to saving the day and putting the town back on the tourist map could lie just within reach - when reaching for a cold gin and tonic, that is. Mother's Ruin to some, gin is the making of Jen when she comes together with her friends and family to save the museum and open an artisan distillery in the basement.
With its debauched local history of smuggling, can gin be the town's saviour and bring love back into Jen's life?
 
Download your copy here.

Congratulations to clients Gabrielle Kent and Adrian Magson, who saw their books published last week.
 
The Rebel Bicycle Club, by Gabrielle Kent, is the new stand-alone in the Knights and Bikes series. Buy your copy here.
 
Adventure awaits Demelza and her best friend in the whole world, Nessa, as they embark on a whole new adventure, solving mysteries, fending off bullies and celebrating the greatest friendship of all time.
 
When an unexpected guest arrives in Penfurzy, Nessa and Demelza go out of their way to help them, entering a world of ancient myth and legend.
 
Facing ghosts and monsters, and Conan the bully who just keeps getting in the way at the worst possible moment.
 
Adrian Magson’s Rocco and the Echoes of War is the first in the Inspector Lucas Rocco series, that has been re-released by The Dome Press, complete with a revised edit and a brand, spanking, new cover! The title is out now in eBook and you can grab your copy here.
 
France, 1963.
It's a time of great change in France, not least for Inspector Lucas Rocco. As part of a nationwide 'initiative' to broaden police operations, he finds himself moved from the Paris metropolis to a small village. His new patch might be rural, but it's certainly not uneventful: on his first day, he finds a murdered woman wearing a Gestapo uniform lying in a British military cemetery.

When the body is removed by order of a magistrate from the police mortuary before Rocco can finish his investigation, he realises he's up against a formidable enemy. An enemy who will go to any lengths - even murder - to stop his investigation.

The cover for Adrian Magson’s new Harry Tate thriller, Terminal Black, was revealed last week.
 
Harry Tate has one rule: you don't abandon your friends. When he learns that former colleague Rik Ferris has had a breakdown and disappeared, allegedly in possession of highly sensitive secrets from MI6's archives, he agrees to look for him and, if possible, bring him back in. But where to begin? Rik could be anywhere in the world.
 
All Harry knows is, if he doesn't find Rik, others will be sent out instead. And they won't play by the same rules. What Harry doesn't know is that Rik is being held prisoner and tortured for information relating to a high-level mole in the British establishment. If he doesn't tell his captors what he knows, it will result in a devastating cyber attack designed to bring the UK to its knees.
 
Terminal Black will be published by Severn House on the 31st October 2019 and you can pre-order your copy here.

​The long-awaited third instalment of the Godblind trilogy by Anna Stephens, Bloodchild, is out next month and if you simply can’t wait, an excerpt from the book is available to read now, thanks to Fantasy Hive.
 
Click here to get your Rilporin fix!

​Finally, congratulations to Paul Burston, whose novel The Closer I Get has been longlisted for the Guardian’s Not the Booker longlist.
 
The prize is voted for by the public, and if you fancy casting your vote, it really is very simple:

• Go to the link here
• Choose two books from the longlist, from two different publishers (one of them being The Closer I Get, obviously…)
• In the comments section, write “Vote” along with your two choices
• A review for at least one of the books must be included.

 
And that’s it! Simples!