Simon and Schuster UK today announced the acquisition of nine titles from three top-selling self-published authors Abbi Glines, Nicole Williams and Steph Campbell. These titles will launch a programme of hot romance titles in the 'new adult' genre, with Jane Griffiths, Commissioning Editor, managing the list.
The titles have been self-published in ebook format in the US and several have appeared in bestseller lists. Under this new acquisition, the UK ebooks will replace self-published editions this autumn, with paperback editions for all nine titles also acquired as part of the deal and scheduled for 2013.
Ingrid Selberg, Publisher at S&S UK summed up the new acquisitions and overall strategy by saying: "We have made a substantial commitment to the acquisition of a range of best-selling authors in the 'new adult' genre. Abbi Glines is a terrific writer, with an enormous fan base and a track record of very impressive sales, who spearheads our new adult list, along with titles by the very talented Nicole Williams and Steph Campbell. Building on the tremendous success of Beautiful Disaster and working closely with S&S US, we are very confident that these authors will be huge bestsellers on our list. Sexy and fun, these books are unputdownable stories, which reflect the concerns and dreams of real young women. A perfect antidote to the stresses of the real world."
Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, was a NY Times bestseller and ebook phenomenon. The UK ebook edition (July 2012) was a bestseller for S&S, charting in the top ten on Apple iBookstore, followed by the Sunday Times top 20 paperback edition in August 2012.
In the new deal announced today, jointly acquired with S&S US, by Ingrid Selberg, are four titles from iBookstore #1 author Abbi Glines, whose Sea Breeze series has sold 185k ebooks across three self- published titles, Because of Low, While it Lasts, and Breathe. The fourth title, Just for Now, has not previously been published. The S&S ebook editions of Because of Low, While it Lasts and Just for Now were available from early November 2012, with Breathe following in spring 2013.
Venetia Gosling, Editorial Director at S&S, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Abner Stein, on behalf of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, in five titles from two authors, Nicole Williams and Steph Campbell.
From Nicole Williams, three novels, Crash, Clash and Crush, tell of a steamy romance between a good girl ballet dancer and a bad boy who turns star football player. Clash was #1 on Amazon's Movers and Shakers list and both Crash and Clash regularly appear in the top 100 paid-for ebooks on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. S&S UK published Crash and Clash on 26th November 2012, with Crush coming in 2013.