Buchan moves to Atlantic after auction

Elizabeth Buchan is moving to Corvus, an imprint of Atlantic Books, following a "hotly contested" auction for her next two novels. 

Buchan, author of 15 novels, was previously published by Penguin imprint Michael Joseph. Her novels include Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman (Penguin), Daughters (Michael Joseph) which was made into a CBS Primetime Drama, I Can’t Begin to Tell You (Michael Joseph), and The New Mrs Clifton (Michael Joseph). 

Altogether she has sold 587,947 print books for £3.06m through Nielsen BookScan in the UK.

Sara O’Keeffe, editorial director at Corvus, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Buchan’s next two novels at auction from Judith Murray at Greene and Heaton. 

O’Keeffe said she had been a "long-time fan" of Buchan and her "wry, insightful and spirited take[s] on the lives of women" to which Will Atkinson, m.d. Atlantic Books, added the arrival of "the established and highly successful" Buchan to the Corvus list was "a milestone in what is turning out to be a wonderful journey for us".

"I am over the moon to be able to publish Elizabeth Buchan," said O'Keeffe. "I’ve been a long-time fan of her work for many years, gobbling up her wry, insightful and spirited take on the lives of women. It wasn’t that long ago I could be found snuggling under a duvet, reading The Second Wife! I’m thrilled to be able to publish this talented and lovely writer and look forward to working with the whole Corvus team to launch another bestseller."

Buchan, also a co-founder of the Clapham Book Festival, said: "I have been bowled over by the Corvus welcome and look forward to being published by Sara and by such a smart, professional and dedicated team."

Corvus will publish the first of Buchan’s new novels in early 2019, in hardback, trade paperback and e-book, with a paperback to follow later in the year.