HC buys debut from 'Peter and Jane' Facebook writer

HarperCollins has bought the début book from Gill Sims, the voice behind the hit Facebook blog "Peter and Jane". Grace Cheetham, publishing director for imprint HarperNonFiction, bought world rights all languages of Why Mummy Drinks from Paul Baker at Headway Talent Agency.

"Peter and Jane" has around 300,000 fans on Facebook with regular updates on the characters of Boy Child Peter, Girl Child Jane, Mummy and Daddy. A HarperCollins spokesperson said: “Written from the point of view of an exhausted mummy at the end of the day, it’s honest, it’s funny, and it’s a little bit sweary.”

Cheetham said: “We’re hugely excited to be publishing Gill’s debut. It’s hilarious and it’s brilliant. For the hundreds of thousands of fans of her 'Peter and Jane' site this is the perfect antidote to a chaotic kid-filled day. And for those who haven’t discovered her yet, this will be a brilliant gift.” 

Sims said: “It turns out that all those writers who compare writing a book to having a baby were right – it seems like a good idea at the time; turns out to be much harder than you thought it would (visions of sitting at an elegant writing bureau effortlessly dashing off a few pages of deathless prose with a fountain pen filled with green ink were quickly replaced by the reality of banging one’s head off a laptop and sobbing ‘Why do you hate me?’ at it) and, like having children, writing a book also necessitates the consumption of large quantities of chocolate biscuits and gin (not together, that would be most unmiddleclass).That said, I'm amazed and astonished to be publishing this book with HarperCollins – it doesn't quite seem real, but I'm so thrilled and grateful to be given this opportunity.”

Why Mummy Drinks will be published in hardback by HarperNonFiction on 2nd November priced at £12.99.