Lynda La Plante moves to Bonnier Zaffre

Novelist Lynda La Plante is moving from Simon & Schuster to Bonnier Zaffre in a four-book global rights deal.

The deal covers both English language and translation rights, the first such deal for the author.

The move ends a frontlist working relationship with editor Suzanne Baboneau, m.d. of the adult division of S&S UK, which has spanned 30 years, beginning in the early 1980s when Baboneau worked at Pan Macmillan.

S&S retains rights to La Plante's backlist titles, and will publish the paperback of her most recent novel Hidden Killers in June next year.

The Bonnier Zaffre deal was negotiated through Nigel Stoneman, head of development at La Plante Global, the company formed in 2014 to handle all La Plante's rights deals.

La Plante’s first book with Bonnier Zaffre, Tennison: Good Friday, will be published in hardback in September 2017 and will pit her best loved character, policewoman Jane Tennison, against an IRA cell operating at the height of the Troubles. Bonnier Zaffre will also publish a new edition of La Plante's Widows to coincide with Steve McQueen's new film based on the TV series.

Mark Smith, c.e.o. of Bonnier Zaffre, said: "There are few names who mean as much to crime fans as Lynda La Plante's. A trailblazer both on screen and in print, her achievements are legendary; we are very proud indeed to be publishing her future books. Lynda’s decision to move to two books a year is a hugely exciting opportunity for us and for her many readers and we look forward to a long, happy and creative association."

La Plante commented: "I am delighted to have joined Bonnier Zaffre, who will now represent me as my global publisher.  I am very much looking forward to working with them and their publishing partners, in bringing my books to a wider international readership.” She added: "After a long, happy and rewarding relationship with Simon and Schuster,  I look forward to promoting the paperback of Hidden Killers in June 2017 and will continue to support the backlist titles."

Baboneau has worked with La Plante since her first novel The Legacy was published by Pan Macmillan in the early 1980s. La Plante moved from Pan Macmillan to Simon & Schuster UK in 2001, a year after Baboneau made that move. Gill Coleridge, La Plante's long-standing agent at Rogers, Coleridge & White, later negotiated the bringing over of La Plante's backlist to S&S UK.  

S&S's deals have been for UK and Commonwealth rights only.   

Baboneau commented: "I am truly saddened that a publishing partnership of over 30 years has come to an end. We must not forget that it was Caroline Upcher, then at Pan Books, who brilliantly commissioned Lynda to write fiction back in the early 1980s after the TV success of Widows. That the likes of William Armstrong and Susan Hill were so pivotal in Lynda's early career as a novelist, and that Gill Coleridge agented her beautifully for well over 20 years. I have been incredibly fortunate to work with Lynda for almost all my publishing life – after the early Pan days, she moved to Simon & Schuster UK when Ian Chapman and I joined. Since then, together, we have gone from strength to strength, each of her novels becoming top 10 bestsellers. But time moves on and new representation can sometimes lead to the desire for change. We have the treasure trove that is Lynda's backlist. All good wishes to Bonnier Zaffre with their global reach and brand planning for this remarkable writer."

Lynda La Plante has told is 2.65 million books via Nielsen BookScan since records began in 1998, for £14.92m, with her top seller being Above Suspicion which has sold 231,219 copies for £1.09m. Her most recent paperback, Tennison, has sold 96,001 copies for £401,071, and her newest hardback Hidden Killers (published on 20th October) has thus far sold 5,110 copies for £47,454.