To-do list memoir from The Pool's Jones goes to Ebury

Ebury Press has acquired a "witty and moving" debut by Amy Jones, writer and video producer at The Pool, as part of a two-book deal.

The To-Do List and Other Debacles is described as "a millennial memoir" of the author’s journeys through friendship, marriage and mental health disasters. Chapters draw on Jones’s love of to-do lists, which she begins writing as a way to ease her anxiety, but soon spiral into the unattainable. After a bout of therapy, she devised the To-Done list - a way of celebrating what she’s achieved rather than always pushing herself to the limit in a bid to do more - and found that it changed her life.

Robyn Drury, commissioning editor for Ebury Press, acquired world all languages in two books on exclusive submission from Diana Beaumont at Marjacq. The To-Do List and Other Debacles will be published in hardback and e-book in July 2019, and will be followed by an as-yet-untitled novel.

Drury said: "I have been a huge fan of Amy and her writing for such a long time, and when I read her article on the concept of the To-Done List, I knew there was a brilliant book just waiting to be written. So many of us – particularly 20-something women – spend so much of our lives in pursuit of self-improvement that we end up burning ourselves out. Amy writes with such wit and honesty about this particular dilemma, and her book is a timely reminder that, whilst it’s good to strive for what you want, you’re also good enough as you are. It’s an irresistible read and I can’t wait to put it in the hands of readers."

Jones, born in Wales and based in London, also co-hosts the storytelling podcast "And Then What?" alongside her job at The Pool.