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Hodder celebrates 20 years of David Nicholls
Hodder & Stoughton celebrated 20 years of publishing bestselling author David Nicholls with a party on Wednesday evening (23rd November) in the Toklas restaurant in central London.
It was attended by over 200 people including his agent Jonny Geller, as well as actors Tom Hollander (who starred in the adaptation of “Us") and Ambika Mod (who appears in the upcoming Netflix adaptation of “One Day”) along with authors such as Sarah Walters, Megan Nolan and Monica Heisey.
Hodder said it wanted to reward those “who have been part of Nicholls’ extraordinary journey over the last two decades, including booksellers, journalists, broadcasters, fellow authors, agents, actors and TV and film producers”. The party was also an advance celebration of the author’s next novel You are Here which will be published on 23rd April 2024.
Nicholls told The Bookseller: “It both seems very recent and a long, long way away [from publishing his first book]. I had so much to learn and was ignorant of so many things, I was so well looked after by my team and it was a lovely experience going into it and now it is extraordinary. I wish I’d written more than five novels in 20 years though, it’s too slow and a bit shabby – I need to pick up the pace.”
He described You Are Here as “a grown-up love story about two lonely people forced together on this walk, with each stage of the walk a stage of their relationship”.
Federico Andornino, Sceptre executive publisher, paid tribute to Nicholls in a speech and said “he is one of the most humble authors I’ve ever met”. He said: “I think the main reason we are here tonight is David’s unique generosity... During lockdown when all the celebrations and parties were cancelled, he moved to Twitter and talked about books he had read, giving so many authors a spotlight they desperately needed and making a very difficult time a bit more bearable.
“I started working with him at the beginning of this year on You Are Here [ for which Nicholls is moving to Hodder’s literary imprint Sceptre] and sent him some editorial notes with some trepidation because he arrived at the office eager to work and considered every editorial suggestion... it was genuinely one of the most invigorating experiences of my career.”
Bea Carvalho, head of books at Waterstones, said: “Over an astonishing 20-year career David Nicholls has penned some of our very favourite novels — perennial bestsellers which are a joy to recommend. The publication of You Are Here stands out as one of the most exciting moments in next year’s literary calendar: it is a truly gorgeous novel with tremendous heart which booksellers and readers everywhere are going to fall madly in love with."
Geller said: “Just over 20 years ago, I read an extract of what was to become Starter for Ten and I can honestly say it was the funniest piece of writing I had ever read. I had to sign this author. Thankfully David had little other choice but to give me a chance. Twenty years and millions of readers later it has been one of the great pleasures and honour to work with David and Hodder and see his wonderful novels be read and appreciated all over the world.”
Nicholls’ debut novel Starter for Ten became a cult bestseller when it was published by Hodder in 2003. One Day became an international publishing phenomenon and the follow-up, Us, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. His books have been translated into 40 languages around the world and adapted for the screen multiple times while Nicholls is one of the UK’s most prolific screenwriters.
