Morgan signs four-book deal with HQ

HQ has signed a new four-book deal with prolific Sunday Times bestseller Sarah Morgan, starting with The Christmas Escape.

Senior editor Flo Nicoll acquired world all-language rights from Susan Ginsburg at Writers House LLC.

The first book in the new four-book contract, The Christmas Escape, will be published in October 2021. Two of the titles in the contract will be Christmas-themed and published in the autumn, with the other two released in early summer.

Morgan has written more than 90 novels focusing on uplifting, romantic and feel-good stories about relatable multi-generational characters. Her books have sold more than 18 million copies worldwide and have been translated into more than 30 languages, the publisher said. Through Nielsen BookScan, she has sold 964,845 print copies for £3.7m, with her bestseller A Wedding in December (HQ), at 76,698 copies sold in paperback.

Her current novel, One More for Christmas, has spent five weeks in the Sunday Times Paperback Fiction Top Ten to date, reaching a high of number two. It has also been the number-one bestselling e-book in the Kindle chart for most of November. Her next book, The Summer Seekers, will be published in May 2021.

Publishing director Manpreet Grewal said: “Publishing Sarah’s wonderful novels is an honour and a privilege. She writes so beautifully about grown-up emotions and relationships, and she just gets better and better with each new book she writes. We’ve enjoyed some terrific Sunday Times bestseller success already, but the amazing thing is that it feels as though we’re only just getting started. I cannot wait to see what we achieve with these new books.”

Morgan added: “I’m thrilled to be continuing my relationship with Manpreet, Flo and the brilliant team at HQ. Their collective energy, creativity and ambition makes them the perfect publishing partner and I love working with them.“