Allen & Unwin UK pre-empts a new book by the author of The Art of Thinking Clearly

Allen & Unwin UK, an imprint of Atlantic Books, has pre-empted The Not To Do List: 52 Laws for Avoiding Life’s Biggest Mistakes, a new book by author Rolf Dobelli.

Managing director Drummond Moir acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Elisabeth Wiedemann at Piper, and the book will be published in February 2025. Translation rights were also sold to Het Spectrum in the Netherlands and Business Weekly in Taiwan. The German edition will be published in October 2024 in time for the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Dobelli said: "The Art of Thinking Clearly [Sceptre] revealed the cognitive biases to avoid for better decision-making; in my new book I’ll reveal the habits to avoid for better living — from pitfalls to avoid in your career, to the biggest mistakes we make when it comes to maintaining relationships and creating a meaningful life. This is an inversion of life advice, because happiness and success are easier than you think — just don’t do these 52 things!"

Moir added: "We’re thrilled that Rolf has chosen to come to Atlantic at a time of great momentum for our Allen & Unwin UK imprint. We’ve seen sales of The Courage to Be Disliked [Allen & Unwin] increase by 1,000% year on year, and have signed up several other exciting books for the imprint including Finnish philosopher Frank Martela’s Stop Chasing Happiness: Counterintuitive Life Advice from the World’s Happiest Country and Bryanna Kappadakunnel’s Parent Yourself First: Becoming the Parent You Wish You’d Had. The Not To Do List will be a key focus for our 2025 publishing, and we can’t wait to bring Rolf’s brilliant new book to readers around the world."