Andy McNab leaves Transworld for 'significant long-term partnership' with Welbeck

Andy McNab is moving to Welbeck in a “significant long-term partnership [with] an ambitious international publishing programme” across adult fiction, non-fiction and children’s. 

McNab’s previous writing career has been with Transworld and PRH Children’s. The last of his Nick Stone thrillers will be published by Transworld later this year.

Under the new partnership with Welbeck all books will be published in English-speaking markets by Welbeck and international rights will be handled in-house. The first McNab book with Welbeck will launch this summer. My Mum is a Spy will be published within the children’s fiction imprint Welbeck Flame on 18th August. It will be part of a new series of four books for middle grade readers and will be in collaboration with award-winning author Jess French and illustrator Nathan Reed. 

In September, The Hunt: The True Story of the Secret Mission to Catch a Taliban Warlord will launch a “major new adventure-filled and fast-paced narrative non-fiction series” known as ‘Special Ops Missions’ which tell the stories of real-life operations. The Hunt tells the story of the secret mission to capture rogue Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah. 

The publishing programme continues in spring 2023 with the launch of a brand-new Andy McNab techno-thriller series. The first book, Shadow State, features a former elite soldier turned cryptographer, a cyberweapons expert whose talents are usually offered to the highest bidder. A second book is set for early in 2024. 

McNab is also writing a modern-day survival guide for children, which captures all the necessities they need to be aware of to survive our modern world, publishing in spring 2023. 

Mark Smith, executive director at Welbeck, said: “It is a privilege to welcome Andy to Welbeck. We know just how powerful and popular his books are, and how so many readers around the world have been gripped by his masterful storytelling and action-packed adventures. The opportunity to bring these incredible new McNab series within the Welbeck stable has been a long-held ambition and we could not be happier. Andy’s versatility and popularity as a leading brand author are an incredible asset and we can’t wait to get these books into the hands of children and adults everywhere.” 

McNab said: “I’m so very happy to join the Welbeck family. They are so innovative and bursting with ideas as to how to get books into the hands of readers around the world. I am very proud of this exciting new children’s series, My Mum Is a Spy, and it has been great fun working with co-writer Jess and illustrator Nathan. There’s plenty more to come. It’s also been so enjoyable coming back to writing adult non-fiction again. Plus, I can’t wait to create a new character for next year’s techno-thriller series. So much good stuff to come.”

He added: "It’s been a great experience being with Transworld for so many years. But now is the time to try something new and see where that takes me."

McNab has sold 7 million books for £48m through Nielsen BookScan’s UK TCM, with 2001’s Firewall his bestseller on 251,130 copies sold in paperback.