Chronicles of St Mary’s author Jodi Taylor moves to Headline

Headline has struck a deal to publish a new spin-off series from Jodi Taylor, the author of the Chronicles of St Mary’s series.

Mari Evans, m.d. at Headline, bought world rights in three frontlist titles from Hazel Cushion, m.d. at Accent Press, with Headline also to take on the full Jodi Taylor backlist.

Headline will publish the 10th novel in the Chronicles of St Mary’s series, Hope for the Best, in April 2019, and launch a spin-off series featuring popular St Mary’s characters called the Time Police in October 2019. 

Cushion, who first discovered Taylor as a self-published author on Amazon five years ago, will still be involved by stepping into the role of Taylor's agent. The development follows Cushion's recent decision to resign as a director of Octavo's Book Cafe & Wine Bar in Cardiff to more fully concentrate on her publishing business.

In welcoming Taylor to the list, Evans called the original Chronicles of St Mary’s series, which follows a group of disaster-prone historians investigating major historical events in contemporary time, "wildly imaginative and great fun".

"I shall never see history in quite the same away again," said Taylor. "Accent Press have done a terrific job with her publishing so far and we’re lucky to be picking up the baton from now on, with a new spin-off Time Police series to sink our teeth into next year alongside a further, much-anticipated outing in the Chronicles of St Mary’s."

Cushion commented: "It has been an honour and a privilege to work with Jodi for the last five years – she has incredible talent and could write a shopping list that would make you laugh. Accent Press have developed Jodi Taylor to become an Amazon and Audible bestseller but this new opportunity with Headline will enable her to reach so many new markets and readers. I’m utterly delighted for her and for the opportunity to continue to work with Jodi Taylor as her agent."

Taylor said: "I am tremendously excited to be working with Headline and looking forward to the opportunities this new partnership will bring."