Gardner’s Head of Zeus deal leads flurry of indie publisher signings

Zephyr, the new children’s imprint at Head of Zeus, has bought a young fiction series by Carnegie Medal-winning author Sally Gardner (pictured). The first book, Mr Tiger, Betsy and the Blue Moon, is about the adventures of Betsy K Glory who, along with the mysterious Tiger, faces the enormous challenge of trying to turn the moon blue. It will be published in October, with books two and three to follow. The series will be illustrated by Nick Maland. Publisher Fiona Kennedy bought world rights from Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates and artists’ agent Alison Eldred.

Fairacre Press is to publish a new collection of poems born out of the "collective rage" of the #MeToo campaign. The anthology, edited by Deborah Alma and introduced by Labour MP Jess Phillips, will be published on 8th March, International Women’s Day, with all profits going to Women’s Aid UK. Titled #MeToo, the collection features more than 80 contributors including Pascale Petit, Helen Mort and Kim Moore, who have penned poems which are "painful, angry, often difficult to bear".

Canongate has signed an "epic novel for our anxiety-ridden times" by Victor LaValle titled The Changeling. Senior commissioning editor Hannah Knowles acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Joelle Dieu at Random House US. One of TIME’s top 10 novels of 2017, and one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2017, the novel is a "wild phantasmagoria, in which a book dealer’s journey into parenthood takes a nightmarish turn", said the publisher, calling it "a tale of parenthood, love and, ultimately, humanity". Canongate will publish on 5th July.

Yale University Press London will publish an "original and intimate" hour-by-hour account of Armistice Day to mark its centenary later this year. Peace at Last by Guy Cuthbertson, associate professor in English Literature at Liverpool Hope University, will be published on 16th October 2018 (£18.99), just ahead of the 100th anniversary of the peace agreement that ended the First World War. Focusing on the lived experience of ordinary citizens, from those on Britain’s streets to famous figures such as Vera Brittain, D H Lawrence and David Lloyd George, Cuthbertson will "put the people back into the picture of this single, landmark day in world history". Heather McCallum, managing director and publisher at YUPL, acquired world rights.