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Harris signs six-figure deal with Orion for four books
Bestselling author Joanne Harris has signed up for four more books with Orion including two fantasy titles, as part of a six-figure deal.
There will be two novels with Orion Fiction, and two fantasy titles with Gollancz, bringing her “publishing threads closer together”, Orion said.
Sarah Benton, Orion’s executive publisher for fiction, negotiated the six-figure deal with Jon Wood at RCW. Francesca Pathak, publishing director and Gillian Redfearn, deputy publisher, will be leading the publishing on Orion Fiction and Gollancz respectively.
The new deal will kick off with a standalone novel in 2023, with a new combined campaign team supporting the project.
Harris is the award-winning author of 18 novels, plus novellas, scripts, short stories, libretti, lyrics, articles, and most recently, a self-help book for writers, Ten Things About Writing (September Publishing). Her 1999 novel Chocolat (Black Swan) was adapted for the screen, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. She has sold just over four million copies for £25.9m through Nielsen BookScan in the UK with Chocolat being her biggest seller.
Benton said: “Joanne Harris is such a unique voice in the market. We are delighted to have more books from her and a bold new vision that brings both aspects of her publishing together. Joanne has always written books and characters that surprise us, that challenge our perceptions and push the boundaries of our imaginations and I know Francesca and Gillian – and the team – are so ambitious about Joanne’s future.”
Wood said: “Joanne and I are incredibly excited about the next few years and we are delighted that we will be working with Sarah, Francesca, Gillian and the brilliant team at Orion on these new novels.”
Harris, who is chair of the Society of Authors, added: “I’m delighted to have the chance to work with the tremendous team at Orion/Gollancz for another four books. And I’ve been working hard on something that I can’t wait to share with readers in 2023.”
