Monty Don puts down roots with Ebury in multi-book deal

Bestselling writer and “Gardener's World” presenter Monty Don is moving to Ebury in a multi-book partnership.

Albert DePetrillo, publishing director at Ebury and BBC Books, acquired world rights in three books, including e-book and audio, from Alexandra Henderson at Alexandra Henderson Associates. The first title in the deal, a visual travelogue of Venice gardens, will publish in autumn 2022, with a “major new gardening book” following in 2023 and a new memoir in 2024.

Don's gardening book Down to Earth was published in 2017 by DK, selling 162,000 UK print copies across hardback and paperback through Nielsen BookScan. His bestselling memoir Nigel (Two Roads) has shifted 218,177 copies, excluding lockdown weeks, while My Garden World (Two Roads) was one of 2020's biggest non-fiction hits. In all, Don has sold £10m worth of books through the TCM.

He has been the main presenter of "Gardeners’ World" on the BBC since 2011, regularly filming from his Longmeadow garden—subject of his 2012 diary, Gardening at Longmeadow (BBC Books). The show’s popularity surged over lockdown in 2020, with viewing figures doubling year on year.

Don said: “I am thrilled to be working with the team at Ebury again. The three books are ambitious and exciting and I believe they will be very special.”

DePetrillo added: “Authors like Monty Don are few and far between, a genuinely gifted writer, a brilliant presenter, and an enthusiastic guide to his craft. I’m thrilled that Ebury will be his publisher across these three very different, and very brilliant, books. These are stories that only Monty can tell, and we’ll be putting all of our efforts into making each of them modern classics.”