Piatkus seizes two from Storr in six-figure pre-empt

Piatkus has pre-empted two new books from Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling (William Collins).

Holly Harley, editorial director at Piatkus, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to The Science of Storytelling for Business and You Are a Story in a six-figure pre-empt from Will Francis at Janklow & Nesbit. Piatkus will publish The Science of Storytelling for Business in autumn 2024 and You Are a Story in 2025.

According to the publisher, The Science of Storytelling for Business is based on Storr’s workshop that shows participants how to use the power of storytelling to influence, persuade, inspire and command attention.

You Are a Story, Piatkus continues, draws on literature, science and philosophy to show how the stories we live by are the secret to our success – and a source of profound and lasting problems: “But if we can shift our perspective from ‘hero’ to ‘author’ of our life, we can resist the influence of the unhelpful stories that come for us in our thoughts, social lives and in the wider culture.

“You Are a Story will be a unique form of writing guide: one that instructs its readers how to become a successful author, not of a character on a screen or page, but of themselves.”

Storr said: “Having taught and researched business storytelling for many years, I can’t wait to share my thoughts and ideas with readers. You Are a Story will be a deeply personal book that I hope people will find helpful."

Harley commented: “Will has a talent for peeling back the layers of psychological artifice we cast over life. I recommend The Science of Storytelling over and over again, so it’s exciting to be working with Will on two new projects that come from the heartland of his expertise.”