Pulley moves to Gollancz in two-book pre-empt following sci-fi tweet

Gollancz has signed Natasha Pulley’s “evocative and powerful” novel The Mars House, and one further title still to be revealed.

UK and Commonwealth rights were acquired from Jenny Savill of Andrew Nurnberg Associates in a pre-emptive offer by deputy publisher Gillian Redfearn. The deal was struck at “lightning speed”, sparked by a tweet from Pulley earlier this year about having completed a sci-fi novel set on Mars to the apparent disinterest of the UK market, prompting an “instant skirmish” between half a dozen SFF imprints in the replies.

Pulley’s debut novel The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (Bloomsbury) won the Betty Trask Award for young authors and was shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award and Locus First Novel Award.

The Mars House will publish in March 2024 in hardback, trade paperback, e-book, and audiobook, with Bloomsbury simultaneously publishing in the US and Canada. Gollancz describes the novel as a “profoundly beautiful sci-fi romance exploring climate collapse, prejudice, privilege, class, and queer love through the prescient lens of a ballerina turned refugee fleeing an environmentally devastated Earth and an enigmatic Martian politician embroiled in a political crisis who agree to a fake marriage after a media encounter torpedoes both their reputations".

Redfearn said: “Pulley has a genius for seeing to the heart of characters and situations and for crafting stories which speak simply and powerfully. She’s always been an electric and exciting novelist, but The Mars House blew the Orion team away with its gorgeous evocation of the life and challenges of a climate change refugee. 

“Pulley is unafraid to tackle huge and timely topics, and examines impossible issues with empathy, impeccable research and – in The Mars House – through the lens of an absolutely compelling enemies-to-lovers narrative. Rich, wonderful and thoughtful, this is a genre-reinventing novel – and author – we could not be more excited to bring to Gollancz.”

Pulley said: “Writing is a lonely process, and it’s easy to feel like no one wants your book, even if you already have a publishing history, and even when you have an amazing agent telling you they definitely will and just to be patient: you only have to hear ‘no’ four or five times to think you should retrain as an accountant. 

“When I wrote The Mars House, I was convinced it was unsellable. When the team at Gollancz said that not only did they quite want it but it might even actually be a decent idea, I couldn’t believe it. I kept waiting for someone to leap out of a hedge at me and shout, ‘Haha, only joking, of course it’s stupid and you’re not allowed to be a writer any more!’ Fortunately, everyone has been great about not jumping out from hedges. I remain, however, vigilant near topiary.”

Savill added: “Gillian and the team at Gollancz have an incredibly persuasive and joined-up vision not only for The Mars House but for all of Natasha’s future publishing. I’m thrilled about this new chapter for Natasha, who is an extraordinary and fearless writer with a devoted fan base around the world.”