The Borough Press triumphs in three-way tussle for Holly Brickley's début

The Borough Press have won a three-way auction for Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley, billed as Tomorrow ,and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow meets Daisy Jones and the Six, with the novel going in a host of other territories in the run-up to the London Book Fair. 

Editorial Director Amy Perkins and publisher Beth Coates bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Karolina Sutton at CAA on behalf of Anna Stein. The Borough Press will publish the novel as its “event publication” in March 2025, simultaneously with Amy Einhorn at Crown in the US.  

Other rights have been sold to DTV (German), Alpha Forlag (Danish), Tammi (Finnish), Metaichmio (Greek), Sellerio (Italian), Publicat (Polish), Rocco (Portuguese (Brazil), ASA/Leya (Portuguese (Portugal)), Salamandra (Spanish) and Family Leisure Club (Ukrainian).  

Deep Cuts opens on the night Percy Marks meets Joe Morrow in a college bar, beginning an unlikely musical partnership that will change both of their lives forever. “Joe has the raw musical talent, while Percy has the ear – and the incisive, withering critiques – to turn his sound into something extraordinary,” the synopsis says. “It’s the sort of magic that only comes along once in a lifetime – and that’s why Joe isn’t prepared to risk it on something as unpredictable as love. But how long can Percy ignore the roars of her heart, and her own unique talent, to protect their thrilling collaboration?” 

Perkins said: “Deep Cuts is two great love stories in one: the story of Percy and Joe, and the story of how music plays an unparalleled role in how it shapes all of our lives. When the manuscript arrived with The Borough Press, it sparked a third heartfelt love story, as the entire team felt with unwavering passion that it was a book we had to publish.” 

Brickley originally hails from British Columbia and now lives in Portland, Oregon. She studied English at University of California-Berkeley before doing an MFA in fiction at Columbia University. She said: “With British music playing such a huge role in Deep Cuts, I always dreamed the book would find a good home in the UK. But to work with a team like Borough has exceeded even my wildest dreams.”