News 4 May 2006

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New Acquisition:

Mainstream is delighted to have acquired the rights to THE DENIABLE AGENT Undercover in Afghanistan by Colin Berry for publication in October 2006. THE DENIABLE AGENT has all the essential ingredients of a real-life thriller - intrigue, violence and torture against a backdrop of Al Qaeda. Colin Berry is a former soldier who was recruited by British intelligence to work undercover in Afghanistan. A dramatic meeting with Afghan intermediaries resulted in their deaths. Bury himself was seriously wounded and found by members of the US Secret Service who stripped him of his identity and handed him over to the Afghan authorities. In THE DENIABLE AGENT, Berry explains exactly what happened that night and how he spent nearly a year in a stinking Afghan jail being beaten and tortured. All the while the British Embassy in Kabul, and his handlers back in London, denied he was an agent and barely lifted a finger to help him. Berry was eventually released from prison in 2004 and in this book reveals the friction between the various security services which was dramatised so well in the hit TV series Spooks. THE DENIABLE AGENT follows in the vein of JIHAD! and AN UNORTHODOX SOLDIER, both of which were Sunday Times bestsellers and sold well internationally for Mainstream

Latest Rights Deals:

Following the sale of THE PALACE DIARIES to Penguin US last week we have now sold the book to France (City), Germany (Ullstein) and Romania (Curtea Veche). An offer is also on the table from an Italian publisher. Many thanks to the sub agents who are working so hard to make this book a huge international success.

We have also just accepted an offer from Turkey (Inkilap) for THE END OF TIME. The book has already been sold to The Netherlands, Czech Republic and Korea.

Publicity:

The major outdoor advertising campaign for THE DAN BROWN COMPANION has just hit the streets to be followed by an equally high impact poster campaign for DON'T EVER TELL. That will be backed up by some extraordinary feature coverage including interviews in Now magazine and Good Housekeeping and reviews in Love It!, Bella, Star and OK! No one will be able to escape the heart-wrenching image of the little girl on the cover.

The author of SAUDI BABYLON is poised to take his case to the House of Lords this week. The British Government has intervened in support of Saudi Arabian officials accused of detaining and torturing four Britons in Saudi jails. Under the current ruling, while the state is immune from compensation claims for torture, individual officials who inflict it are not.

Tom Bridge, author of CLASSIC RECIPES FROM SCOTLAND, was on The Paul O'Grady Show, Channel 4, on Wednesday and on Thursday 27 April was in Leicester Square in London for the launch of National Cheese on Toast Day!

Events:

Mark Oxbrow, Ian Robertson and Simon Cox will be at the Edinburgh Festival this summer with DA VINCI CODE AND ROSSLYN CHAPEL, a follow up to their acclaimed sell-out show at Fringe 2005. Taking place on August 14-19, 21-26, 28 at Guide Headquarters, Melville Street, Edinburgh, it will boost sales of THE DAN BROWN COMPANION and ROSSLYN AND THE GRAIL.

Roger Hutchinson, author of A WAXING MOON, will be at Fountainbridge Library in Edinburgh on 17 May from 6.30-8pm for the Festival of Scottish Writing

On 20 June Mainstream take to the road with a dinner for booksellers and reps in the North West of England. Authors including Sarah Goodall & Nicholas Monson (THE PALACE DIARIES), Graham Johnson (POWDER WARS, DRUG LORD and FOOTBALL AND GANGSTERS) and John Williams (GROOVE ARMADA and MIRACLE OF ISTANBUL) will be at Malmaison in Manchester to talk about their books.

And Finally...

Congratulations to Karen Brodie who has been offered a job in the rights department at Harper Collins. We will be extremely sorry to see her go at the end of May but the bright lights of London beckoned. I have no doubt she will have an extremely successful publishing career