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News 26 September 2007
New Acquisition:
Mainstream is delighted to have acquired world rights (ex US) for DON'T WAIT FOR ME, How a Mother Lost Her Son to Drug Abuse and Bipolar Disorder by Ros Morris. Bill Campbell bought the book from Patrick Janson Smith at the Christopher Little Agency for publication in July 2008. It is a middle class mother's harrowing account of her son's descent into the hell of drug abuse and mental illness. Ros Morris's son Zack was a bright young musician who seemed on the brink of success when his behaviour suddenly spiralled out of control. He began using more powerful and dangerous illegal drugs and over the next 8 years was sectioned under the Mental Health Act on numerous occasions. His family had to repatriate him from three different continents when his psychosis re-emerged while he was travelling.
With stars like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty constantly in the news due to their misadventures with drugs, this is a perfect first-person story addressing those issues and showing the pain suffered by those close to someone with drug addiction or mental illness. For further information contact fiona.brownlee@mainstreampublishing.com
Rights Deals:
Lots of new rights deals. Most exciting is GHOSTS AT THE TABLE to Da Capo for a good five-figure sum. It has also been sold to Kosmos in The Netherlands.
The A-Z series continues to sell well with a sale of all four titles (ATLANTIS, EGYPT, KING ARTHUR and THE OCCULT) to Gabo in Hungary.
GUNS, CASH AND ROCK'N'ROLL has been sold to Volvox Globator in the Czech Republic and NO ONE TAKES MY CHILDREN to Editorial Presenca in Portugal.
Amy Mitchell is living up to her nickname of 'large' as she continues to sell large print rights across the board! Her latestb deal is for BRITAIN'S EVERYDAY HEROES by Prime Minister, Gordon Brown to BBC Audio Books. She has also just sold audio rights for THE OTHER MRS JORDAN to Oakhill.
Serial Rights:
A huge amount of regional serial deals in recent weeks:
The Irish Times will be running an extract from THE HOUSE OF PAIN to coincide with publication at the end of October.
The Daily Record has just run two extracts from THE REAL GORBALS STORY by Colin Macfarlane
The Scottish Sun ran extracts from BLUE by Barry Ferguson at the beginning of September.
Extracts for PADRE PIO were sold to The Daily Mail (Ireland) and the Irish Catholic
Publicity:
With Martha Long's debut memoir, MA, HE SOLD ME FOR A FEW CIGARETTES, at Number 1 in the Irish bestseller lists, it's not surprising that publicity has been booming. With interviews in the Sunday Independent, Irish Examiner and Metro Ireland, and slots on the prestigious Pat Kenny Show on RTE radio, as well as a lead interview in the biggest-selling women's weekly magazine, Take A Break, and a slot on BBC Radio London, the book continues to fly. Congratulations, of course, to Martha!
Last weekend saw Scotland bombarded with Mainstream titles, with Andy McLaren's candid and moving memoir, TORMENTED, serialised in the Sunday Mail (to be continued next weekend) and Colin MacFarlane's THE REAL GORBALS STORY extracted in the Daily Record over a number of days.
Publicity for Marvin Andrews' autobiography, MARVELLOUS MARVIN, has also been fantastic. After being serialised in the Sunday Mail, the book was also given a 3-minute slot on BBC Scotland's Reporting Scotland news bulletin, and a full-length interview ran in the Sun. The Guardian Unlimited will also be running an interview with Marvin on Friday 28 September.
Visiting the UK earlier this month was Ian Halperin, author of the gossip-laden HOLLYWOOD UNDERCOVER. During his time in London Ian did broadcast interviews on BBC Radio Five Live's Anita Anand Show and on RTE's Pat Kenny Show, as well as a host of interviews on stations around the UK and beyond. Print interviews included the Sun Online and the Big Issue.
Finally, MRS MILLS SOLVES ALL YOUR PROBLEMS, a compendium of the wit and wisdom of the much-loved Sunday Times agony diva's advice, got massive coverage in the Sunday Times Style magazine last weekend. Fans of the column have been desperate for a collection of her helpful hints to have to hand at all times, and here it is!
Events:
Ailsa Morrison is now handling events at Mainstream (contact: ailsa.Morrison@mainstreampublishing.com). Recent events include:
Marvin Andrews MARVELLOUS MARVIN Waterstones, Kirckaldy 14/9/07
Graham Johnson THE DEVIL Waterstones, Birkenhead 6/10/07
Graeme Sharpe SHARPY Waterstones, Chester 6/10/07
Yates & Mahoney WILD THING Boxing event, Birmingham 20/9/07
Des Wilson GHOSTS AT THE TABLE Ladbrokes Casino, London 28/9/07
And Finally...
As we bid farewell to Victoria Bonnar who is leaving us to join her boyfriend Nick MacKenzie in Manchester, we welcome Paula Fleming to the fold as Publicity Assistant. She has already proved her networking skills on Mainstream nights out at various hostelries in Edinburgh! 
Lindsay Ankers, Paula Fleming, Ailsa Morisson
Nik Mackenzie and Victoria Bonnar