As London Book Fair Opens, Morrow Signs Scobie and Benway’s ‘Royal’ Collaboration

In a well-timed announcement coinciding with this year’s London Book Fair, William Morrow’s Liz Stein has acquired North American rights to Omid Scobie and Robin Benway’s Royal Spin. The deal, described as “major,” was brokered by Albert Lee and Lisa Grubka at UTA, who described the book as “a fun, fish-out-of-water romantic workplace comedy about a young American woman who leaves a press role at the White House for one at Buckingham Palace, thrusting her into a hotbed of office politics where tradition (almost) always wins.”

Royal Spin is the inaugural collaboration between Scobie and Benway, marking Scobie’s fiction debut and Benway’s adult fiction debut.

An authoritative voice on the British Royal Family, which he has covered since 2011, Scobie’s Finding Freedom was one of the fastest-selling royal books of all time, and his follow-up 2023 release, Endgame, was an instant New York Times bestseller. Benway is the National Book Award-winning author of nine novels for young adults, including Far From the Tree. Her books have been honored with the PEN America Literary Award, the Blue Ribbon Award from the Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books, ALA’s Best Books for Young Adults, and ALA’s Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults.

UTA said they will be selling foreign rights at the London Book Fair this week, noting that together the authors have been published in over 30 languages. The 2024 London Book Fair runs from March 12-14.