Transworld has triumphed in a four-way auction for a two-book deal from Annabelle Slator, former marketing manager at Bumble.
Commissioning editor Alice Rodgers acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Silé Edwards at Andrew Nurnberg Associates. North American rights sold to Avon in a six-figure pre-empt. German rights sold at auction and rights have also been sold in Brazil, Turkey and Ukraine. The Launch Date, Slator’s debut novel, will be published in February 2025 simultaneously with the US. Editorial director Sally Williamson will publish the title while Rodgers is on parental leave.
“It is always such a special thing to see publishing teams so unanimously excited about a book that you get full support on a title from the word go,” said Edwards. “To see this on both sides of the proverbial pond and internationally for Annabelle’s debut has been incredible, and I cannot wait to see The Launch Date reach readers next year.”
The Launch Date is a “second-chance friends-to-enemies-to-lovers workplace romance” following Grace and Eric, former best friends turned work rivals, working on launching a new dating app together. The pair must test a series of first dates while competing for the same promotion, but as they spend more time together, “they discover that their differences may be surface level and Eric might just be the perfect person to challenge Grace’s perception of love, dating culture and self-worth”.
Slator said: “I wrote The Launch Date as a way to explore our ever-sceptical relationship with dating app culture. I am so thrilled to have found my perfect match with both Penguin Random House UK and HarperCollins US – the best kind of literary threesome. I can’t wait for readers to fall in love with Grace and Eric and learn about the wild world behind the scenes of dating apps.”
Williamson added: “Reading The Launch Date was love at first sight for Alice and me. Warm and funny, with characters you root for from the very first page, it delivers our favourite rom-com themes as well as a fantastically fun twist on fake dating, all wrapped up in an addictive and page-turning plot. Annabelle is a total star and a brilliant new voice in the genre – we couldn’t be more thrilled to be publishing her.”
