World Cup mania is still a few weeks away, but Walker is already celebrating a winning score having just made the signing of the season with actress, singer and ex-WAG Michelle Gayle’s debut teen novel, Pride and Premiership.
The deal was agreed between Walker Books Publishing Director Gill Evans and leading agent K T Forster. Gill Evans says, “It is fantastic to be working with Michelle. She has incredible energy and enthusiasm, as well as a real talent for connecting with her teen readers. Michelle has a truly innovative approach to writing for the young adult market, and we will be reflecting this in the way we publish Pride and Premiership next year.”
The book has been through an innovative creation process. Having written the novel, Michelle enlisted the help of the Reading Agency to run workshops for the target audience, to ensure that her book would really deliver what her readers were looking for. Data from the workshops revealed that 71% of the girls who took part want more books in this style, with 55% of them claiming the characters in the book were just like them.
Michelle has created a stylish and sassy reading experience, drawing on a world that is familiar to everone from TV, newspapers and magazines. She achieves the perfect blend of celebrity glamour and regular characters, who are memorable, genuine and utterly engaging from page one.
Michelle Gayle says, “I am absolutely thrilled to be working with Walker Books on my first novel. Their enthusiasm and marketing ideas bowled me over and I can't wait to unleash Pride and Premiership!”
Walker will publish Pride and Premiership in multiple formats in 2011.