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Ebury scours BBC list

09.02.07 Katherine Rushton

Ebury has started to mine BBC Books' backlist for under-published gems, beginning with titles by Alan Bennett and about John Peel. The move follows Random House Group's acquisition of a majority stake in BBC Books in June last year, which incorporated the TV publisher as an imprint of the Ebury division.

BBC Books has lined up new editions of Bennett's account of his Yorkshire boyhood, Telling Tales (h/b, £7.99), and the transcript of his popular monologue series, Talking Heads (p/b, £7.99), for 5th July. The books were originally published in 2000 and 1988 respectively. They will have complementary jacket designs, featuring pictures of Bennett in the same pose as a boy and as an adult, but will be sold individually.

The publisher is also planning a repackaged edition of The Peel Sessions by Ken Garner (tpb, £14.99) for 4th October. It was originally published in 1993 but is currently out of print. The relaunch follows the strong (albeit massively discounted) performance of Margrave of the Marshes, the DJ's autobiography, which was completed by his wife Sheila Ravenscroft after his death in late 2004. It was published by RH's Transworld division in October 2005.

"BBC Books has a huge archive with some fantastic material," said Ebury m.d. Fiona MacIntyre. "We are, as a matter of routine, going through it to see what we can publish over this year and next. To start with Alan Bennett and John Peel is wonderful--they immediately leapt out."

Book Katherine Rushton BBC Ebury

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