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Former deputy editor of The Bookseller Joel Rickett has bought his first two titles following his move to Viking (Penguin) as editorial director earlier this year.
The books, described by Rickett as “topical narrative non-fiction”, are among the first in an expected wave of business titles as publishers flock to bring out accounts of the global financial turmoil. Allen Lane has also picked up a book from the chairman of HSBC, while Random House has acquired “Dragon’s Den” star Deborah Meaden’s first book.
After a direct approach to the author, Rickett concluded a deal for UK and Commonwealth rights via Mal Peachey at Essential Works for Binge Trading by Seth Freedman—an insider account of greed, corruption and excess in the City. Freedman is a former stockbroker turned writer (primarily for the Guardian). The book will be rushed straight into paperback for April 2009.
Rickett has also acquired The Greatest Trade Ever by Gregory Zuckerman, a renowned Wall Street Journal columnist. It centres on John Paulson, the secretive US hedge fund supremo who has just made $15bn by betting against the housing bubble. Publication date is to be confirmed. The deal for UK and Commonwealth rights was concluded through Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein (the US publisher is Doubleday).
“Obviously, every publisher is scrambling for finance and business books,” said Rickett, adding that some of the books springing out of the current crisis would be “lazy journalistic rehashings of current events, adding little to what we already know”. But he said his acquisitions would be “personalised stories by writers with real inside knowledge and contacts”.
Helen Conford, editorial director at Penguin’s Allen Lane, has paid a “substantial” five figures for The Good Banker by Stephen Green, who is both the chairman of HSBC and an ordained priest in the Church of England. The book explores how we manage the creation of wealth in society, with Green arguing that capitalism is the best way, even in the face of the current crisis, but that bankers must incorporate moral concerns into their work. Conford bought world rights from Richard Addis, a former Financial Times journalist who is now working as an agent, and will publish in June 2009.
Random House Business Books has acquired UK, Commonwealth and European rights to “Dragons’ Den” star Deborah Meaden’s first book, a collection of business advice and anecdotes. Editor Sophie Lazar acquired rights with Michael Foster of MF Management. “She cuts through the flannel and gets straight to the point,” said Lazar. The book will be published in April 2009.