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Hodder & Stoughton has acquired a “funny, authentic and big-hearted” debut novel from fashion PR expert Natalie Lewis.
Editor Amy Batley secured world English language rights, including audio, to the novel by Lewis from Katie Fulford at Bell Lomax Moreton. Hodder will publish Don’t Believe the Hype in paperback, e-book and audio in April 2023.
Don’t Believe the Hype follows Frankie Marks, a hapless young assistant who lands herself a job in the high-stakes world of fashion PR. She must learn to navigate life behind the scenes of the glamorous and chaotic fashion industry, with its eccentric characters, towering expectations – and quite frankly ridiculous requests.
Natalie Lewis is an expert with over 30 years’ experience working in fashion PR with businesses including Net-a-Porter, Jimmy Choo, Matches, Diane von Furstenburg and Anya Hindmarch.
After selling her agency in 2007, Natalie consulted on a freelance basis with a range of clients including Bella Freud, Robbie Williams and Claudia Schiffer. In 2008 she was engaged by Victoria Beckham to help launch her fashion brand and worked closely with her for 12 years, until June 2020 when Natalie took a sabbatical from the fashion world to write Don’t Believe the Hype.
Lewis said: “After decades of telling friends stories from work that they just couldn’t believe, I was excited to finally put pen to paper and create Frankie’s world. I am thrilled to be working with Amy and the amazing team at Hodder.
“From the outset, Amy understood what I wanted to achieve with Don’t Believe the Hype (and laughed at some of my jokes). Along with my wonderful agent Katie Fulford who has been mine and Frankie’s biggest advocate, the whole process of bringing this book together has been so much fun and I feel incredibly lucky.”
Batley commented: “I am delighted to be publishing Natalie’s wonderful debut at Hodder. As an industry veteran, Natalie knows the world of fashion inside out – and she brings it to life with sharpness, authenticity and a fabulous sense of humour. I can’t wait for readers to meet Frankie Marks!”
Fulford added: “Natalie’s book immediately stood out to me for her wit, lightness of touch and hilarious insights into the fashion world. Working with Amy and the wonderful team at Hodder, I can’t wait to see readers introduced to the inimitable Frankie Marks!”