Little, Brown to publish J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults

Notes to Editors

J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling is the author of the bestselling Harry Potter series of seven books, published between 1997 and 2007, which have sold over 450 million copies worldwide, are distributed in more than 200 territories, translated into 74 languages, and have been turned into eight blockbuster films. She has also written two small volumes, which appear as the titles of Harry’s schoolbooks within the novels. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through The Ages were published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books in March 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. In December 2008, The Tales of Beedle the Bard was published in aid of the Children’s High Level Group, and quickly became the fastest selling book of the year
As well as an OBE for services to children’s literature, J.K. Rowling is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees including the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, France’s Légion d’Honneur, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and she has been a Commencement Speaker at Harvard University USA. She supports a wide number of charitable causes through her charitable trust Volant, and is the founder of Lumos, a charity working to transform the lives of disadvantaged children.

• Further details about J.K. Rowling’s literary agency The Blair Partnership are available at www.theblairpartnership.com

UK

Tim Hely Hutchinson is CEO of Hachette UK.
Ursula Mackenzie is CEO of the Little, Brown Book Group.
David Shelley is Publisher of the Little, Brown Book Group. The authors he works with include worldwide bestsellers Mitch Albom, Mark Billingham, Patricia Cornwell, Nelson DeMille, Carl Hiaasen, Dennis Lehane and Val McDermid. After seven years at the independent publisher Allison & Busby, David joined Little, Brown in 2005 as Editorial Director, was promoted to Sphere Publisher in 2008, and to Publisher of the Little, Brown Book Group in April 2011.
Little, Brown Book Group: Three times winner of the KPMG Publisher of the Year Award, in 1994, 2004 and 2010, Little, Brown has an award-winning publishing programme across eight imprints: Little, Brown, Abacus, Virago, Sphere, Orbit, Atom, Piatkus and Hachette Digital. Little, Brown Book Group has been a member of the Hachette UK group since 2006.

• Further information can be found at www.littlebrown.co.uk

Hachette UK

is the most diversified book publishing group in the UK, with a unique policy of encouraging its publishing houses to operate autonomously. Amongst its houses and imprints are Hachette Children’s Books, Headline Publishing Group, Hodder & Stoughton, Hodder Education, John Murray, Little, Brown Book Group, Octopus Publishing Group, Orion Publishing Group, Sceptre, Virago and Weidenfeld & Nicolson. with international publishers and distributors Hachette Australia, Hachette New Zealand, Hachette India, Hachette Ireland and Hachette Middle East.

• Further information can be found at www.hachette.co.uk

USA

David Young is CEO of the Hachette Book Group, USA.
Michael Pietsch is Executive Vice President and Publisher of Little, Brown and Company. He has published books by Kate Atkinson, Michael Connelly, Malcolm Gladwell, Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, Keith Richards, Alice Sebold, David Sedaris, Anita Shreve, David Foster Wallace and many others.
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group USA. Founded in 1837, Little, Brown has long been recognized as a publisher committed to publishing fiction of the highest quality and non-fiction of lasting significance.
Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a leading trade publisher based in New York. HBG publishes under the divisions of Little, Brown and Company, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Grand Central Publishing, FaithWords, Center Street, Orbit, and Hachette Digital.

• Further information can be found at www.hachettebookgroup.com.

Worldwide

Hachette Livre, chaired by Arnaud Nourry, was founded in 1826 in Paris. It is the world’s second-largest trade publishing group, operating in more than 20 countries around the world and publishing primarily in English, French and Spanish languages. Hachette Livre is a subsidiary of Lagardère SCA.