Wilbur Smith to mark half century with Pan Mac

THE BOOKSELLER - 16.11.10 - Charlotte Williams

Pan Macmillan has renewed its contract with bestselling thriller writer Wilbur Smith, signing a deal for his 34th novel.

The book, as yet untitled, will be published in hardcover in 2013 and paperback in 2014, marking 50 years of Smith's paperbacks being published by Pan Macmillan.

Pan Macmillan fiction publisher Jeremy Trevathan acquired rights in the title from Martin Pick at Charles Pick Consultancy and Kevin Conroy Scott at Tibor Jones & Associates.

Trevathan said: "We are immensely proud to have been associated with Wilbur for almost 50 years and look forward to extending his readership, both physically and digitally, to a new generation of readers."

Smith's first novel, When the Lion Feeds, was published by Pan Macmillan in paperback in 1964, and the publisher took over his hardcover publishing from Heinemann in 1993.

In the lead up to 2014 and the fiftieth anniversary Pan Macmillan plans to republish Smith's backlist, including reissuing his titles in e-book format with a new look. A series of trade and consumer campaigns are also planned for that year, with plans to reissue his backlist in hardback for a "Wilbur Smith Classic Library" market.


Smith is published in over 26 languages, and his estimated global sales are now over 120 million copies. His 33rd novel, Those in Peril, a contemporary thriller set off the shores of Somalia, will be published in hardback in March 2011.