Bonnier Books UK’s dedicated music imprint, Nine Eight Books, is celebrating an illustrious first 12 months of publishing with a series of ‘Book of the Year’ accolades across media and retailers, as it looks to build on the success of its debut year with the announcement of a raft of new titles for 2023.
Miki Berenyi’s searing and critically acclaimed memoir Fingers Crossed was awarded ‘Book of the Year’ at leading independent music retailers Rough Trade and Resident as well as making Best of the Year lists at The Times, The Sunday Times, FT, Mojo, Irish Times, Stylist and Monorail Music.
Elsewhere, books from Chris Blackwell, Will Hodgkinson and Trevor Horn all featured in the Telegraph’s end of year round up, whilst Gordon King from World of Twist’s When Does the Mind-Bending Start? and Tom Doyle’s Kate Bush biography Running Up That Hill – a Waterstones music book of the year – joined Berenyi in The Times Books of the Year list. Doyle was also singled out at Uncut magazine alongside Chris Blackwell’s The Islander and the legendary PP Arnold’s revelatory Soul Survivor memoir. Hodgkinson’s In Perfect Harmony was picked as a Guardian Book of the Year.
Pete Selby, publishing director for Nine Eight Books said: “It’s been a thrilling, somewhat overwhelming first year for Nine Eight. I couldn’t be happier with how our books have connected with our readers and across the media. From Miki to Pat Arnold, Will Hodgkinson to Gordon King, when you’ve been working on a really special manuscript for 18 months it’s incredibly satisfying to release that into the wild and see that everyone feels the same. Any publisher is only ever as good as their authors and it’s been a privilege to help share the stories of everyone on Nine Eight. I feel incredibly lucky that so many gifted writers placed their faith in us when we were merely a logo, a romantic concept and a hard sell over a cup of coffee. But this is just the beginning.”
Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2023, Nine Eight’s early releases see Pink Floyd biographer Mark Blake’s Us and Them – the authorised biography of rock n’ roll design collective Hipgnosis, the definitive story of the partnership, iconic album artwork and their rock ‘n’ roll life out in February.
The debut book by Guardian writer Michael Cragg, Reach for the Stars, will publish in March and looks at the fame and fallout of British pop music at the turn of the millennium. From Girl Power to Girls Aloud (and all the glorious points in between), the ultimate study told by everyone who was there.
Also in March: Lead Sister, a pioneering biography re-evaluating the life and legacy of transcendent musician Karen Carpenter from Dr Lucy O’Brien, academic, writer and musician.
Season of the Witch by music journalist Cathi Unsworth is the first book to cover the inception and rise of goth – one of the world’s most enduringly popular musical subcultures.
Nine Eight Books was launched last year by Pete Selby – drawing on his extensive experience across the publishing and music industries to provide a home for broad, bold and entertaining perspectives where music is always at the heart of the story.
