John Baker

To go with the fancy new Instagram profile, I've updated my #MSWL on the @belllomaxmoreton website [link in bio]. Please do have a browse and send me some great books.

Last June, @nocturn_al_shine and I had a life changing experience attending THE WATCHERS Premier in New York. We had a good time.

THE REPUBLIC OF MEMORY by Mahmud El Sayed is out now in the UK from @gollancz and in the US from @sagapress 🎉 Happy publication day @mahmud0elsayed ! 🪽🏙️ The Safina is a city ship, two hundred years into its voyage from the ruins of Earth towards a new habitable world. Its crew maintain the ship, generation after generation, while protecting their 'ancestors' - the final remnants of Earth's doomed Network Empire - by keeping them alive in cryostasis. But a lot can change in two hundred years, and people are starting to ask questions. Why should the crew continue to toil for people none of them remember? What exactly gives Administration its authority over everyone else? And when the blackouts start, they set in motion a chain of events that will change life on the Safina forever. A reckoning is coming. The system is only secure so long as those in power maintain the obedience of those beneath them. And the crew has had enough. A science fiction odyssey of breathtaking scope, The Republic of Memory is a gripping examination of what divides us, and what brings us together. This is a modern and ambitious work of Arabfuturism, and is perfect for fans of The Expanse, A Memory Called Empire or Children of Time.

🚨 NEW DEAL ALERT 🚨 @sagapressbooks have acquired Robert Gardiner's @robertgardiner_ debut epic fantasy trilogy starting with THE CALL OF THE EMPYREAN from @agentbakerbooks . The first book will be published in summer 2027. Congratulations Robert!

I am incredibly happy to share that I have signed on with @agentbakerbooks at @belllomaxmoreton . John got my vision for the book from day one and has brought enthusiasm and belief in spades. It’s been an absolute pleasure and I can’t wait to see where this journey goes!

This is how it's done! Congratulations @mahmud0elsayed , hugely deserved!

Are you ready to find the greatest love in the galaxy? A reality dating show goes intergalactic in this sci-fi romance novel for fans of Ali Hazelwood and Hannah Nicole Maehrer! LOVE GALAXY by Sierra Branham ( @authorsierrabranham ) is published TODAY by @bantambooksuk . Happy publication day, Sierra! 🪐 💜 💫 Tonight, on Love Galaxy, a hot new bombshell enters the cosmos! Trash collector Temmi never expected to land a spot on Love Galaxy, the wildly popular dating show starring the brother and sister heirs to the galactic empire: twenty-four contestants. Two imperial heirs. One chance for Temmi to change her life. Hang on – Temmi, babes, you’re supposed to be wooing the prince, not falling for his sister! Temmi may have been hand-picked to date the quiet, bookish prince, but she can’t seem to keep away from Princess Spie. She’s entirely off limits, but their magnetic chemistry is undeniable. OK, plot twist! But all’s fair in love and revolution, right? When contestants start turning up dead and whispers of rebellion spread, Temmi and Spie find themselves in over their heads – romantically, politically and, possibly, fatally.

🚨 NEW DEAL ALERT! 🚨 Transworld has snapped up a swimming pool horror for its first horror imprint @3.ambooks . Splasher, by Billie Host, the pseudonymous name for Morag Hannah and Erin Hardee ( @mkhardywrites ), was described by the publisher as a “summerween horror novel”. Anna Sophia Carvanova, assistant editor, acquired world rights from John Baker ( @agentbakerbooks ) at Bell Lomax Moreton. Congratulations, Erin & Mo! 🥽 🌊 🔪 With a dual timeline set in both 1996 and 2006, Splasher pits a university swim team and their assistant coach against a ghostly threat that wants to pick them off one-by-one. The synopsis continues: “When Spencer Ward begins coaching his old college swim team, dealing with the ghosts of his past is the last thing he expects to do. Then two students are found dead in the pool, and all bets are off. As increasingly severe freak accidents plague the students, and twisted shadows are seen by the poolside, Spencer and his swim team must work out what is hunting them before it’s too late. Instead of chlorine, the water will soon run red with blood.” Hardee and Hannah said: “We were so delighted to work with Anna on a project that allowed us to indulge in all the tropes of the pulpy horror novels and slasher movies of our youth. Splasher is a love letter to the genre, and we hope folk have as much fun reading it as we did writing it.” Carvanova said: “I’m so excited to be working with Erin and Morag on Splasher. Their writing is wonderfully self-aware and witty, while also giving us all the gore and thrills that slasher fans demand. This book delivers all the excitement, winces and nostalgia of watching a 2000s horror blockbuster with your friends.” Baker said: “It’s been such a delight seeing Erin and Morag use their slasher-sharp wit and refined knack for ‘00s nostalgia in this wonderfully wicked book, and working with Anna and the 3AM team has been brilliant.”

Congratulations to the brilliant Kenechi Udogu who has won The 2026 People's Book Prize for Children's Literature for AUGMENTED 🎉

A dark and fast paced blend of fantasy, crime fiction and dark academia, THE VIOLENTLY DEPARTED by Sarah J. Daley @sarahkennedydaley is published TODAY with @angryrobotbooks . Happy publication day Sarah! 🔥🔥🔥 A missing nun found murdered, a school built on secrets, a haunted town. A new case for Hero Viridian: half-demon, disgraced ex-nun-turned-investigator. With the stink of demonic involvement surrounding the murder, who better to deal with it than a woman with something to prove, eyes of literal flame and a direct connection to hell? However, when those who sought her help turn against her, a vulnerable Hero must rely on an unlikely partner, Oleander Keen – a Demonhunter who has already tried to kill her.

Make me your world, Harry Alexander... MAN MUSE MONSTER by Naomi Gibson ( @naomigwrites ) is published TODAY with @dialoguepublishing . Happy publication day, Naomi! Gorgeous photo spread by @fantasyandfern . 🖤 🖤 🖤 For over a century, the Great Alexanders have been celebrated for their musical, literary and artistic talents. Harry Alexander, the last and youngest of the family, will do anything to be counted amongst them. But Harry is a struggling art student and on the brink of losing his family inheritance and the Alexanders’ ancestral home, Ashburn Hall. Greatness never felt further out of reach. Then, he stumbles upon the source of his family’s success: a muse. This supernatural being trapped in paint and canvas steps into Harry’s life in the form of a handsome young man... as dangerous as he is beautiful, as capricious as he is inspiring. As the artist and the muse grow ever closer, Harry’s artistic reputation soars. But muses are made, not born, and Harry’s has a dark and bloody origin. And when enemies begin to emerge from the shadows, hungry for fame of their own, Harry will finally have to confront the true cost of greatness...

We are thrilled to share that the brilliant Kenechi Udogu ( @kenechiudogu ), author of AUGMENTED, has been shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award alongside her lovely @faberchildrens editors, Natasha Brown and Jenny Glencross. Congratulations, Kenechi, Natasha, and Jenny! 🌱 🌻