LBBG Imprint - Abacus

The Abacus list celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023 and has a reputation both for excellence and for major bestsellers. It is a literary list but also one of the most commercially successful imprints in publishing.

From non-fiction classics by Primo Levi and Nelson Mandela to memoir, ideas and history by writers like David Sedaris, Rachel Clarke (winner of the 2025 Women’s Prize), Malcolm Gladwell and Tom Holland; from cult literary icons like David Foster Wallace and Beryl Bainbridge to million-copy blockbuster novelists like Celeste Ng, Chris Brookmyre and Alexander McCall Smith, Abacus authors are united by their intelligence, wit, fresh perspectives on the world – and the power of their storytelling.

We have published many Sunday Times bestsellers and our authors have been recognised by major literary prizes – including Booker-shortlisted Jane Gardam, Simon Mawer, Chigozie Obioma, Women’s Prize winner Valerie Martin and Pulitzer Prize winner Donna Tartt. Abacus is dedicated to the long-term careers of its writers, and to making brilliant books into bestsellers.

Clare Smith, Executive Publisher (Literary) and Publisher at Abacus

I am Executive Publisher of the literary imprints at Little, Brown (Abacus, Corsair, Fleet, The Bridge Street Press and Virago). I love narrative-driven literary fiction and my authors include Celeste Ng, Colson Whitehead, Suzannah Dunn (shortlisted for the Nero Fiction Prize 2025), Claire Messud (longlisted for the Booker Prize 2024), Sara Novic, Rupert Everett, Geraldine Brooks and Dennis Lehane.

Richard Beswick, Managing Director at Abacus

I publish fiction and (mainly) non-fiction with strong voices and personality – memoirs that reveal both the writer and a wider sense of the contemporary world; history and social history that open a window on the present and past; politics and music and upmarket sports books that do the same. In 2025 Abacus was very proud to publish Rachel Clarke’s The Story of a Heart, which won the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction and was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize. I am also looking for non-fiction presented by experts for a general reader; witty books that appeal to fans of, for example, Armando Iannucci and Succession; and books for an older demographic, for example Abacus’ recent Sunday Times bestseller, Colin Bell’s Bloody Dangerous.

Matilda Singer, Editor

I publish literary fiction and narrative non-fiction and I’m always looking for great storytelling and original thinking that has the potential to find a wide readership. My authors include Pulitzer Prize-winner Jayne Anne Phillips, Australian novelist Rhett Davis, and journalist and critic Amy Raphael.

Rhiannon Smith, Editorial Director

I’ve been working on the literary teams at Little, Brown since 2017, publishing fiction and non-fiction. I’m looking for unique storytelling that reaches readers directly and authors who tell you stories that no-one else could. I love to be surprised by a submission and I’m always on the hunt for unusual books with a bit of an edge. My authors include Séamas O’Reilly, Hollie McNish, Yara Rodrigues Fowler, Rebecca Makkai, Emma van Straaten and Jenny Slate.

Anna Kelly, Publishing Director at Abacus and Virago

Anna studied French and German literature and then worked at Hamish Hamilton and 4th Estate before joining Little, Brown. She publishes literary fiction and non-fiction, including books in translation, and her authors include Keiran Goddard, Keigo Higashino, Anika Jade Levy, Camila Sosa Villada, Veronica Raimo, ’Pemi Aguda and Becca Rothfeld.