Nick Lake

With an unusually heavy spring for Young Adult débuts ahead in 2014, publishers are increasingly reliant on social media to deliver YA sales.

Platforms including Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest and BookTubers are now "the best opportunity to build loyal readers, which then leads to sales," said Sarah Benton, head of marketing at Hot Key Books.

HarperCollins has acquired a fantasy debut by 18-year-old classical musician, Stefan Bachmann. Editorial director Nick Lake bought UK and Commonwealth rights in the title and one other from Greenwillow Books at HarperCollins US. The first book, The Peculiar, is set in an alternative Victorian England, and follows Bartholomew Kettle, a changeling child, despised by both humans and faeries.