Ebury pre-empts Chatter by award-winning neuroscientist and research psychologist Ethan Kross

Vermilion, an imprint of Ebury Publishing, is to publish a major book by award-winning neuroscientist and research psychologist Ethan Kross, tentatively titled Chatter: The Conversations We Have With Ourselves, Why They Matter, and How to Control Them.

Joel Rickett, Ebury Deputy Publisher, pre-empted UK & Commonwealth rights from Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein, acting for Douglas Abrams of Idea Architects. In the US, Molly Stern, Senior VP & Publisher at Crown, also pre-empted; the book’s editor at Crown will be Rachel Klayman. Negotiations are underway in 12 translation territories around the world in a series of major deals, via the Marsh Agency in London.

In Chatter, Kross, one of the world’s leading experts on controlling the conscious mind, explains why we have an inner voice and shows us how we can control it to live healthier, more satisfying and productive lives. Drawing on Kross’s own ground-breaking experiments, which have been the focus of media attention worldwide, and colourful real-world examples, Chatter takes readers from the laboratory to the bedroom to the boardroom to introduce us to the hidden resources that exist within our minds and environments. It shows us how to harness the conversations we have with ourselves to make us happier, smarter and more effective – and also offers insight into how leaders, parents and teachers can draw on those tools to help others achieve.

Ethan Kross said: ‘For the past twenty years I’ve puzzled over why our attempts to control the conversations we have with ourselves succeed or fail. Chatter tells the story of what I’ve learned: that we possess a remarkable set of tools for influencing these conversations, and that they’re often hidden in plain sight – in the words we use to think about ourselves, the digital relationships we engage in, the diaries we keep hidden in our drawers, the conversations we have with our loved ones, and the cultures that surround us. In Chatter, I’ll connect these scientific discoveries with people’s everyday experiences to demonstrate how powerful these tools are for helping people control what is arguably the most important conversation they have each day: the one they have with themselves.’

Joel Rickett, Ebury Deputy Publisher, said: ‘These books only come along every few years, and the instant we heard about Chatter we knew we had to publish it. There’s a killer hook that everyone can relate to – the terrifying power of our inner voice, and how to turn it from ‘critic’ to ‘coach’. But what was most impressive was Ethan Kross’ blend of deep, original research and simple, applicable mental strategies. Chatter already feels like the natural successor to Quiet, Thinking Fast and Slow and of course Vermilion’s own iconic bestseller, The Chimp Paradox.’

Chatter will be published simultaneously in the UK and the US as a hardback, ebook and audiobook.

About the author

Ethan Kross Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology in the University of Michigan’s top-ranked social psychology programme, and Director of its Emotion and Self-Control Laboratory. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University’s Psychology PhD program where he was supported by fellowships from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Mental Health. His pioneering research has been published and featured in peer-reviewed journals and mainstream media including the New York Times, New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Psychological Science. His work has been profiled in Science five times and was recently cited in a public policy report published by the National Academies of Sciences. In 2013 he participated in a White House workshop to discuss ways of using psychological research to improve public policy.

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