Puffin has acquired five new titles from Katie Kirby as part of her bestselling Lottie Brooks series in a “significant” seven-figure deal.

Artificial Intelligence has worsened the problem of copyright theft from book designers, experts have said, as another illustrator spoke of stolen designs on Temu.

Bestselling biographer and agent Andrew Lownie warns that “history is growing censored” with royal records apparently becoming closed after being open for many years.