Simon and Schuster Children's Books today announced two new deals for young adult novels, which will first be launched as ebook exclusives this autumn.
Venetia Gosling, Editorial Director at S&S, acquired UK & Commonwealth rights in a revenge trilogy by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian from Lorella Belli of the Lorella Belli Literary Agency, on behalf of Folio Literary Management. The first book, entitled Burn for Burn, has just been published as an ebook (October 2012), with the print edition following in March 2013, with two further titles to follow – Fire with Fire and Ashes to Ashes.
Jenny Han is the New York Times bestselling author of Shug and The Summer I Turned Pretty, amongst others. A former children's bookseller, she has a MFA in creative writing.
Siobhan Vivian is the award-winning author of The List and other YA titles. She also teaches creative writing at the University of Pittsburgh and was previously an editor for Alloy Entertainment and wrote for the Disney Channel.
In the second deal, Gosling acquired UK & Commonwealth rights in three historical novels by Katherine Longshore from Lizzy Kremer at
David Higham Associates, on behalf of Inkwell Management. The first novel, Gilt, is based on the rise and fall of Catherine Howard, as witnessed by her best friend Kitty Tylney, and will be released as an ebook first, in November 2012, with the print version following in March 2013. The second in the series, Tarnish, is based on the story of
Anne Boleyn before she met Henry, and will publish in ebook and print formats simultaneously in summer 2013. The third novel, about
Mary Howard and her romance with Henry Fitzroy, follows in 2014. The books are published by Viking Penguin in the US.
Katherine Longshore was born in California and studied acting and costume design at university. She worked as a travel writer before turning to writing for teens, and now writes full-time from her California home.
About Simon and Schuster UK
Simon & Schuster UK Children's Publishing was founded in 1998. Since then it has published numerous popular and bestselling titles and series, including The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black, work by multi-award winning author Sophie McKenzie, The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies (winner of The Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2010),
Andy Mulligan's Ribblestrop series (winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2011), the Thirteen Treasures sequence by Michelle Harrison, bestselling paranormal romance Hush Hush and its sequels by Becca Fitzpatrick, and works by LJ Smith. Stars on the picture book and licensed character list include Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort, Olivia by
Ian Falconer, pre-school sensations
Mike the Knight and The Octonauts, Sue Hendra's Barry the Fish with Fingers, and Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie's award-winning Dogs Don't do Ballet. New additions to the children's list for 2012 include international bestselling author Philippa Gregory with her YA series Order of Darkness, and Darren Shan, with his 12 books series Zom-B. Simon & Schuster was highly commended in the Bookseller Industry Awards 2011, Children's Publisher of the Year category, and was shortlisted in the same category in the 2012 awards.
Simon & Schuster, a part of the CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and non-fiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at www.simonandschuster.co.uk.
