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Australian author’s middle-grade trilogy acquired at auction

A middle-grade trilogy from debut Australian author Jessica Townsend has been acquired at auction by Hachette UK, US and Australia, reports the Bookseller.

The first book in the trilogy tells the ‘magical story about a girl who has to complete “near-impossible” trials to earn her place in the city of Nevermoor’.

Helen Thomas, editorial director of Hachette UK’s Orion Children’s imprint, said: ‘Jess has artfully created a daring, brilliant, utterly compelling hero, and a fantastical new world that will entirely absorb readers, leaving them begging for their own invitation to Nevermoor, just as children have been waiting for their letter from Hogwarts, or to discover their His Dark Materials daemon. This is a series that will set the imaginations of children soaring for years to come.’

According to the Bookseller, Hachette was one of eight publishers bidding for world English rights to the trilogy. ‘Pre-empt deals’ have also been struck in the Netherlands, Spain, France, Hungary, Israel and Finland, with a number of other territories currently at auction.

Townsend previously worked as a copywriter and editor of a children’s wildlife magazine for Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo.

 

Category: Junior Local news Rights and acquisitions