Calling all gleeks: this fall Little, Brown Books for Young Readers will launch a publishing program based on the hit Fox TV show about a high school glee club, starting with The Beginning, a paperback original prequel that delves into the backstories of various characters on the show. The Beginning will be published by Little, Brown’s Poppy imprint in August with a 150,000-copy first printing.
Senior executive editor Erin Stein and editor Elizabeth Bewley acquired five Glee books from Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising. The books will be developed in collaboration with the show’s producers and writers.
“Viewers may have shed a few tears during Tuesday’s season finale, but we’re so excited to be able to give “gleeks” something to smile about in August,” said Andrew Smith, v-p and deputy publisher of LBYR. “A few of us were lucky enough to attend the sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall and got to see first-hand what a huge and dedicated tween/teen following the show has. There is a huge Glee fan-base at Little, Brown—so much so that several of us took part in a Glee-inspired music video of Somebody to Love that was used to launch the program at sales conference this past February. We’re thrilled to be working with Fox and have the involvement of the show’s brilliant producers to introduce original and exclusive content that fans won’t be able to get anywhere else—not even on the show.”
