Open Road Integrated Media has secured rights to a large body of British writer Alan Sillitoe’s work, as well as the rights to his last, unpublished novel, Moggerhanger. The new novel, the final installment of a trilogy that includes A Start in Life and Life Goes On, will be published worldwide in English in spring 2016.
Also, beginning next spring, Open Road will release 24 of Sillitoe’s backlist titles, 18 of them throughout the world in English and six in the U.S. only. An additional 19 titles will be distributed by Open Road Distribution.
“We are beyond excited to welcome Alan Sillitoe’s backlist and his last, unpublished novel to the Open Road catalogue,” said Jane Friedman, CEO and cofounder of Open Road. “This addition is a prime example of Open Road’s commitment to reinvigorating the backlist catalogs of great writers.”
Charlotte Greig, strategic advisor for Open Road in London, acquired the rights from Peter Straus and Cara Jones at Rogers, Coleridge & White, in conjunction with Sillitoe's widow, Ruth Fainlight.
Said Fainlight, “I know that Alan would have been as delighted as I am that so much of his backlist is being made available by Open Road in digital form and, most exciting of all, that in due course, the final volume of the Moggerhanger trilogy will be published both in print and as an e-book.”
