We spoke with Oscar van Gelderen of Lebowski Publishers about Dearest, a novel by an actress and writer that went straight to #1 on the Dutch bestseller list.
Book title: Dearest (Lieveling in the Dutch)
Premise: It's a first-person narrative, based on the true story of a friend of the author who suffered from child abuse.
First published: November 5th by Lebowski Publishers of The Netherlands. Rights are controlled by Vicki Satlow Literary Agency in Milan.
Format: Trade paper
Author: Kim van Kooten is an actress and a writer. She appeared in several films and TV series and wrote the screenplays for All is Love and All is Family. This is her first novel.
Acquiring Editor: Jasper Henderson (editor) and Oscar van Gelderen (publisher)
How It's Been Doing: The book landed at #1 on the Dutch bestseller list three days after publication.
Why It's Working: Lebowski created a book trailer and started a teaser campaign which featured quotes from the novel printed on posters posted around the Netherlands, which ran at the same time as a social campaign using the #lieveling hashtag. A serial ran in Linda, a widely read glossy in the Netherlands. And, of course, the author's star power helped. "The combination of a strong woman coming out and dealing with a troubled past and a highly popular actress and writer penning the story made a deep impression," van Gelderen said.
