Danish Puppet Book Draws Bidders
The Danish Octo Book, which was just published in Denmark by Alvilda, is drawing the eye of various publishers in Europe. The Salomonsson Agency is handling rights to the lifestyle/hobby book, which has just sold in a flurry of sales. The book explores the phenomenon behind the octopus puppets that are used in Danish neonatal units to help soothe premature babies, with instructions on how to create a puppet at home. (The puppets supposedly remind newborns of the umbilical cord.) The agency accepted quick preempt deals with Luitingh-Sijthoff (Netherlands), Azbooka-Atticus (Russia) and Aula & Co (Finland). At press time, rights to the book had also sold in the U.K. and Croatia, and there are offers from Spain.
Dutch Debut Sells in Germany
A Thousand Fathers by Nhung Dam has sold to Ullstein in Germany, in a deal brokered by Dutch publisher De Bezige Bij, which controls world rights to the book. De Bezige Bij published the book last month; it's about an 11-year-old girl from a family of Vietnamese immigrants trying to survive after her father abandons the family. Ullstein will publish the book in spring 2019, in hardcover.
Two German Novels Nabbed Down Under
Australia's Text Publishing has bought world English rights to two German novels. The first, Look at Me by Mareike Krügel, was acquired from Piper in Germany; it's a woman who, after discovering a lump in her breast, contemplates her life. Piper, which is publishing Look at Me in August, has sold rights to Mondadori (Italy), Laffont (France), and other houses. The second book, Beside Yourself by Sasha Marianna Salzmann, was acquired from Suhrkamp, and is a multigenerational story set in several cities, including Berlin, Moscow, and Istanbul about a young woman who goes searching for her lost twin brother. The author has written several plays and rights to the book have sold to various publishers, including Seix Barral (Spain) and Grasset (France).
Italian Sociology Book Crosses the Border
Born Liquid, the final work by Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, has sold in Germany. Italy’s Sperling Publishing controls rights to the book, which Bauman finished before his death, in January. Written with journalist Thomas Leoncini, the book follows a group of people born in the 1980s who lack stability in their lives today; the work, according to the publisher, zeroes in on various aspects of what Bauman thought were interesting aspects of this generation, from their need for body transformations (through plastic surgery and tattoos) to the ways they build relationships on social networks. German rights sold to Bastei Luebbe and, at press time, offers were in from houses in several other territories. Sperling published the book in Italy last month.
