Little, Brown Gets a Little Bigger

Not long ago, I reported that author Val McDermid had left HarperCollins UK after many years of association in order to join Little, Brown. But it seems the latter publisher’s appetite for talent was not sated by that single acquisition. It has now apparently poached from Transworld Publishing’s stable. According to a Little, Brown press release:

Carl Hiaasen is moving from Transworld to Little, Brown for his UK publishing. Agent Jonny Geller (Curtis Brown), acting on behalf of Esther Newberg (ICM) has signed a two-book deal with Sphere Publisher, David Shelley.

The first of the two books will be published in Sphere hardback in April 2010, and the second a year later. Knopf will be publishing in hardback in the US, as usual partnering with Grand Central for the paperback.

Hiaasen is an established international bestseller, published in 33 languages (as he comments, ‘32 more than I can read or write’). Dubbed ‘America’s finest satirical novelist’ by the Observer, Hiaasen is also an acclaimed author of novels for young people and an award-winning journalist.

David Shelley comments: ‘I have long been a Carl Hiaasen fan, so it is a dream come true to publish him. We have exciting plans for his UK publishing and, given that from 2010 he will be delivering a book a year, we think that there are great opportunities for building his profile still further.’

Considering how much mirth Hiaasen’s work creates, we’ll see who enjoys the loudest and last laugh at this deal.