Max Seeck. Tammi Publishing, Lari Järnefelt
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Seeck and Ye Shall Find
In development for some six years—and now with Cannes underway through May 24–Elina Ahlback in Helsinki is enjoying announcing that her Nordic noir champion Max Seeck’s The Faithful Reader (also known as The Witch Hunter) is being adapted into an English-language television series by Stampede Ventures, founded by former Warner Bros president Greg Silverman.
“Finally, we can share the news that Greg Silverman”, Ahlback says, “will produce alongside [executive producer] John-Paul Sarni, Seeck, and [producer-actress] Gudrun Giddings as an English-language series. Brilliant team, brilliant TV Show.” Amelia Mysko is to co-produce, and Chris Murray and Maria Ward are writing.
Seeck is making similarly upbeat noises (“I couldn’t think of a better home for my novels”), and Ahlback notes that efforts to develop the property have been in play since the book’s original edition was published in 2019 by Tammi in Helsinki as Uskollinen lukija (Loyal Reader).
Since then, the book has sold more than 1 million copies and has been published in 41 countries.
Stampede optioned the piece when it published in 2019 and eventually bought the piece, which Seeck refers to as his “Jessica Niemi” book for the detective who’s at the center of the story. Denise Petski at Deadline was reporting on the initial liaison as far back as 2019.
Production is expected to start in Europe this year, with Jennifer Presser doing casting.
Elina Ahlback
And in a 2023 interview with Seeck with Publishing Perspectives, his marketing background was telling him that—though he does not like to get into the screen-development duties (“I shouldn’t be needed on the set once the production starts”—he was fully aware, as Milo came out, of how important it was to have screen development running alongside his writing.
“Especially people who don’t follow the book market so closely but the TV and movie markets instead,” he says, “are perhaps introduced to my books the first time” through screen productions.
As in each roundup, we use some of the sales copy supplied to us by agents and rights directors, editing that copy to give you an idea about a book’s nature and tone, but limiting the promotional elements. If you’d like to submit a deal to Publishing Perspectives, see the instructions at the end of this article.
Omero, the Secret Son
(Omero le fils caché)
By Christos Markogiannakis
- Publisher: Éditions Plon, Paris
- Rights contact: Evangelia Avloniti, Ersilia Literary Agency
- Book info: Read more here
Reported rights sales:
- Newest – Bulgaria: Kryg/List
- Italy: Crocetti Editore
- Greece: Psichogios
Christos Markogiannakis
“Maria Callas gave birth to a premature child. The father was Aristotle Onassis. The newborn was pronounced dead in the hours that followed, as a death certificate attests.
“But what if he had survived? What if Onassis, to prevent the scandal of an illegitimate son, fabricated his baby’s death and gave him up for adoption, unbeknownst to the mother?
“Omero Lengrini’s search for truth leads him across decades and continents, through a web of lies, betrayal, and scandal. Blending fiction with Greek tragedy, Christos Markogiannakis delivers a story of identity, destiny, and the shadows cast by a legendary family.”
Wolfgang, Extraordinary
By Laia Aguilar
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- Publisher: Planeta / Columna
- Rights contact: Anna Soler-Pont, Pontas Literary & Film Agency (rights represented in a joint venture with Planeta)
- Book info: Read more here
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Reported rights sales:
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- Dutch – De Fontein
- Spanish: Planeta / Crossbooks
Polish: Wydawnictwo Widnokrąg
Film: Nostromo Pictures
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Laia Aguilar
More screen news: ‘Wolfgang, Extraordinary’ has been adapted into a major Catalan feature film released on March 14. It has had what is reported to be the most successful cinematic release on record for a Catalan-language film.
“After his mother’s death, 11-year-old Wolfgang—a neurodivergent boy with an IQ of 152 and a passion for music—must live with the father he’s never known.
“As he plans to flee to the world’s best music academy, his journey uncovers family secrets and the complexities of grief. Heartfelt and humorous, this middle-grade novel explores childhood dreams, facing fears, mental health, and the power of connection.”
The book is written as a first-person narrative, and won the 2016 Carlemany Award.
Flight or Fight
(Sobald wir angekommen sind)
By Micha Lewinsky
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- Publisher: Diogenes, Zurich
- Rights contact: Susanne Bauknecht, Diogenes Verlag AG
- Book info: Read more here
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Reported rights sales:
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- French: Phébus
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Micha Lewinsky
“Ben Oppenheim is juggling his former wife, two children, and his love for Julia, and he urgently needs money.
“He’s hoping for a breakthrough with his new screenplay. His producer, however, rejects the Holocaust subject matter.
“Yet the persecution of his forefathers shapes Ben’s thoughts and feelings to this day. When Russia threatens nuclear strike, Ben obeys his flight instinct. The Oppenheim family takes the next plane to Brazil.”
Annemarie Stoltenberg at NDR Kulture, Hamburg, calls the book, “a refined play on our anxieties about the future.”
Queenland, The Bird King, The Paper Dolls
By Eva Fretheim
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- Publisher: Tiden Norsk Forlag
- Rights contact: Gina Winje, Winje Agency
- Book info: We link each title to its own page above because we find no overall series page or commentary.
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Reported rights sales:
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- Newest – Denmark: Gyldendal
- Germany: Rowohlt
- The Netherlands: AW Bruna
- Sweden: Forum
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While we are unable to describe the series that these three books seem to belong to, we’re told that Queenland published first in 2022; The Bird King came out next, in 2024; and The Paper Dolls appeared third, sometime early this year.
As in the case of so much crime fiction, the books appear to be linked by a law-enforcement character, a police investigator named Vigdis Malmstrøm.
Based in Moss, Norway, Fretheim is a journalist and is being called by her agency “The new Norwegian queen of crime fiction.” You just have to wonder how many “new queens of crown fiction” have been crowned in the Nordic nations, don’t you? Surely there’s a book about the battling “queens of crime fiction,” right?
Guilty. Burn for Love
By Rokia
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- Publisher: GeMS / Magazzini Salani
- Rights contact: Viviana Vuscovich – GeMS
- Book info: Read more here
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Reported rights sales:
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- Newest – Poland: Grupa Wydawnicza
- World Spanish: Maggazini Salani Spain
- Russia: Eksmo
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Rokia is the single name by which the author of this book works, and her house—GeMS’ Magazzini Salani (an imprint of Adriano Salani Editore) has had great success in the Italian market in romance and romantasy for younger female readers. Among the most famous of these Magazzani Salani authors is Erin Doom, whose new-adult Fabbricante di lacrime (The Tearsmith) became the first No. 1 film from Italy in Netflix’s international rankings.
Having originally written under the pseudonym Clarine Jay—and gathering more than 11 million views of her work, possibly on Wattpad—she has sold more than 145,000 copies of The Truth Untold (2022). Another of her titles is Syndrome AKA Disorder (2033), with more than 50,000 copies sold. And Guilty (2024) is said to be a duology.
Guilty. Burn for Love was released in April.
Chop Chop: The Story of a Busy Robot
By Linda Bondestam
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- Publisher: Förlaget M
- Rights contact: Hanna Pajunen-Walsh, Rights & Brands
- Book info: Read more here
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Reported rights sales:
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- Newest – Denmark: Jensen & Dalgaard
- World Catalan and Spanish: Takatuka
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Linda Bondestam (Image: Niklas Sandström)
“Chop Chop is Linda Bondestam’s fourth solo picture book, recently awarded the August Prize, the Swedish Children’s Book of the Year 2024.
“Here, a dose of civilization criticism is combined with humor and melancholy.
“Bondestam criticizes society and does not shy away from showing the world its darkest side as she leads the reader toward hope.
“It’s a story set in a dystopian future in which robots and humans coexist and robots have taken over human tasks. Mankind’s only hope is a little robot.”
Submitting Rights Deals to Publishing Perspectives
Do you have rights deals to report? Agents and publishing-house rights directors can use our rights deal submission form to send us the information we need. If you have questions, please send them to Porter@PublishingPerspectives.com
We look forward to hearing from you.
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