News

Ann-Christin Antell and her bestselling Cotton Mill trilogy is on fire! Just before the end of the summer, another fantastic deal was made, as Storytel acquired the Swedish and Icelandic rights for all three books.

This is the third (or, third and fourth) foreign rights deal for the trilogy: earlier in the summer, the Danish rights were sold to People’s Press and the French rights were acquired by Hachette’s imprint Marabout.

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Meanwhile, the books continue to sweep the hearts of the Finnish readers: the total number of the copies sold for the books #1 and #2 has already reached 70,000. At the moment, Antell’s fans are eagerly waiting for book #3, due to be published in 2023.

Dubbed as Bridgerton meets L. M. Montgomery, the trilogy began with The Shadow of the Cotton Mill, in 2021, depicting the life of an independent woman in an era when industrialists make up the new elite, women demand equality, and Finland’s status as a nation is undergoing a transformation. 

The second instalment of the trilogy, Heir to the Cotton Mill (2022), picks up the story in the early 20th century, when Finland’s cultural elite, with their strong sense of nationhood, find themselves at odds with Russia’s increasingly oppressive policies.

Congratulations to the author!

Fantastic foreign rights news continue: we are absolutely thrilled to announce that the Oulipo-esque murder mystery 101 Ways to Kill Your Husband by Laura Lindstedt & Sinikka Vuola was sold to Gallimard in France!

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A publisher that hardly requires any introduction, Gallimard is among the best-known and most respected names in the publishing industry in the world. Since its founding in 1911, Gallimard has been known for publishing some of the most acclaimed voices of French and translated literature.

101 Ways to Kill Your Husband shook the Finnish literary scene in the beginning of 2022. In it, the author duo twists and turns a real-life murder into 101 wild and meticulous poses. The writers break the dismal convention of crime stories that begin with the discovery of the body of a young woman. This time, it is the violent husband who dies – 101 times over. The variations of Lindstedt and Vuola dazzle the reader whilst they unravel a tragic story of domestic abuse that ended up in the tabloids.

“Laura Lindstedt and Sinikka Vuola’s book 101 Ways to Kill Your Husband shows us how literature that is mindful of its form can be sociopolitical as well as entertaining. […] It succeeds in stretching its source material to all directions. The pages convey a joy in writing. […] The text shows a rare prism of gendered violence.”
– Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

This is the first foreign rights sale for this title.

Congratulations to both authors!

The hottest series this season continues to conquer the world: French rights of Ann-Christin Antell’s bestselling Cotton Mill trilogy have been acquired by Marabout, an imprint of Hachette, the largest publisher in France and the third largest publishing group in the world.

This is the second foreign rights sale for the trilogy; a few weeks ago, Danish rights were sold to People’s Press. The French deal was made with the help of our wonderful partner in France, Anna Lindblom from the Nordik Agency.

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Founded in 1949, Marabout joined Hachette Group in 1983. With ca. 500 new titles published every year and numerous collections on its list, Marabout’s primary focus is “to give pleasure to their readers”.

Dubbed as Bridgerton meets L. M. Montgomery, the trilogy began with The Shadow of the Cotton Mill, in 2021, depicting the life of an independent woman in an era when industrialists make up the new elite, women demand equality, and Finland’s status as a nation is undergoing a transformation. The book immediately swept the hearts of the Finnish readers: speedily climbing to bestsellers’ lists, the novel sold close to 40,000 copies in Finland altogether. 

The second instalment of the trilogy, Heir to the Cotton Mill (2022), picks up the story in the early 20th century, when Finland’s cultural elite, with their strong sense of nationhood, find themselves at odds with Russia’s increasingly oppressive policies. The book has already sold 20,000 copies in Finland.

The third book, A Rival for the Cotton Mill, is due to be published in 2023.

Congratulations to the author!

Happy news from across the water: Eva Frantz’s bestselling series featuring a somewhat quirky detective Anna Glad will continue to be published in Estonia, as Rahva Raamat acquires the rights for the second novel in the series, The Eighth Maiden.

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Rahva Raamat is one of the oldest and most established publishing houses in Estonia, with a wide selection of books for all kinds of taste. They previously published the first part in the Anna Glad series, The Blue Villa.

The series has also been sold to Denmark (Gyldendal) and Germany (Aufbau), and the third book, Out of the Game (2020), was published in Sweden (Sekwa). The books have done incredibly well on the home front: with praising reviews and over 55,000 copies sold in Finland, Glad remains one of the favourite police investigators among the readers.

Frantz discussed the character and creating suspenseful plots on the cheerful Literature from Finland podcast episode ATMOSPHERES, which can be found on any of the usual platforms.

Exciting news has reached us from France: Antti Rönkä’s 2019 sensation, novel Off the Ground, is now nominated for the Inalco-Vo/Vf translation award in France! The book was translated by Sébastien Cagnoli and published by Payot et Rivages.

The award was established in 2019, by Inalco language institute (Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales), in order to recognise the best French translation of the year from a language that is taught at the institute. The award sum is 1000 euros.

Off the Ground, published in French as Sans toucher terre, is one of the seven nominees. The winner will be announced on 2nd of October.

Upon its publication in 2019, this debut novel caused quite a stir in Finland because of its painful subject, and received praise for the way topics of shame and acceptance have been explored throughout this beautiful text.

The novel received Thank You for the Book! prize and was long-listed for the prestigious Runeberg Prize.

Congratulations to the author and the translator!