Ebury Press acquires the rights to Danny Wallace’s debut novel and Working Title buy film rights…….
Ebury Press is delighted to announce the acquisition of Sunday Times bestselling author Danny Wallace’s debut novel, Charlotte Street, for publication in Summer 2012. Ebury Publisher Jake Lingwood bought UK and Commonwealth (exc Canada) rights from Simon Trewin at United Agents for an undisclosed sum.
Charlotte Street follows the life of a thirty-something Londoner, struggling with his personal and professional life, who one day finds himself falling for a stranger. As the mystery woman disappears in a taxi, leaving his life as quickly as she’s entered it, she mistakenly leaves a disposable camera in his hands, which will provide the only clues to her identity. A pitch perfect romantic comedy, Charlotte Street provides all the charm and warmth of Wallace’s bestselling non-fiction titles.
Jake Lingwood commented, “Over the last few years, Danny’s writing has just been getting better and better. Charlotte Street, however, has exceeded all our expectations. It’s smart, funny, and of course, full of Danny’s trademark observational humour. But at the same time it has wonderful characters and a real heart that his fans – and I have no doubt a wider fiction reading audience – will adore.”
Within a few days of submitting the manuscript United Agents have already sold translation rights in Charlotte Street to Germany and Israel with many other deals pending.
Last week, Danny Wallace was awarded PPA Columnist of the Year 2011 for his weekly column Danny Wallace is A Man in Shortlist Magazine, on which his books Awkward Situations for Men and More Awkward Situations for Men (published 30 June 2011) are based. One of Danny Wallace’s previous non-fiction projects Yes Man was adapted by Warner Bros. as a feature film starring Jim Carrey in the lead role. In total, sales of Danny Wallace’s books for Ebury Press exceed 500,000 copies.
Working Title Films have today announced that they have optioned the feature film rights to Charlotte Street. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner will produce the project for Working Title. Liza Chasin and Amelia Granger will oversee development.
For further information, please contact Ed Griffiths at Ebury Press on 020 7840 8628 or email egriffiths@eburypublishing.co.uk