UK novelist Jasper Kent sold US rights to his two historical vampires novels—Twelve and Thirteen Years Later—to Pyr. Helen Edwards (Rights Director at Transworld UK) handled the sale to Editorial Director Lou Anders, for “a good five-figure sum in US dollars,” according to agent John Jarrold (who originally sold world rights to Transworld in 2008).
Transworld published Twelve, Jasper’s debut novel, under its Bantam Press imprint in January 2009, and Jarrold tells us “it is the second-highest-selling trade paperback debut novel right across UK publishing in 2009.” Thirteen Years Later is scheduled to be published in the UK in March 2010.
Anders said “I’m thrilled to be welcoming Jasper Kent into the Pyr fold. Twelve is a magnificent blend of a historical novel and a dark fantasy novel, that could appeal equally to readers both in and out of genre. Jasper is a skilled storyteller, whose compelling prose had me hooked from his opening chapter. The book is ‘un-put-downable’, and I love that he has brought back a real sense of threat and danger to the classic monsters, something that has been lacking with too many vampires lately. I cannot wait to spring this on US readers.”