 | Happy Monday, guys! Outside of our normal MMGM, some great publishing news came out this week as well! Read on for books that you want to keep an eye on, and more! -J |
Crown Books for Young Readers Acquires Tumblr Sensation Emily Trunko's DEAR MY BLANK and THE LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED
New York, NY, December 7, 2015—Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, has acquired and will publish DEAR MY BLANKand THE LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED, book projects based on the popular Tumblrs of the same name, created by fifteen-year-old Emily Trunko. The two-book deal for U.S. rights was negotiated by Emily Easton, Executive Editor, Crown Books for Young Readers, with Heather Flaherty at The Bent Agency on behalf of Emily Trunko, and was announced today by Phoebe Yeh, Vice President and Publishing Director of Crown.
Trunko’s Dear My Blank Tumblr (dearmyblank.tumblr.com) launched in March 2015 and showcases anonymous letters that people never intend to, or don’t have the courage to, send—ranging in length from a single sentence to thousands of words, and covering a range of topics and emotions from heartbreak, unrequited love, betrayal, loss, self-awareness, courage, and pride. Over 20,000 anonymous letters from people of all ages have been submitted to the Tumblr, and about 100 new letters arrive every day. The site received 34,000 new notes/comments last month alone.
Cosmopolitan calls the Tumblr “an addictive site full of strangers’ secrets,” Distractify says it is “a safe haven for hundreds of letters that will never be sent,” and Hello Giggles raves that Dear My Blank is “Tumblr’s newest obsession.”
Upon the recent launch of her second Tumblr, The Last Message Received (thelastmessagereceived.tumblr.com), Trunko gained 40,000 followers in just three weeks, with nearly 5,000 messages coming in the last two weeks. The Tumblr showcases highs and lows of the human condition, sharing the last messages people received from someone significant in their lives—death, breakup, friendship ending, family fights, etc. Some posts are screenshots of a last text exchange, along with a note giving the background behind the texts.
The two books to be published by Crown, DEAR MY BLANK and THE LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED, will be curated collections of the original Tumblr posts, which have resonated with both teens and adults. The books will be published in 2016, dates to be announced.
“The emotions evoked by Emily Trunko’s Tumblrs are universally understood and felt,” says Easton. “We are excited to bring the Tumblr posts together into two unique book collections, DEAR MY BLANK and THE LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED, enabling readers to connect with the very real and relatable human content on a more personal level.”
EMILY TRUNKO is the creator of the Dear My Blank and The Last Message Received Tumblrs. Trunko was born and raised in a small town in Ohio and homeschooled.
Trunko’s Dear My Blank Tumblr (dearmyblank.tumblr.com) launched in March 2015 and showcases anonymous letters that people never intend to, or don’t have the courage to, send—ranging in length from a single sentence to thousands of words, and covering a range of topics and emotions from heartbreak, unrequited love, betrayal, loss, self-awareness, courage, and pride. Over 20,000 anonymous letters from people of all ages have been submitted to the Tumblr, and about 100 new letters arrive every day. The site received 34,000 new notes/comments last month alone.
Cosmopolitan calls the Tumblr “an addictive site full of strangers’ secrets,” Distractify says it is “a safe haven for hundreds of letters that will never be sent,” and Hello Giggles raves that Dear My Blank is “Tumblr’s newest obsession.”
Upon the recent launch of her second Tumblr, The Last Message Received (thelastmessagereceived.tumblr.com), Trunko gained 40,000 followers in just three weeks, with nearly 5,000 messages coming in the last two weeks. The Tumblr showcases highs and lows of the human condition, sharing the last messages people received from someone significant in their lives—death, breakup, friendship ending, family fights, etc. Some posts are screenshots of a last text exchange, along with a note giving the background behind the texts.
The two books to be published by Crown, DEAR MY BLANK and THE LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED, will be curated collections of the original Tumblr posts, which have resonated with both teens and adults. The books will be published in 2016, dates to be announced.
“The emotions evoked by Emily Trunko’s Tumblrs are universally understood and felt,” says Easton. “We are excited to bring the Tumblr posts together into two unique book collections, DEAR MY BLANK and THE LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED, enabling readers to connect with the very real and relatable human content on a more personal level.”
EMILY TRUNKO is the creator of the Dear My Blank and The Last Message Received Tumblrs. Trunko was born and raised in a small town in Ohio and homeschooled.
In a five-book backlist deal, Navah Wolfe at Saga took world English rights to Cassandra Rose Clarke’s The Assassin’s Curse, The Pirate’s Wish, The Wizard’s Promise, The Mad Scientist’s Daughter, and The Nobleman’s Revenge. Stacia J.N. Decker at Donald Maass Literary brokered the sale.
William Morris Award Finalists Announced!
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CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), selected five books as finalists for the 2016 William C. Morris Award, which honors the year’s best books written for young adults by a previously unpublished author. YALSA will name the 2016 award winner at the Youth Media Awards at 8 a.m. on Jan. 11 in Boston during the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting.
The 2016 finalists are:
Official press release.
The 2016 finalists are:
- “Because You’ll Never Meet Me” written by Leah Thomas, published by Bloomsbury Children's Books;
- “Conviction” written by Kelly Loy Gilbert, published by Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group;
- “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” written by Becky Albertalli, published by Balzer & Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers;
- “The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly” written by Stephanie Oakes, published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers;
- “The Weight of Feathers” written by Anna-Marie McLemore, published by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press
Official press release.
