PRH buys world rights to bestselling self-published children’s book

Penguin Random House (PRH) have acquired world English-language rights to the self-published picture book The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep (Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin) in a three-book deal with the author, reports Publishers Weekly. The book, released through Amazon’s CreateSpace, was number one on Amazon UK’s bestselling print book chart in mid-August, selling 4,119 copies in the week ending 15 August, leading to extensive international media coverage, in part because it is the first self-published book to reach number one on the Amazon UK print chart. US sales topped 29,000 in the week ending 23 August after only 24 copies were sold in the previous week. PRH’s new edition will be released in each of the publisher’s English-language markets, including Australia under the Puffin imprint, on 2 October.

Category: International news Rights and acquisitions