The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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Hodder buys Pegg for seven-figures

09.10.08 Catherine Neilan

Hodder & Stoughton has secured a three-book deal with British comedian Simon Pegg for a seven-figure sum. The actor, who is currently starring in the film version of Toby Young's 2001 memoir How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, will write a book for autumn publication annually over the next three years. Ben Dunn, Hodder Entertainment publisher, conducted the deal for world rights via Pegg's agent Dawn Sedgwick. He said: "Simon is absolutely the most talented person in the whole wide world. He is an extremely engaging and funny writer and I can't wait to start working with him."

The first to market will be Pegg's as-yet-untitled self-penned memoir, which traces Pegg's career from his first ever stand up gig, through his time on the sitcom Spaced and his early films with longtime collaborators Jessica Stevenson and Nick Frost, before ending with his role as Scotty in the forthcoming Star Trek film.

Hodder will release the book as hardback, and will position it similarly to Russell Brand's Christmas number one My Booky Wook, although stylistically it will be "very different".

Although details of the subsequent two books are being kept firmly under wraps, Dunn said they would also be non-fiction. The second, due in 2010, will be a lower-cost "quicky humour" hardback aimed at the Christmas gift market, while the third will be a "highly illustrated, lavishly produced" title.

As well as the Star Trek film, Pegg is due to appear in at least three other films, including one with Frost that will follow on from "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" as part of the "Blood and Ice Cream" trilogy. Dunn said Pegg's fame was growing on both sides of the Atlantic as a result of his box office success.

"Pegg writes for us (UK) but somehow the films appeal to America too," said Dunn. "He is our biggest export – I don't think there is any British actor of his ilk that has been so successful."

Hodder plans to sell rights in the US. Potential launches in other territories have yet to be decided.

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