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Canongate is hoping to replicate the success of its reissue of Life of Pi in a mass market edition last summer by repackaging Michel Faber’s bestselling novel, The Crimson Petal and the White.
The "ambitious” relaunch for the novel, originally published in 2002, is set for 1st July. The publisher said the launch would include "a striking new jacket”, and will be backed by a strong publicity and marketing campaign, as well as front-of-store summer reading promotions.
The new 850-page edition contains reading-group notes and will be promoted with library reading groups throughout the UK. The novel will also be the subject of Radio 4 and Guardian Book Clubs, with a four-part TV drama adaptation of the book due to air on BBC2 in the spring of next year.
Jenny Todd, sales and marketing director for Canongate, said: "There will be a full campaign to back the launch—this is not just a reissue.”
She added: "Reissuing backlist as frontlist is something that we firmly believe in. We had great success when we reissued Life of Pi last year.”
According to Nielsen BookScan figures, the new edition of Life of Pi (published 2nd July last year) has sold nearly 40,000 copies. For the full year before relaunch, the book sold almost 30,000 copies. Since relaunch, this older edition has sold just over 9,500. In its latest results, Canongate reported an increase in backlist sales in 2009 from £2.14m to £5.4m.
The Crimson Petal and the White tells of the relationship between a young prostitute and a businessman who rises to prominence, in a narrative set in the underbelly of Victorian London.