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Portobello Books is today (21st July) launching a website to promote the publication of the new book from Man Booker International Prize-winning author Han Kang.
Kang’s The White Book, described as “a masterpiece” by the publisher, will be published on 2nd November. From now until the publication date Portobello will be sharing exclusive pre-publication news content from The White Book, Kang and her translator, Deborah Smith, on the new website. There will also be the opportunity for readers to subscribe to a mailing list which will deliver each update to their inboxes.
Following publication, Kang will embark on a short tour around the country speaking at Waterstones Tottenham court Road (13th November), Spike Island with the Bristol Festival of Ideas (14th November) and at Waterstones Manchester Deansgate (15th November).
The publisher is also planning a “major” publicity campaign to include broadsheet and radio profiles as well as interviews and “extensive” review coverage.
Iain Chapple, sales and marketing director, said that with Kang’s "significant" existing fanbase, the publisher is anticipating pre-orders "in excess of 1,000 copies".
Publicity director Pru Rowlandson added that the press is "going big" with Kang's new book as it is "extraordinarily beautiful". “[The Vegetarian] took the whole world by storm [and] her previous novel, Human Acts was a fabulous critical and commercial success too,” she added.
Editorial director Max Porter said of the book: "It's an extraordinary privilege to work with Han Kang and Deborah Smith. The White Book sees [Kang] going very deep into her past, into trauma and memory (of a person, of a city, of a culture) into language itself, into the colour white. It's a devastatingly beautiful blend of poetry, memoir and descriptive prose. Like all Kang's work it is an exquisitely tender reckoning with this painful world. It has been translated with deft brilliance by Deborah Smith. We will make a very special physical object, a white book with photographs, accompanied by a gorgeous marketing campaign. All of us at Portobello Books are honoured and excited to be publishing this book."
Kang's The Vegetarian, winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, has sold 57,449 copies. Her subsequent novel Human Acts has sold 3,249, according to Nielsen BookScan.