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Teen horror writer Darren Shan has agreed a multi-book deal with his publisher HarperCollins. The author, who has sold more than 15 million books worldwide and nearly 2.3 million in the UK, will write a four-book vampire series and a stand-alone fantasy quest novel.
The deal also covers seven manga titles based on Shan's bestselling series, The Saga of Darren Shan, illustrated by Japanese artist Takahiro Arai. The books have been created from comics published in Japan and will be published in the UK in June.
UK and Commonwealth rights in the books were acquired by Gillie Russell, publishing director for fiction 11+, and Stella Paskins, editorial director at HarperCollins Children's Books, from Christopher Little and Romily Must at the Christopher Little Agency.
Darren Shan's début novel, Cirque du Freak, has sold nearly 170,000 copies in the UK (TCM figures from Nielsen BookScan) since its publication in 2000. The first three books in the series are being made into a film which is expected to be released in the UK later this year.
The author is keeping details of the planned vampire series, which will be published in 2010, under wraps, but it is understood it could link to the Saga of Darren Shan series. Speaking exclusively to The Bookseller, Shan said: "It may be related to either one of my existing series but I am not saying much about it as we are focusing on the last two Demonata titles (Dark Calling and Hell's Heroes), which publish in May and October respectively this year."
Shan's fantasy quest title will also publish in 2010. Shan said: "It's not a traditional fantasy quest novel—its biggest influence is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn rather than Tolkien."
HarperCollins will support the launches with UK tours and a multi-platform marketing campaign focusing on online activity.