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Children's publisher Chicken House is to join with German publisher Carlsen in a joint venture, Chicken House Deutschland, to publish and market its titles in Germany. Chicken House already has a similar joint venture agreement with Scholastic in the US. Carlsen approached Chicken House to secure the deal, which was announced at the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Barry Cunningham, publisher and founder of Chicken House, said that the list would be launched into Germany in Autumn 2009 with some backlist titles and all new titles going forward. The deal will open up another home market for Chicken House and its authors and will enhance its position in the "very healthy" German market, said Cunningham. "It gives us a coherent publicity and marketing machine, so will give our books a higher impact and, hopefully, bigger sales." Germany is the largest children’s book market in Continental Europe, comparable in size to the UK market.
Klaus Humann, publishing director at Carlsen, said: "In the age of big book trusts and globalised gusto, it is fun to meet a publisher whose interest is to work intensely with authors on their manuscripts and to launch their books with great professionalism and a distinct sense of identity."
Chicken House has already sold rights to much of its backlist into Germany, with author Kevin Brooks doing "very well" and the recently-launched Tunnels (Roderick Gordon, Brian Williams) also proving popular among German readers.
Carlsen, which approached Chicken House to secure the deal, publishers a number of high profile international children’s authors including JK Rowling, Philip Pullman and Stephenie Meyer.
Chicken House will use the base in Germany to seek out new talent that can be published into the UK, said Cunningham. The company already publishes bestselling German author Cornelia Funke.