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Egmont Press has bought the rights to a new series by A Series of Unfortunate Events author Lemony Snicket. Leah Thaxton, fiction publisher, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, including Australia and New Zealand, from the Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency in New York.
The series, which at this stage cannot be named, will contain four titles and the first instalment will be published in hardback in 2012. Thaxton said: "Usually, I look forward to opening my post. It’s exciting to think that I might find a manuscript to bring comfort and joy to any reader. But that morning, when I saw the handwriting on the envelope . . . Well, how would you feel if you knew you were about to unleash yet more untold misery on the unsuspecting children of this country? We at Egmont can’t escape Lemony Snicket's grim story but, for the rest of you, there's time. PLEASE READ SOMETHING ELSE!"
Director of Egmont Press Cally Poplak, added: "Well, we are very, very worried. No one listened to our warnings last time with A Series of Unfortunate Events, and we tried everything to stop people reading the books. As if the recession weren’t bad enough, now British readers have the threat of a new series from Mr Snicket hanging over them. As a responsible publisher, of course we shall put all our efforts into ensuring no child is exposed to yet more misery from Mr Snicket’s investigations."
When asked to comment, Lemony Snicket said: "I can neither confirm nor deny that I have begun research into a new case, and I can neither confirm nor deny that the results are as dreadful and unnerving as A Series Of Unfortunate Events. However, I can confirm that Egmont will be publishing these findings. By the way, who is this?"
Pseudonymous Snicket's previous series consisted of 13 titles, the first three were made into a film by Universal Pictures starring Jim Carrey, Billy Connolly and Meryl Streep. A Series of Unfortunate Events was translated into 39 languages and according to Egmont sold over 60 million copies worldwide.
There are no further details on the new series, but Snicket's previous collection told the story of Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire, whose parents were burned to death in a fire that destroyed their home. The children were imprisoned, abused and narrowly escaped death many times in a series of misadventures with their evil, distant relative, Count Olaf.