You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Transworld plans to capture the "compelling human drama" of the Chilean mine rescue, acquiring 33 Men, Buried Alive: The Inside Story of the Trapped Chilean Miners by Guardian journalist Jonathan Franklin.
Publisher Bill Scott-Kerr bought UK and Commonwealth rights to the title on proposal through Annabel Merullo at PFD, with commissioning editor Simon Thorogood to edit the title. "It is one of those stories, you can see by the reaction to it today, with the rescues underway, that it is incredibly emotional, such a compelling human drama; the horror of the situation in really involving," said Thorogood.
Investigative journalist Franklin has lived in Chile for 16 years, and so has an extensive base of contacts. He is the only print journalist offered front row access to the rescue efforts, and has also been allowed to attend planning meetings, private conversations with the miners, photographs of the trapped men and almost unlimited time with the lead doctor and psychologist. Reporting on the story for the Guardian, as well as the Washington Post, Das Spiegel and the Sydney Morning Herald, he is "the man on the scene in Chile for a number of leading news outlets", said Thorogood.
Merullo said: "I approached [Franklin] after the story broke. His reporting on the story has clearly been the best. He has been on the scene from day one . . . It is a fantastic international story that has captivated the world."
Transworld plans to publish in hardback through imprint Bantam Press in early 2011. Deals have been signed in France and Germany, with offers coming in from Spain and Canada; it has also gone out on offer to the US.
Thorogood added: "I am hoping to speak to him [Franklin] tomorrow, but the intention is to put it all together fairly quickly, in the next six to eight weeks."