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Crowd-funded publisher Unbound has signed its first two rights deals, with c.e.o. John Mitchinson saying the acquisitions are "more evidence that we are straddling the gap between a crowd-funding platform and a traditional publisher".
The publisher bought UK and exclusive European rights through Sophie Hamley at the Cameron Creswell Agency to Australian author Jessica Jones' breast cancer memoir The Elegant Art of Falling Apart, which is already published by Hachette Australia.
Unbound has also acquired worldwide rights in Hattori Hachi: The Curse of the Diamond Daggers, the third book in a debut trilogy by Jane Prowse, making the deal with Rochelle Stevens at Rochelle Stevens & Co. The first two books in the trilogy were published by Piccadilly Press, but Prowse decided to move because her heroine had outgrown the age-range of her original publisher's market.
If the books both receive their funding from the public within the 90-day time limit, they will be published in early summer 2012. If for any reason the books do not receive their funding in the allotted time, the rights will revert back to the authors.
Mitchinson said: "This is a proud moment for us: our first two rights deals. Jessica and Jane are exactly the kind of writers who know how to use the Unbound platform to its best advantage. By pledging their support, readers can feel proud in making two great new books happen, but also enjoy a direct relationship with two supremely gifted storytellers."
Writer and presenter Hardeep Singh Kohli, author Peter Lawrence and angler and author Chris Yates are also all due to pitch their ideas for books to Unbound in the first half of 2012.