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Simon & Schuster Children’s has landed Dragon Force, a new middle-grade series from Katie and Kevin Tsang with illustrator Peter Antonsson.
Managing director Rachel Denwood and Amina Youssef, senior commissioning editor, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for three books in the Dragon Force series from Claire Wilson at RCW. The first book will be published in September 2023 and will be supported by a "large scale" marketing and publicity campaign. In the lead-up to the launch, Simon & Schuster will run an extensive reader recruitment and backlist campaign, beginning with the recently announced publication of the £1 World Book Day title A Dragon Realm Adventure in February 2023.
The Dragon Force series will expand the universe of the authors’ previous series, Dragon Realm. Their new series is set in a world where humans and dragons live together. The publisher added: "But the fragile peace is threatened by a host of dangerous magical creatures, and it falls to Dragon Realm hero Billy Chan to recruit and train the Dragon Force: a new group of dragon-bonded kids whose extraordinary and mysterious powers hold the key to protecting human and dragon-kind..."
The Dragon Realm series has sold more than 100,000 copies through the Total Consumer Market since its launch in September 2019, according to the publisher. The fifth and final book in the Dragon Realm series, Dragon Destiny, will be published on 29th September 2022. As part of the publication, the authors will visit schools and UK festivals "as part of their biggest marketing and publicity campaign yet".
"I am so excited to continue Simon & Schuster’s dragon adventures with the brilliant and bestselling Katie and Kevin Tsang," said Denwood. "The original series’ ongoing success is testament to their bold imaginations and commitment to perfecting high-interest, accessible, page-turning reads that also deliver heart, warmth and humour through expertly pitched child and dragon group dynamics. This magical blend, which we hear time and time again is what kids love so much about the series, will be super-charged in the new Dragon Force books as Team Dragon takes the adventure – and our ambition – to the next level."
Katie Tsang commented: "We have been blown away by the vision and ambition that S&S have had for the Dragon Realm series. To have this level of support throughout a series, and to see it grow, has been incredible. These books feel like a true team effort."
Kevin Tsang added: "We love working with S&S and are so excited to continue the adventure with Dragon Force. We can’t wait for new readers to discover our dragons."