A meeting on the Thames & Hudson stand at the Beijing International Book Fair. Image: BIBF
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Two Key Asian Festivals Feature Trading This Month
As many of our readers know, both the Beijing International Book Fair and the Seoul International Book Fair are scheduled for the same dates this month—June 18 through 22—and both, of course, are public-facing book fairs which offer professional programming, including rights-trading programs.
In a separate story today, you’ll hear from LeeAnn Bortolussi, Giunti’s international rights manager in Milan about two of the books Giunti will be presenting at the Beijing show. More about that one is in our story and in an article from this week, Beijing International Book Fair: Academic Publishing and Conferences.
And if you’re headed for the Seoul International Book Fair and need to be in touch about trading facilities there, you’ll find on these pages a section of the site dedicated to registration and details here.
The Seoul rights center (open June 18 through 20) is on the COEX third floor in two conference rooms (307 and 308). Full details are there, with contact information near the bottom of the page. Relative to the Seoul fair, here’s our story about that show’s Guest of Honor Taiwan program: Taiwan and Its ‘Sensibility’: Seoul’s 2025 Guest of Honor.
Meanwhile, in our Rights Roundup, three books brought to us by our rights-professional contributors are created for young readers, but with quite serious and unusual approaches. The first is from South Korea, as a matter of fact, the other two from Turkey and Finland, respectively.
As in each roundup, we use some of the sales copy supplied to us by agents and rights directors, editing that copy to give you an idea about a book’s nature and tone, but limiting the promotional elements. If you’d like to submit a deal to Publishing Perspectives, see the instructions at the end of this article.
The Biscuits
By Kim Sun Mi
- Publisher: Wisdom House, Seoul
- Rights contact: Chiara Tognetti, at Chiara Tognetti Rights Agency
- Book info: Read more here
Reported rights sales:
- Newest – World French: Le Seuil
- Italian: Mondadori
- World Spanish: Oceano
- Polish: Foksal
- Russian: AST
- Turkish: Destek
- Japanese: Asuka Shinsha
- Chinese, complex: Marco Polo
- Chinese, simplified: Tianjin Shutian
Kim Sun Mi
“A tale about those who feel transparent but find the courage to exist again. If you’ve ever been afraid of being forgotten, this novel will remind you that there’s always someone ready to find you.
“Jaeseong is hypersensitive to sounds. His hypersensitivity to sounds makes him similar to an infant suddenly catapulted into the world. That’s why he always has headphones on his ears, to shield himself from the noises that surround him and crush him to the point of taking his breath away. But perhaps precisely because of this, Jaeseong also has a rare gift: he can hear those he calls Biscuits—people who are invisible in the eyes of most; humiliated, forgotten, their hearts trampled over and over again, and their presence fading to the point of almost disappearing.
“Jaeseong has decided to take care of these broken souls, as fragile as biscuits that crumble at the slightest bump. Not least because he’s convinced that by saving them he could break his personal curse and save himself.”
Yuan Huan’s Phone Booth
By Miyase Sertbarut
- Publisher: Tudem Publishing Group, Istanbul
- Rights contact: Burcu Unsal, Silva Literary Agency
- Book info: Read more here
Reported rights sales:
- Newest – Serbia: Kreativni Centar
- Czech Republic: Paseka
- Italy: Emons Edizioni
- South Korea: Prunsoop
- China, simplified Chinese: Daylight Publishing
- Egypt, Arabic: Aser Al Kotob
- Albania: Efekos
- Mexico, Spanish: Trillas
- Slovakia: Excalibook
- Ukraine: Old Lion
- Azerbaijan: Mimta Publishing
- Brazi, Portuguese: Globo Livros
- Taiwan, complex Chinese: Rye Field Publications
- Slovenia: Pipinova
- India, Bengali: Sampark
- Kyrgyzstan: Kitepstan Publishing House
Miyase Sertbarut
“A boy finds reading books dull until he stumbles on an old telephone box.
“When he picks up the receiver, he’s captivated by the strange stories it tells. Soon, he becomes addicted to these tales. As the boy delves deeper into the mystery, he also uncovers something unexpected: his own passion for reading.
“Yuan Huan’s Phone Booth has sold more than 200,000 copies.’
The book is a winner of the Premio Rodari as best children’s novel. The book was selected for the IBBY 2022 honor list, and nominated for the Premio Strega.
If You Want To Do It Secretly, You Have To Kill the Sheep
By Anna Maschik
- Publisher: Luchterhand, Munich
- Rights contact: Andrea Vogel, Gaeb & Eggers Literary Agency
- Book info: Read more here
Reported rights sales:
- Newest – United Kingdom and Australia/New Zealand: Little Brown / Virago
- The Netherlands: Mozaiek
- Italy: Offer pending
Anna Maschik
“What ties us to those who came before us? With laconic wit and magic, this debut novel explores the idea of fate—and whether one can ever escape it.
“It all begins with a sheep, slaughtered at night, in secret. From here, Alma draws us into the guts of her family’s past. With a great-grandmother who stirs blood into sausage, an uncle who sleeps for 15 years, a grandmother who steals roof tiles at night. Alma, last in line, pieces it all together: four generations, one century.
“It is a story of favored siblings, of the failure of sleep and language, of transformation into a piece of furniture, a wolf, a lemon tree. Laconic and yet full of floating magic, it tells the story of what predestination is and whether one can escape it.”
Hildur and Rosa&Björk
(Hildur series 1 and 2)
By Satu Rämö
- Publisher: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö (WSOY), Helsinki
- Rights contact: Toomas Aasmäe, Bonnier Rights Finland
- Book info: Read more here
Reported rights sales:
- Newest – Japan: Tokyo Sogensha
- Croatia: Znanje
- Czechia: HarperCollins Czech
- Denmark: Gutkind
- Estonia: Eesti Raamat
- France: Le Seuil
- Iceland: Forlagid
- Germany: Penguin Random House / Heyne Verlag
- Hungary: Animus
- Italy: Newton Compton
- Latvia: Zvaigzne
- Lithuania: Obuolys
- Norway: Bonnier Norsk
- Poland: HarperCollins Polska
- Portugal: Cultura
- Serbia: Laguna
- Slovakia: Ikar
- Spain: Penguin Random House / Salamandra
- Sweden: Bokförlaget Forum,
- The Netherlands: Ambo|Anthos
- United Kingdom and Commonwealth except for Canada: Bonnier Zaffre
- Ukraine: Laboratoria
Satu Rämö
“Her sisters once disappeared without a trace. Now Hildur Rúnarsdóttir heads the missing children unit in the Westfjords, and her old trauma is catching up with her again.
“This ‘Nordic Blue’ series by Satu Rämö has sold rights into 23 territories, and more than 1 million copies have been sold internationally.”
A television series under Tinna Hrafnsdóttir’s direction, is to open in early 2026 with Ebba Katrín Finnsdóttir in the lead. (Its United Kingdom title is to be Clues in the Fjord.)
The Secret Staircase
By Salla Simukka
Illustrated by JP Ahonen
- Publisher: Tammi, Helsinki
- Rights contact: Elina Ahlback at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency
- Book info: Read more here
Reported rights sales:
- Newest – Hungary: Könyvstúdió
- Czechia: Portál
- Estonia: Ühinenud Ajakirjad
Salla Simukka and JP Ahonen
“A Finlandia Prize-nominated, grounded fantasy novel for fans of Michael Ende, The Secret Staircase is the first collaboration of award-winning and internationally bestselling novelist Salla Simukka, known for her Snow White trilogy (sold in 53 territories), and illustrator JP Ahonen, known for his Belzebubs project.
“The Secret Staircase is a novel about two boys who live in the same house but in different realities.
“Can their friendship cross the border separating two worlds?”
Lethal Vengeance
(Book 8 of the Detective Erika Foster series)
By Robert Bryndza
- Publisher: Raven Street Publishing, London
- Rights contact: Marleen Seegers / 2 Seas Agency
- Book info: Read more here
Reported rights sales:
- Newest – World Hebrew: Rimonim Publishing
- Brazil: Grupo Autentica
- Czechia: Grada
- Denmark: Jentas
- Dutch: Boekerij
- Portugal: Alma Dos Livros
- Slovakia: Grada
- Sweden; Jentas
- Turkey: Yabanci
- Ukraine: Bookchef
- Russia: AST
- Croatia: Znanje
“Detective Erika Foster finds politician Neville Lomas naked, hog-tied, and dead. The Met quickly rules it natural causes—until two more victims turn up, murdered and tied the same way. A serial killer is on the loose.
Robert Brynda. Image: Petr Kozlik
“CCTV footage reveals five identical female suspects. In the hunt to identify the women, Erika is outpaced at every turn by an elusive sex worker with dirt on enough powerful men to make the Met’s top brass nervous – and desperate.
“As time ticks away until the killer strikes again, it’s up to Erika to untangle the web of evidence and answer the critical questions: What ties the victims together, who else is caught up in this scandal, and how far are the higher-ups willing to go to protect their own?”
Submitting Rights Deals to Publishing Perspectives
Do you have rights deals to report? Agents and publishing-house rights directors can use our rights deal submission form to send us the information we need. If you have questions, please send them to Porter@PublishingPerspectives.com
We look forward to hearing from you.
More of Publishing Perspectives‘ rights roundups are here, and more from us on international rights trading is here.
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