Huge German Sale for George
by John F. Baker -- Publishers Weekly, 4/26/2002
What may well be a record for a foreign sale taking place before an American one was just concluded by Kimberley Whalen, newly aboard as foreign rights director at the Trident Media Group. She secured well over $4 million from Bertelsmann (which is now Random House in Germany, too) for the next two sprightly suspense novels by Britain's Elizabeth George; the deal was made with Georg Reuchlein, and Whalen then went on to sell the same two (untitled) books to Holland's Bruna, for a substantial six figures. Neither book has made a sale in the English-speaking world yet. Trident chief Robert Gottlieb likes to create extra attention by making foreign sales first in some cases. His team will probably be taking offers at the upcoming BEA show.
