By James Wray Sep 17, 2004, 1:12 GMT
In a publishing coup, Little, Brown and Company has signed best-selling young adult novelist, Cecily von Ziegesar, to write an additional 3 books for her New York Times best-selling series "Gossip Girl." In addition to this feat, von Ziegesar has also been signed to create a spin-off of the lucrative series entitled "The It Girl."
"Gossip Girl" captured the hearts of all teens and twenty-somethings by documenting the lives of the student body of Constance Billard, a fictional, tony private school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The series currently boasts over one million copies in print, and has spent a total of 18 weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List. The immense popularity of the series caught the attention of Warner Brothers, who acquired the film rights to the original novel, and is currently producing a major motion picture based on the book to debut in 2006, starring teen ingenue Lindsay Lohan and scripted by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls).
"The It Girl" is based around popular "Gossip Girl" character Jenny Humphrey who decides to leave Constance Billard and enroll at one of the East Coast's most elite boarding schools, Waverly Prep. The series will feature a whole new cast of fabulous characters and will follow their fast times and crazy adventures. "Jenny is the perfect character to cross-over into 'The It Girl' since 'Gossip Girl' fans aspire to be older Serena or Blair, but they relate to Jenny and live vicariously through her stories," says Senior Editor, Cindy Eagan, who acquired the series.
Both acquisitions were obtained by Cindy Eagan, Senior Editor at Little, Brown and Company, from Sarah Burnes at Burnes and Clegg, in cooperation with Alloy Entertainment. They are also the creative team behind another Little, Brown The New York Times Best-selling series "The A-List."
More on this when we get it.
Source: Little, Brown and Company
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