Max Seeck’s Book 3 in Jessica Niemi Series Sold to Bastei Luebbe in Germany!

CONGRATULATIONS to New York Times Bestselling Author Max Seeck and his German publisher for buying the upcoming Jessica Niemi series book 3!

Our New York Times Bestselling Author Max Seeck is writing the third book in his Jessica Niemi series, and his German publisher, Bastei Lübbe has already bought the rights to Book 3! Previously, Estonian publisher, Pegasus also acquired the rights to Book 3, which will be published in Finland in August 2021 by Tammi Publishers.

The praise for Max from Germany is glowing:

”Becoming Max’s German publisher of the first two Jessica Niemi novels was an excellent idea, I think. An even better idea was to pick up novel number 3, too. This series is outstanding.“ – Marco Schneiders, Publishing Director, Bastei Lübbe

And we have more excellent news:  EVIL’S NET, Book 2 has been acquired in Albania by Muza, and World Arabic rights by Arab Scientific Publishers!

Book 1, THE WITCH HUNTER  instantly hit the New York Times Bestseller List, after publication in the US on October 27, 2020 with sales exceeding 14,400 copies in three weeks!
The New York Times, November 29, 2020

In Hollywood, the TV Series based on THE WITCH HUNTER is fast progressing, and the series producers, Stampede Ventures and Gudrun Giddings, have brought on an incredible writer to adapt THE WITCH HUNTER as an ongoing series, which will be shot in English.

Join the global success, and get in touch with us for reading materials!

Ask for full English manuscripts for Book 1 and Book 2, and material for Book 3, by clicking here

New praise from New Zealand!

”This is an exciting thriller, well written, plotted to keep the reader guessing and wanting to read on despite the horror and madness… Finnish noir in the style of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code.” – Otago Daily Times, full review here

The Witch Hunter, translated with icy precision by Kristian London, is written in short, sharp, present-tense chapters, a technique which adds to its relentless tension. Flashbacks to earlier episodes in Jessica’s life suggest that the strangeness currently unfolding is tied to her personal history. Discovering the how and why of it brings a resolution as bleak as anything Poe might have conjured.”  – The Wall Street Journal full review here.

The title is still available in: China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, etc.

MAX SEECK BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jessica Niemi series

Book 1: The Witch Hunter, a.k.a. Faithful Reader – Jessica Niemi series #1 (2019, Tammi)
Detective Jessica Niemi is called to investigate a murder case that is out of ordinary. The wife of a famous writer, Roger Koponen, seems to have been killed in a bizarre ritual. As more ritual murders occur, it becomes obvious that Jessica is after a serial killer.

Ask for the full English manuscript by clicking here

Book 2: Evil’s Net – Jessica Niemi series #2 (September 2020, Tammi)
Six months have passed since Jessica’s encounter with the mysterious and serial-killing coven of cult members, and her team has a new assignment. Two Instagram influencers have gone missing, and a dead woman is found on the beach dressed up in manga outfit – an outfit that was featured on the missing blogger’s Instagram.

Ask for the full English manuscript by clicking here

Book 3: Eliel Rosenström, a prominent business executive, is found brutally murdered in his Kaivopuisto home. After the trauma Jessica Niemi experienced at the end of Book 2, she has taken a leave of absence from the force, leaving Yusuf in charge. But something about Rosenström’s brutal murder feels eerily familiar, and soon, Yusuf is caught between needing Jessica’s help and trying to keep Jessica away for her own good.

Rights sold (Faihtful Reader a.k.a. The Witch Hunter):
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

ALBANIA: Muza (2-book deal)
ARABIC: Arab Scientific Publishers, World Arabic (2-book deal)
ARMENIA: Guitank
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
BELGIUM, A.W. Bruna (2-book deal)
BULGARIA: EMAS (2-book-deal)
CANADA: Berkley/Penguin Random House (2-book-deal)
CROATIA: Fokus
CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada (2-book-deal)
DENMARK: Gutkind (2-book-deal)
ESTONIA: Pegasus (3-book-deal)
ICELAND: Forlagid
ISRAEL: Tchelet Books
ITALY: Piemme/Mondadori
FRANCE: Michel Lafon (2-book-deal)
GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe (3-book-deal)
GREECE: Livani (2-book-deal)
HUNGARY: Animus (2-book-deal)
KOREA: Cheongmirae
LATIN AMERICA: Editorial Maeva/Maeva Noir
LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji (2-book-deal)
LITHUANIA: Baltos lankos
MACEDONIA: Matica (2-book-deal)
NETHERLANDS: A.W. Bruna (2-book-deal)
NORWAY: Aschehoug (2-book-deal)
POLAND: Sonia Draga (2-book-deal)
PORTUGAL: Bertrand Editora (2-book-deal)
ROMANIA: Litera (2-book-deal)
RUSSIA: AST
SERBIA: Vulkan (2-book-deal)
SLOVENIA: Didakta (2-book-deal)
SLOVAKIA: Motýľ
SPAIN: Editorial Maeva/Maeva Noir
SWEDEN: Albert Bonniers Förlag
TURKEY: Doğan Kitap
UNITED KINGDOM & COMMONWEALTH: Welbeck Publishing UK (2-book deal)
UNITED STATES: Berkley/Penguin Random House (2-book-deal)

TV RIGHTS: Stampede Ventures

About author


Max Seeck, New York Times Best Selling Author

Max Seeck – New York Times Bestselling Author of THE WITCH HUNTER.

Winner of the prestigious Glass Key Award 2023 for his novel THE LAST GRUDGE.

Jessica Niemi series is being adapted into a English-language TV series by Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures

“An exceptional combination of hardboiled Scandi-noir and eerie ghost story. [--] Seeck marries breathtaking suspense with an expertly drawn heroine. This is guaranteed to send shivers up even the most unshakable readers’ spines." – Publisher's Weekly, starred review (Ghost island)

"Each new step has been an artistic success. Max Seeck, last year's winner of the Glass Key Award for best Nordic detective story, has a golden touch for Finnish suspense fiction." - Kai Hirvasnoro, Kansan Uutiset newspaper

“Another star has been added to the firmament of thriller writers,” announced Iltalehti newspaper, when Max’s debut novel was published in 2016. Four books later, Max Seeck’s novels have been sold to more than 40 countries, including US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries and as far as Korea!

His Jessica Niemi series landed him on the New York Times Bestseller list! The new MILO series has already been sold to 9 territories, with several rights pre-empts ahead of the Finnish publication!

Max Seeck has a background in sales and marketing, and has lately been able to dedicate his time to his lifelong love of writing. His interests include well-conducted research, reading Nordic Noir and listening to movie soundtracks as he writes.

Photo credit: Mikko Rasila

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

Milo #2: Betrayed

Max Seeck


2024, Crime & Suspense

Milo #1: Checkmate

Max Seeck


2022, Crime & Suspense

Ghost Island

Max Seeck


2021, Crime & Suspense

The Last Grudge

Max Seeck


2020, Crime & Suspense

The Ice Coven

Max Seeck


2019, Crime & Suspense

The Witch Hunter

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Mephisto Touch

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Call of Hades

Max Seeck


2016, Crime & Suspense

Angels of Hammurabi

Max Seeck

Related news

WHEN THE KING DIES goes to Russia; THE WITCH HUNTER still New York Times Best-Seller #11

Russian rights sold for WHEN THE KING DIES … First international sale for book 3 of the Jessica Niemi series, by New York Times Bestselling Author, Max Seeck … Thrilling news for the hottest thriller authors on the market!

Russian rights to Finland’s best-selling WHEN THE KING DIES by Elina Backman were sold to Moscow publishing house, Mann Ivanov Ferber.

Click here to request 200-page long English sample, synopsis and media kit.

Meanwhile, Estonian rights to Max Seeck’s Jessica Niemi series book 3 were sold to Pegasus, making them the first international publisher to acquire those rights!

And more breaking news: THE WITCH HUNTER remains a New York Times Best Seller at #11 for two weeks running!

BRAVO Elina and Max! You are making Finland the new hub for Nordic Noir!

The Russian deal marks the 13th rights sale for the Nordic Crime title, WHEN THE KING DIES. Backman is a force to be reckoned with, as the first novel in her detective series has impressively sold over 10,000 copies despite having been just published in May. Hear what the editor from Mann Ivanov Ferber had to say:

Click here to request 200-page long English sample, synopsis and media kit.

Max Seeck is now and forever a New York Times best- selling author, the second in Finland’s history!!!

The Witch Hunter (a.k.a. Faithful Reader), the first book in Seeck’s Jessica Niemi detective series, has caught fire since its US publication in October, selling 10,633 copies by Nov. 14 and garnering excellent critical reviews and heavy attention from Hollywood.

Rights are still available in China, Taiwan, Japan, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand etc for some of his titles, including: the sequel to The Witch Hunter, book 2, EVIL’S NET; and book 3, as yet untitled; and also available are rights to his best-selling Daniel Kuisma trilogy.

PS! Is Nordic Crime not your cup of tea? 
No worries, see our complete Fall 2020 Fiction list here

Rights Sold:
WHEN THE KING DIES

FINLAND:
Otava (orig.)

ALBANIA:
Dritan
ESTONIA:
Varrak (2-book deal)
CZECH REPUBLIC:
Grada
RUSSIA:
Mann Ivanov Ferber
GERMANY:
Piper Verlag (2-book deal)
ITALY:
Newton Compton
LITHUANIA:
BALTO
NETHERLANDS:
De Bezige Bij/Cargo
(2-book deal)
NORWAY:
Cappelen Damm (2-book deal)
POLAND:
Czarna Owca
SLOVAKIA:
Arkus
SWEDEN:
Bokfabriken (2-book deal)
TV/FILM:
Aurora Studios

About author


Elina Backman

Elina Backman is an author and a media & marketing professional living in Helsinki. Elina loves books (all sorts), traveling, cycling and is a host of a Book & Wine Club. She is a creative soul with a commercial mind, and her goal is to find readers globally.

Her debut novel All the King's Men was published in 2020 and immediately gained an enormous amount of attention from the Finnish media, including a praising review by the biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The Saana Havas series is now a best-selling series in Finland and an international TV series is in development. Elina's books have sold over 190 000 copies in Finland.

Together with Heidi Holmavuo, Elina has also narrated the true crime podcast Ratkaisematon (Unsolved), which turned into a full-length audio book as the two crime writers started investigating the murder of a young girl in 1955. They were able to uncover new evidence and their research led the police to reopen the investigation. This story is narrated in the book Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo.

Photo credit: Jonne Räsänen

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

Who Wanders in the Dark

Elina Backman


2024, Crime & Suspense

How to Face Death

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Before the Polar Night Falls

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo

Elina Backman


2021, Crime & Suspense

Still Waters Run Deep

Elina Backman


2020, Crime & Suspense

All the King's Men

Elina Backman

Related news

World English Rights for DAILY SISU Sold to Penguin Random House, TarcherPerigee!

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that World English rights for DAILY SISU by Helsinki-based journalist and author of The Finnish Way, Katja Pantzar, have been sold to Penguin Random House, TarcherPerigee. Congratulations Katja: your sisu will uplift the world!

The deal was negotiated in collaboration with co-agent, Rhea Lyons at HG Literary on behalf of Elina Ahlback at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency. Rights have been previously sold in Japan to Hojosha.

I’m thrilled that we’ll be publishing Katja’s next book, and there couldn’t be a more timely topic in these challenging times. We all need more sisu, and this book will help readers cultivate more of it every day.

Marian Lizzi, Editor in Chief at TarcherPerigee.

Click here to request reading materials!

Established in 2015 with the merger of two Penguin Random House imprints, Tarcher Books and Perigee, TarcherPerigee publishes award-winning books aimed at helping readers Learn, Create, and Grow. Read more

What can Daily Sisu do for you?
Truly a book for our times. Inspired by sisu, the uniquely Finnish form of resilience and courage in the face of adversity, journalist and writer Katja Pantzar embarks on a journey to uncover practical sisu-inspired ways of coping with all kinds of tough times. From wellbeing and health concerns to relationship and work-career dilemmas—and even bigger-picture societal and sustainability issues—Daily Sisu offers actionable inspiration, hope, and motivation. Pantzar’s thorough research and reporting shines through the captivating stories of regular people and experts alike in the small Nordic country of Finland, who show how their Daily Sisu gives strength even when feeling tired, weak or hopeless.

It was with delight that I chanced upon The Finnish Way, a self-help book promoting the joy and restorative power of sisu.

Vogue, USA on The Finnish Way

What is it with Finland and sisu?
The small Nordic nation routinely leads international quality of life indexes such as the UN’s World Happiness Report, nabbing the top spot three years running, 2018-2020. How? International media have touted Finland’s simple and sensible Nordic lifestyle, and the cultural focus on health and wellbeing, nature and sustainability, equality and education, entrepreneurship and innovations…. all of which is fueled by sisu.

Click here to request reading materials!

Katja’s first book (cover pictured), The Finnish Way:
Finding Courage, Wellness, and Happiness Through the Power of Sisu (Tarcher Perigee/Penguin US 2018), was published in 22 territories.

Rights Sold:
Daily Sisu

WORLD ENGLISH:
Penguin Random House, TarcherPerigree (orig.)
JAPAN:
Hojosha

About author


Katja Pantzar

Katja Pantzar –  Katja Pantzar is a Helsinki-based writer and journalist who swims in the Baltic Sea year round. Raised in Canada, with stints in New Zealand and England, she is the author of The Finnish Way (Penguin Random House/2018), a bestselling non-fiction book about Nordic well-being, winter swimming and sisu (resilience) that has been translated into 24 languages. Her second book on sisu, Everyday Sisu: Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life (Penguin Random House/2022) explores through expert interviews and research-based information how we can better support our mental and physical health while taking care of each other and our planet. Everyday Sisu has also been published in Japanese, Thai, and Indonesian. Pantzar’s work has been widely covered around the world in media ranging from Le Figaro, Le Monde, and El Paísto Vogue the Washington Post and the New York Review of Books. . She is also the author of three mini-guides to the Finnish capital, including 100 things to do in Helsinki (Siltala/2024).

Bibliography


2025, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

Helsinki by Sauna

Katja Pantzar


2018, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

Finnish Way

Katja Pantzar

Related news

It’s official: Max Seeck is a NY Times Bestselling author!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to Max Seeck for writing his way onto the NY Times Bestseller list, and into Finnish literary history, with THE WITCH HUNTER!

Debuting today at #11 on the NY Times Bestseller list for trade paperback fiction, “The Witch Hunter,” by Max Seeck, is on a meteoric rise up multiple bestseller charts. At Barnes & Noble, where “The Witch Hunter” is a featured novel, it has soared to # 5 for paperback fiction and # 51 overall. He is one of only two Finnish authors ever to crack the NY Times bestseller list; Mika Waltari is the other, who topped the list in 1949 with The Egyptian.

We hope you’ll join us in offering a tremendous CONGRATULATIONS to Max for this historic moment! As you can see, his accomplishment certainly demands a champagne toast… with many more to come! A Hollywood TV series based on The Witch Hunter is in development by Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures; stay tuned for updates!

The Witch Hunter, AKA Faithful Reader (Jessica Niemi #1) was translated from Finnish to English by Kristian London and published in the US on October 27. It was immediately selected by Barnes & Noble as a Monthly Crime pick, shooting up the B&L charts 40 places just yesterday alone to number 51! The next installment in the Jessica Niemi series, “Evil’s Net,” was recently published in Finland, and rights to the title have been sold to 22 countries. Read below if you can still obtain it.

The Wall Street Journal gave Max Seeck’s US debut high praise:
The Witch Hunter, translated with icy precision by Kristian London, is written in short, sharp, present-tense chapters, a technique which adds to its relentless tension. Flashbacks to earlier episodes in Jessica’s life suggest that the strangeness currently unfolding is tied to her personal history. Discovering the how and why of it brings a resolution as bleak as anything Poe might have conjured.”  – The Wall Street Journal full review here.

The title is still available in: China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, etc.

Ask for the full English manuscript for THE WITCH HUNTER by clicking here

Evil's Net, Jessika Niemi #2
Evil’s Net, Jessika Niemi #2

Full English manuscript for EVIL’S NET (Jessica Niemi series #2) is now available!

Six months have passed since Jessica’s encounter with the mysterious and serial-killing coven of cult members, and her team has a new assignment. Two Instagram influencers have gone missing, and a dead woman is found on the beach dressed up in manga outfit – an outfit that was featured on the missing blogger’s Instagram.

Ask for the English manuscript by clicking here

Rights sold in 22 countries.

Rights available in China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, etc.

Option publishers for: Albania, Arabic, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Korea, Latin America, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey

 

MAX SEECK BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jessica Niemi series

Faithful Reader – Jessica Niemi series #1 (2019, Tammi)
Detective Jessica Niemi is called to investigate a murder case that is out of ordinary. The wife of a famous writer, Roger Koponen, seems to have been killed in a bizarre ritual. As more ritual murders occur, it becomes obvious that Jessica is after a serial killer.

Ask for the full English manuscript by clicking here

Evil’s Net – Jessica Niemi series #2 (September 2020, Tammi)
Six months have passed since Jessica’s encounter with the mysterious and serial-killing coven of cult members, and her team has a new assignment. Two Instagram influencers have gone missing, and a dead woman is found on the beach dressed up in manga outfit – an outfit that was featured on the missing blogger’s Instagram.

Ask for the full English manuscript pages by clicking here


Daniel Kuisma series

Rights sold for the series:
FINLAND, Tammi (Original publisher) ALBANIA: Muza ESTONIA, Pegasus GERMANY, Blanvalet ICELAND, Forlagid ITALY, Newton Compton SLOVENIA, Didakta

The Angels of Hammurabi – Daniel Kuisma series #1 (2016 Tammi)
An employee of the Finnish Embassy in Zagreb goes missing, and Daniel Kuisma from the Finnish Defence Forces is sent to investigate, along with Annika Lehto from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The investigation gets unexpectedly complicated when the mysteries of the past start to unravel on the stony shores of the Adriatic Sea. It all seems to boil down to a group called The Angels of Hammurabi. Who are they – and who is killing them off, one by one?

Mephisto’s Touch – Daniel Kuisma series #2 (2017, Tammi)
Missing-presumed-dead Finnish diplomat, Jare Westerlund has fled from Croatia on a forged passport, leaving behind a decapitated body and his trail goes cold at Stockholm airport.
When Interpol officer Annika Lehto hears of his escape, she abandons her sick leave to go off in pursuit, with the aid of special forces specialist Daniel Kuisma. What follows is a dramatic chain of events, from northern Norway, to San Francisco, to The Hague, as the pair continue the chase.

Call of Hades – Daniel Kuisma series #3 (2018, Tammi)
Final installment of the  trilogy begins with four executed men found in a Zagreb apartment. The place is owned by the U.K. government, but no one seems to know anything about the case. When Daniel Kuisma receives an unexpected guest from Southern Europe he hears something that makes him board the next plane to Zagreb: the lives of thousands of people might be at risk. Meanwhile Annika Lehto is recovering from an assault, but offers him all the help she can from her sickbed.

Ask for the English samples for the Daniel Kuisma series by clicking here

About author


Max Seeck, New York Times Best Selling Author

Max Seeck – New York Times Bestselling Author of THE WITCH HUNTER.

Winner of the prestigious Glass Key Award 2023 for his novel THE LAST GRUDGE.

Jessica Niemi series is being adapted into a English-language TV series by Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures

“An exceptional combination of hardboiled Scandi-noir and eerie ghost story. [--] Seeck marries breathtaking suspense with an expertly drawn heroine. This is guaranteed to send shivers up even the most unshakable readers’ spines." – Publisher's Weekly, starred review (Ghost island)

"Each new step has been an artistic success. Max Seeck, last year's winner of the Glass Key Award for best Nordic detective story, has a golden touch for Finnish suspense fiction." - Kai Hirvasnoro, Kansan Uutiset newspaper

“Another star has been added to the firmament of thriller writers,” announced Iltalehti newspaper, when Max’s debut novel was published in 2016. Four books later, Max Seeck’s novels have been sold to more than 40 countries, including US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries and as far as Korea!

His Jessica Niemi series landed him on the New York Times Bestseller list! The new MILO series has already been sold to 9 territories, with several rights pre-empts ahead of the Finnish publication!

Max Seeck has a background in sales and marketing, and has lately been able to dedicate his time to his lifelong love of writing. His interests include well-conducted research, reading Nordic Noir and listening to movie soundtracks as he writes.

Photo credit: Mikko Rasila

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

Milo #2: Betrayed

Max Seeck


2024, Crime & Suspense

Milo #1: Checkmate

Max Seeck


2022, Crime & Suspense

Ghost Island

Max Seeck


2021, Crime & Suspense

The Last Grudge

Max Seeck


2020, Crime & Suspense

The Ice Coven

Max Seeck


2019, Crime & Suspense

The Witch Hunter

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Mephisto Touch

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Call of Hades

Max Seeck


2016, Crime & Suspense

Angels of Hammurabi

Max Seeck

Related news

THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT, by Mia Kankimäki, hits US shelves!

What a day! Published by Simon & Schuster, Mia Kankimäki’s Finnish best-seller, “The Women I Think About at Night,” hit shelves yesterday, November 10, in the United States and Canada. On that same day, incredibly, she also published an essay in the Wall Street Journal. Kankimäki’s star is officially rising in North America; definitely cause for champagne, as you can see CEO, Elina Ahlbäck raising a toast to Mia. Bravo!

Request full English manuscript of the title by clicking here.

With rights to “The Women I Think About at Night” sold to 15 countries (and counting!), we at EALA are thrilled to partner with Simon & Schuster for Mia Kankimäki’s publication in the United States and Canada, where she’s already generating incredible buzz. Putting her alongside authors such as Barack Obama, Fortune magazine named Kankimäki’s unique work one of their 6 books to read in November!

“Fortysomething, childless, and feeling stuck, Finnish author Mia Kankimäki takes that big leap we all fantasize about but never have the guts to do: She quits her job, sells her apartment, and travels the world. In a blend of travelogue, memoir, and biography, Kankimäki recounts her travels through Japan, Kenya, and Italy, while retracing the steps of 10 remarkable female pioneers from history.” – Fortune

And make sure to read her beautiful Wall Street Journal essay, The Finnish Island Where Time Stops.

A publishing sensation in Finland with over 40,000 copies sold, “The Women I Think About at Night” solidifies Kankimäki’s standing as one of Finland’s leading new authors. Her book was translated by Douglas Robinson and published by Simon & Schuster, one of the four largest English-language publishers in the world. 

Her book has already received positive reviews In Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Travel & Leisure,
and Kirkus Review,
 along with Fortune magazine

Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency is responsible for the sale of international rights to Mia Kankimäki’s books.  The rights to ”The Women I Think About at Night” have already been sold to 15 countries.

In 2013, Mia Kankimäki instantly became one of the top names in the literary field with her debut, ”Things That Make One’s Heart Beat Faster.” More than 80,000 of her two books have altogether been sold in Finland.

Rights Sold

FINLAND:
Otava (orig.)
CHINA:
Winshare Publishing
CZECH REPUBLIC:
Albatros Media/Motto
DENMARK:
Bilgrav Publishing
ESTONIA:
Varrak
FRANCE:
Editions Leduc.s
GERMANY:
btb Verlag/RandomHouse
ITALY:
Neri Pozza
LATVIA:
Zvaigzne
LITHUANIA:
Gelmes Publishing
NETHERLANDS:
Uitgeverij Orlando
NORWAY:
Gursli Berg Forlag
RUSSIA:
Eksmo Publishing
SLOVENIA:
Didakta
SWEDEN:
Wahlström & Widstrand
UNITED STATES & WORLD ENGLISH:
Simon & Schuster

About author


Mia Kankimäki

Mia Kankimäki is the author of two best-selling books which blend travelogue, memoir, biography, and women’s history. After taking a master’s degree in comparative literature at the University of Helsinki and working diligently in Finnish publishing, in 2010 she left her job and traveled to Japan to write her first book. Her books have received several literary awards, for example the Best Travel Book of the Year 2013, the HelMet Award 2015, and Otava Book Foundation’s Non-Fiction Award 2020. She currently lives in Helsinki, Finland, whenever she’s not traveling for her next book project.

Mia has been enthusiastic about Japanese culture for years and is a qualified ikebana teacher of the Sogetsu school. Her first book Things That Make One’s Hear Beat Faster took her to Kyoto where she has spent long periods of writing and making research ever since. Kankimäki’s second book The Women I Think About at Night has sold over 55,000 copies in Finland and the translation rights have been sold to 21 territories, including USA and China.

Mia's both books have been aqcuired by Japanese publisher Soshisha:

"I am delighted to share that Mia Kankimäki’s debut title, THINGS THAT MAKE ONE’S HEART BEAT FASTER, is embraced and loved by many Japanese readers. A cross between an autobiography and a travelogue, the author finds an emotional connection with a woman geographically far apart and from a different era and tries to discover who she really was. I believe this style is reflected in THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT as well. Though some of the female figures in this second book might not be well-known locally, I am looking forward to seeing how our readers will react to their lifestyles." - Daisuke Watanabe, Editor, Soshisha

Bibliography


2018, General Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction

The Women I Think About At Night

Mia Kankimäki


2013, General Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction

Things That Make One's Heart Beat Faster

Mia Kankimäki

Related news

Italian rights sold for ’WHEN THE KING DIES’, now 12 rights sold + Film & TV

We are very happy to announce that Italian rights to Elina Backman’s bestselling thriller WHEN THE KING DIES have been acquired by Newton Compton!

Elina Backman’s Nordic thriller WHEN THE KING DIES (first published May 2020) has already been sold to 12 territories and counting. TV series is in development by Aurora Studios.

Rights are currently free in  the US, UK, France, Spain, Denmark, Russia, Hungary, Latvia etc


PUBLISHER’S PRAISE:

WHEN THE KING DIES is an unputdownable great Nordic crime novel with an intriguing plot which captivates you till the end, said the happy editor Gabriele Anniballi from Newton Compton.

Click here to request 200-page long English sample, synopsis and media kit.


About the book:
Saana is a former click-bait journalist who spends a summer in the quiet town of Hartola. But when she begins to dig into the case of a teenage girl who died 30 years earlier, the peace of the small town is shaken. Meanwhile in Helsinki, crime investigator Jan Leino is solving a murder at the King’s Gate on Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. Saana and Jan continue working on their own cases until their paths cross – for more than one reason.

About the author:

Elina Backman, 37, is a media & marketing professional living in Helsinki, in an old wooden 1920 house with a family of 2 kids and a husband. Elina loves books (all sorts), travelling, cycling and is a host of a Book & Wine Club. She is a creative soul with a commercial mind, and her goal is to find readers globally – her dream is a Netflix series based on her novels.

See the video greeting by Elina Backman here.


PS! Is Nordic Crime not your cup of tea? 
No worries, see our complete Fall 2020 Fiction list here

Rights sold:

FINLAND:
Otava (orig.)

ALBANIA:
Dritan
ESTONIA:
Varrak (2-book deal)
CZECH REPUBLIC:
Grada
GERMANY:
Piper Verlag (2-book deal)
ITALY:
Newton Compton
LITHUANIA:
BALTO
NETHERLANDS:
De Bezige Bij/Cargo
(2-book deal)
NORWAY:
Cappelen Damm (2-book deal)
POLAND:
Czarna Owca
SLOVAKIA:
Arkus
SWEDEN:
Bokfabriken (2-book deal)
TV/FILM:
Aurora Studios

About author


Elina Backman

Elina Backman is an author and a media & marketing professional living in Helsinki. Elina loves books (all sorts), traveling, cycling and is a host of a Book & Wine Club. She is a creative soul with a commercial mind, and her goal is to find readers globally.

Her debut novel All the King's Men was published in 2020 and immediately gained an enormous amount of attention from the Finnish media, including a praising review by the biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The Saana Havas series is now a best-selling series in Finland and an international TV series is in development. Elina's books have sold over 190 000 copies in Finland.

Together with Heidi Holmavuo, Elina has also narrated the true crime podcast Ratkaisematon (Unsolved), which turned into a full-length audio book as the two crime writers started investigating the murder of a young girl in 1955. They were able to uncover new evidence and their research led the police to reopen the investigation. This story is narrated in the book Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo.

Photo credit: Jonne Räsänen

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

Who Wanders in the Dark

Elina Backman


2024, Crime & Suspense

How to Face Death

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Before the Polar Night Falls

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo

Elina Backman


2021, Crime & Suspense

Still Waters Run Deep

Elina Backman


2020, Crime & Suspense

All the King's Men

Elina Backman

Related news

AGNES sold to Germany, THE LITTLE SHOP OF NIGHTMARES series to Italy!

We are very happy to announce 2 new children’s translation rights sales!

Tuutikki Tolonen’s AGNES AND THE GARDEN OF DREAMS was acquired by Carlsen Verlag (also German publisher for J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer etc)

Agnes is a very charming story about friendship and family, it is gripping and heartwarming at the same time. Tuutikki Tolonen takes us to a place full of mysteries and dreams and she creates an atmosphere where the reader immediately feels comfortable. We are very happy to welcome Agnes to our list!

– Wiebke Andersen, Editor, Carlsen Verlag, Germany

Ask for English sample for the title by clicking here.


We are equally excited because the first 2 titles of THE LITTLE SHOP OF NIGHTMARES series by Magdalena Hai were sold to Italian publisher Terre di Mezzo
The wonderful younger middle-grade series has already sold to 14 countries, but rights are still available in: France, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Slovenia, China, Bulgaria, Greece etc.

An original, lively series that we hope will continue for a long time. A terribly funny story, with breathtaking illustrations
– Eleonora Armaroli, Terre di Mezzo, Italy

Ask for English texts and pdfs for the series by clicking here.


AGNES AND THE GARDEN OF DREAMS
by Tuutikki Tolonen, illustrated by Kati Vuorento

First book of the series

11-years-old Agnes has to move to a small countryside town with her mother. Her parents are divorced, and Agnes doesn’t know anyone
from her new hometown. She is not having the best summer of her life.

But then something weird happens. Agnes finds an old tombstone that has her name and birthday engraved on it – only the birth year is different. Whose grave is it?

Agnes befriends a boy called ”Bun”, who is also lonely. Together they start to solve the mystery of the tombstone. They find out more and more about a family who lived in the town years and years ago. When they go visit the family’s abandoned mansion, Agnes realizes something. She has been there before – in her dreams.

What is happening? It feels like someone who lived a long time ago is trying to tell something to Agnes. Is it possible that these two Agneses from different times have some connection?

Coming up: Book #2 to be published in 2021. More information coming soon.

 


THE LITTLE SHOP OF NIGHTMARES
by Magdalena Hai, illustrated by Teemu Juhani

Nina is a is a clever, 9-year-old girl who goes to work in the Little Shop of Nightmares. During the course of the trilogy, she has to solve a mystery with tickling powder, find the lost teeth of a vampire and discover the reason why suddenly it just doesn’t stop snowing. The Little Shop of Nightmares is a mystery full of fascinating and fun characters that make young readers both wonder and laugh!

 #1  THE TERRIBLE TICKLING POWDER
When Nina, 9 years old, enters The Little Shop of Nightmares in hopes of getting a job, she is
greeted by an odd sight: shopkeeper Mr. Kook is rolling on the floor, unable to stop laughing.
With a little help from a ghost called Paddy, they start looking for the untickling powder to help
him, but things are certainly not made easier by Mr. Kook’s world-domination-planning pet octopus
Squishy McGoo, who is a bit too quick about getting into trouble with rollerblades on its tentacles.

 #2  MYSTERY OF THE MISSING TEETH
Nina goes to buy ice cream after her first work day at The Little Shop of Nightmares.
But at the ice cream shop she discovers a vampire – without teeth! Nina decides to help
vampire Lucas to find his teeth from Mr. Kook’s shop. But for some reason all the vampire
teeth seem to have disappeared. It seems like somebody has hidden them on purpose…

 #3  STICKY THE TERRIBLE SNOWMAN
Same awesome monsters. New blizzardy trouble. The Little Shop of Nightmares is
getting buried in snow! Nina and Paddy are trying to find the cause of the snowstorm,
but that’s easier said than done. A well-meaning but horribly clumsy snowman keeps
getting in their way and stopping their every effort to stop the snowing inside.

Rights sold:
AGNES
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)

CZECH REPUBLIC: Portál
DENMARK: ABC Forlag
ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
GERMANY: Carlsen Verlag
RUSSIA: Rosman

 

Rights sold
LITTLE SHOP OF NIGHTMARES SERIES:

FINLAND:
WSOY (orig.)

CZECH REPUBLIC:
Euromedia
DENMARK:
Vild Maskine
ESTONIA:
Postimees Publishing
GERMANY:
Egmont Schneiderbuch
HUNGARY:
Cerkabella
ITALY:
Terre di Mezzo
LATVIA:
Latvijas Mediji
NETHERLANDS:
De Vier Windstreken
NORWAY:
Fontini
RUSSIA:
KompasGuide
ROMANIA:
Editura Univers
SWEDEN:
Hegas
TURKEY:
Epsilon

About author


Kati Vuorento

Kati Vuorento is an illustrator living and working in Espoo, Finland: ”In small details there is an infinite magic. I want my illustrations to stir emotion in the audience. Empathizing is important to me. In my illustrations, I always include approachable characteristics to even the most hardened anti-hero. This is how I mold the characters into personalities with depth and dimension.”

She is the illustrator of middle-grade Agnes Series by Tuutikki Tolonen that in 2021 was nominated for the Arvid Lydecken Award, received an honorable mention for the Runeberg Junior Award, and won the Luku Varkaus Award!


About author


Magdalena Hai

Magdalena Hai is an award-winning author, lover of cross-genre fiction and all things strange. Her fiction often combines elements of sci-fi, fantasy and horror.

Her Little Shop of Nightmares series has been sold to 30 territories around the world. Among Hai's many accolades are winning the Finlandia Prize for children's and YA literature and the Finnish Literary Export Prize, and being nominated  the Nordic Council Children & Young People's Literature Prize.

Besides being an author, Hai teaches writing and is an active member and editor in the publishing co-operative Osuuskumma.

About author


Teemu Juhani

Teemu Juhani is a Finnish illustrator, comic artist and picture book author whose illustrations have been published in picture books and children's fiction in over 20 countries. In addition to children's books Teemu has illustrated magazines and educational material. Originally from the fields and woods of North Karelia, Teemu now lives, works and eats way too many cakes in Helsinki.

About author


Tuutikki Tolonen

Tuutikki Tolonen is the author of several acclaimed children’s books, plays and academic articles. She teaches creative writing and has worked as an editor and reporter at Vinski, a Finnish literary magazine for children. For Monster Nanny she received the Arvid Lydecken award.  Her inspiration for the Monster Nanny trilogy sparked during a family breakfast. “My son Leo, then six, said: ‘I heard on the radio yesterday that all moms have to go on vacation and monsters will take their places,” she says.

Her other bestselling series is the Agnes-series, of which the first book "Agnes and the Garden of Dreams" was in 2021 nominated for the Arvid Lydecken Award, received an honorable mention for the Runeberg Junior Award, and won the Luku Varkaus Award. Tolonen tells that the inspiration for Agnes comes for her interest for weird and inexpicable tales, ghost stories and mysteries: "I wanted to write a book my daughter Aili, then nine, would like to read - not too long, not too scary, but very curious."

Tuutikki is nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2026.

Photo credit: Otto Virtanen

Max Seeck’s THE WITCH HUNTER is Barnes & Noble’s November Pick, WSJ recommends, and English ms. available for EVIL’S NET

Max Seeck’s THE WITCH HUNTER is Barnes & Noble’s November Pick, WSJ recommends, and English ms. available for EVIL’S NET

We are very happy to let you know that Max Seeck’s The Witch Hunter AKA Faithful Reader (Jessica Niemi #1) has now been published in the US and immediately picked up by the biggest bookstore chain Barnes & Noble as Monthly Crime pick!

“One twist follows another, baffling the police and readers alike. Seeck imbues this riveting procedural with a deliciously creepy undertone. Readers will be excited to see what Seeck does next.”
–Publisher’s Weekly STARRED REVIEW

The Wall Street Journal has discovered the talented Finnish author Max Seeck and his U.S. debut giving the thrilling novel high praise:
The Witch Hunter, translated with icy precision by Kristian London, is written in short, sharp, present-tense chapters, a technique which adds to its relentless tension. Flashbacks to earlier episodes in Jessica’s life suggest that the strangeness currently unfolding is tied to her personal history. Discovering the how and why of it brings a resolution as bleak as anything Poe might have conjured.”
– 
The Wall Street Journal full review here.

The title is still available in: China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, etc.

Ask for the full English manuscript by clicking here


First English sample for EVIL’S NET (Jessica Niemi series #2) is now available!

Six months have passed since Jessica’s encounter with the mysterious and serial-killing coven of cult members, and her team has a new assignment. Two Instagram influencers have gone missing, and a dead woman is found on the beach dressed up in manga outfit – an outfit that was featured on the missing blogger’s Instagram.

Ask for the English sample for the first 226 pages by clicking here

Rights sold in 22 countries.

Rights available in China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, etc.

Option publishers for: Albania, Arabic, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Korea, Latin America, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey


MAX SEECK BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jessica Niemi series

Faithful Reader – Jessica Niemi series #1 (2019, Tammi)
Detective Jessica Niemi is called to investigate a murder case that is out of ordinary. The wife of a famous writer, Roger Koponen, seems to have been killed in a bizarre ritual. As more ritual murders occur, it becomes obvious that Jessica is after a serial killer.

Ask for the full English manuscript by clicking here

Evil’s Net – Jessica Niemi series #2 (September 2020, Tammi)
Six months have passed since Jessica’s encounter with the mysterious and serial-killing coven of cult members, and her team has a new assignment. Two Instagram influencers have gone missing, and a dead woman is found on the beach dressed up in manga outfit – an outfit that was featured on the missing blogger’s Instagram.

Ask for the English sample for the first 226 pages by clicking here


Daniel Kuisma series

Rights sold for the series:
FINLAND, Tammi (Original publisher) ALBANIA: Muza ESTONIA, Pegasus GERMANY, Blanvalet ICELAND, Forlagid ITALY, Newton Compton SLOVENIA, Didakta

The Angels of Hammurabi – Daniel Kuisma series #1 (2016 Tammi)
An employee of the Finnish Embassy in Zagreb goes missing, and Daniel Kuisma from the Finnish Defence Forces is sent to investigate, along with Annika Lehto from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The investigation gets unexpectedly complicated when the mysteries of the past start to unravel on the stony shores of the Adriatic Sea. It all seems to boil down to a group called The Angels of Hammurabi. Who are they – and who is killing them off, one by one?

Mephisto’s Touch – Daniel Kuisma series #2 (2017, Tammi)
Missing-presumed-dead Finnish diplomat, Jare Westerlund has fled from Croatia on a forged passport, leaving behind a decapitated body and his trail goes cold at Stockholm airport.
When Interpol officer Annika Lehto hears of his escape, she abandons her sick leave to go off in pursuit, with the aid of special forces specialist Daniel Kuisma. What follows is a dramatic chain of events, from northern Norway, to San Francisco, to The Hague, as the pair continue the chase.

Call of Hades – Daniel Kuisma series #3 (2018, Tammi)
Final installment of the  trilogy begins with four executed men found in a Zagreb apartment. The place is owned by the U.K. government, but no one seems to know anything about the case. When Daniel Kuisma receives an unexpected guest from Southern Europe he hears something that makes him board the next plane to Zagreb: the lives of thousands of people might be at risk. Meanwhile Annika Lehto is recovering from an assault, but offers him all the help she can from her sickbed.

Ask for the English samples for the Daniel Kuisma series by clicking here


WHO IS MAX SEECK?

“Another star has been added to the firmament of thriller writers,” stated Iltalehti newspaper, when Max’s debut novel was published in 2016. Four years and four books later Max Seeck’s novels have been sold to more than 40 countries, including US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries and as far as Korea!

His debut trilogy following protagonist Daniel Kuisma sold over 40,000 copies in Finland, and his new Jessica Niemi series is conquering the world! In Faithful Reader detective Jessica Niemi from Helsinki police forces finds herself hunting an occultist serial killer. In Evil’s Net (published in September 2020) Jessika and her team follow clues hidden on Instagram to solve a disappearance of a young influencer and a manga artist.


Max Seeck has a background in sales and marketing, and has lately been able to dedicate his time to his lifelong love of writing. His interests include well-conducted research, reading Nordic Noir and listening to movie soundtracks as he writes.

Read an interview with Max Seeck in Lithub.

Rights sold (Faihtful Reader a.k.a. The Witch Hunter):
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

ALBANIA: Muza
ARABIC: Arab Scientific Publishers (World Arabic)
ARMENIA: Guitank
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
BELGIUM, A.W. Bruna (2-book deal)
BULGARIA: EMAS (2-book-deal)
CANADA: Berkley/Penguin Random House (2-book-deal)
CROATIA: Fokus
CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada (2-book-deal)
DENMARK: Gutkind (2-book-deal)
ESTONIA: Pegasus (2-book-deal)
ICELAND: Forlagid
ISRAEL: Tchelet Books
ITALY: Piemme/Mondadori
FRANCE: Michel Lafon (2-book-deal)
GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe (2-book-deal)
GREECE: Livani (2-book-deal)
HUNGARY: Animus (2-book-deal)
KOREA: Cheongmirae
LATIN AMERICA: Editorial Maeva/Maeva Noir
LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji (2-book-deal)
LITHUANIA: Baltos lankos
MACEDONIA: Matica (2-book-deal)
NETHERLANDS: A.W. Bruna (2-book-deal)
NORWAY: Aschehoug (2-book-deal)
POLAND: Sonia Draga (2-book-deal)
PORTUGAL: Bertrand Editora (2-book-deal)
ROMANIA: Litera (2-book-deal)
RUSSIA: AST
SERBIA: Vulkan (2-book-deal)
SLOVENIA: Didakta (2-book-deal)
SLOVAKIA: Motýľ
SPAIN: Editorial Maeva/Maeva Noir
SWEDEN: Albert Bonniers Förlag
TURKEY: Doğan Kitap
UNITED KINGDOM & COMMONWEALTH: Welbeck Publishing UK (2-book deal)
UNITED STATES: Berkley/Penguin Random House (2-book-deal)

TV RIGHTS: Stampede Ventures

About author


Max Seeck, New York Times Best Selling Author

Max Seeck – New York Times Bestselling Author of THE WITCH HUNTER.

Winner of the prestigious Glass Key Award 2023 for his novel THE LAST GRUDGE.

Jessica Niemi series is being adapted into a English-language TV series by Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures

“An exceptional combination of hardboiled Scandi-noir and eerie ghost story. [--] Seeck marries breathtaking suspense with an expertly drawn heroine. This is guaranteed to send shivers up even the most unshakable readers’ spines." – Publisher's Weekly, starred review (Ghost island)

"Each new step has been an artistic success. Max Seeck, last year's winner of the Glass Key Award for best Nordic detective story, has a golden touch for Finnish suspense fiction." - Kai Hirvasnoro, Kansan Uutiset newspaper

“Another star has been added to the firmament of thriller writers,” announced Iltalehti newspaper, when Max’s debut novel was published in 2016. Four books later, Max Seeck’s novels have been sold to more than 40 countries, including US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries and as far as Korea!

His Jessica Niemi series landed him on the New York Times Bestseller list! The new MILO series has already been sold to 9 territories, with several rights pre-empts ahead of the Finnish publication!

Max Seeck has a background in sales and marketing, and has lately been able to dedicate his time to his lifelong love of writing. His interests include well-conducted research, reading Nordic Noir and listening to movie soundtracks as he writes.

Photo credit: Mikko Rasila

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

Milo #2: Betrayed

Max Seeck


2024, Crime & Suspense

Milo #1: Checkmate

Max Seeck


2022, Crime & Suspense

Ghost Island

Max Seeck


2021, Crime & Suspense

The Last Grudge

Max Seeck


2020, Crime & Suspense

The Ice Coven

Max Seeck


2019, Crime & Suspense

The Witch Hunter

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Mephisto Touch

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Call of Hades

Max Seeck


2016, Crime & Suspense

Angels of Hammurabi

Max Seeck

Related news

Now 25 territories for A WONDERFUL LIFE and 2 territories for AINO & ALVAR AALTO!

We are very happy to announce that we just closed the 25th translation deal for Frank Martela’s A WONDERFUL LIFE – the new lucky publisher is Sefsafa from Egypt!

The bestselling non-fiction title is still available in Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, Slovenia, Serbia, Slovakia, China etc.

Ask for the full English pdf by clicking here

We are also very excited to announce that following an auction, Estonian publisher Postimees has acquired the rights for
AINO & ALVAR AALTO: MIRROR LIKE AN OCEAN REFLECTING YOUR SMILE

This unique book about the life and work of the world-famous architect couple Aino and Alvar Aalto is also their love story and will be published in both Finland and Estonia in 2021.
You can ask for the Finnish draft manuscript by clicking here.
The English materials for this very special title will be ready in this November and the final Finnish manuscript in early 2021.

Estonian publisher’s praise:

”When we think about great minds, we tend to see more of the result of their work than the people behind it. Aino and Alvar Aalto’s work in the field of design and architecture has had a great impact worldwide, representing beauty, harmony, and comfort. There are books and studies which can tell us many things about it, but I believe that none of them can ever be as personal and intimate as their own love story – written by their grandson. One can only imagine how much their creativity was nourished by their personal relationship. It will be extremely exciting to read their story and to get to know both of them almost as close as they knew each other. The fact that their creations have proven to be timeless since the day they were born is proof in itself of extraordinary, unbreakable love.”

– Piret Veigel, senior editor at Postimees Publishing House


 

MORE ABOUT THE TITLES:

A WONDERFUL LIFE: Insights for Finding a Meaningful Existence
Harper Design, 24th of March 2020, 200 pp.

In this engagingly insightful book, Frank Martela – one of the only academic experts who has contributed to both the philosophical and psychological research on meaning in life – takes you on a voyage through the history, philosophy, and psychology of meaningfulness and worthy living.

The journey starts in the 19th century, where it is revealed why and how the Scottish author Thomas Carlyle came to be the first person in history who actually used the phrase »meaning of life.»

The life stories of Carlyle and Russian author Leo Tolstoy serve as representative examples of the transformation that this book aims to guide you, the reader, through. Finally, an answer is provided to the question of meaning that is compatible with latest scientific knowledge about human nature, yet still both inspiring and actionable.

 

AINO & ALVAR AALTO: MIRROR LIKE AN OCEAN REFLECTING YOUR SMILE
by Heikki Aalto-Alanen

This is the love story of the world-famous, pioneering design couple Aino and Alvar Aalto.
Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino are internationally celebrated for their architecture, furniture, glassware and other interior design, but their personal lives have been relatively unknown – until now. This book, written by the Aaltos’ grandson, contains photos, sketches, and personal letters between Aino and Alvar beautifully illustrating how inseparable this couple was both in work and love.

“Countless books have been written about Alvar Aalto’s architecture and other works. Recently, Aino Marsio-Aalto has also received the recognition she deserves in her own right as well as in her role in the rise of Alvar Aalto as one of the leading architects of the 20th century,” says Heikki Aalto-Alanen, grandson of the Aaltos’.
“The voice in this book is personal. I want to tell the story of Aino and Alvar’s unique partnership, relationship, and their joint life work from the perspective of a family member. I also want their own voices to be heard.”

In addition to the photographs from the family archive, the book is illustrated with Aino and Alvar’s drawings of each other and of their children, as well as landscape drawings made while traveling, along with other architectural drawings and photographs.

English-language material to be available in November 2020.

A WONDERFUL LIFE,
HarperCollins/Harper Design March 2020

Rights sold:

WORLD ENGLISH: HarperCollins/Harper Design (orig.)

ARABIC:
Sefsafa
BULGARIA:
Prozoretz
CROATIA:
Planetopija
ESTONIA:
Rahva Raamat
FINLAND:
Gummerus
FRANCE:
Editions Leduc.s
GERMANY:
Blessing Verlag
GREECE:
Klidarithmos
ITALY:
Edizioni Lindau
JAPAN:
HarperCollins Japan
KOREA:
Across Publishing
LATIN AMERICA:
Ediciones Urano
LATVIA:
Zvaigzne
LITHUANIA:
Obuolys
NETHERLANDS:
Ambo Anthos
NORWAY:
Gursli Berg Forlag
POLAND:
Czarna Owca
PORTUGAL:
Editora 2020
ROMANIA:
Editura Humanitas
RUSSIA:
Bombora
SERBIA:
Odiseja
SPAIN:
Ediciones Urano (World Spanish)
TAIWAN:
Crown
TURKEY:
Orman Kitap

 

AINO & ALVAR AALTO: MIRROR LIKE AN OCEAN REFLECTING YOUR SMILE
Otava, September 2021

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava
ESTONIA: Postimees

About author


Frank Martela

Professor Frank Martela, PhD, is a philosopher and researcher of psychology specializing in the question of meaning in life. His articles have appeared in Scientific American Mind, Harvard Business Review, Salon, CNBC and his work has been featured on Quartz and on the BBC. His research has been published extensively in numerous academic journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Journal of Personality, Metaphilosophy, Southern Journal of Philosophy, and Academy of Management Review. He has spoken to more than one hundred audiences worldwide, including invited lectures in universities on five continents, including Stanford University and Harvard University. He’s been interviewed by the New York Times, Discover Magazine, New Scientist, Vice News, Fox News,and Monocle Observer among others. He is Assistant Professor at Aalto University in Finland. Outside of work, Frank is a father to three lovely children, an amateur-level soccer player, with an occasional skiing trip in the winters. He is made in Green Bay, so Packers holds a special place in his heart.

About author


Heikki Aalto-Alanen

Heikki Aalto-Alanen is the grandson of architects Aino and Alvar Aalto, who has previously served as vice chairman of the Alvar Aalto Foundation, been a member of Artek’s Board of Directors, member of the Alvar Aalto Academy Board, and held other positions maintaining Aino and Alvar Aalto’s artistic work and heritage. Today he is serving as the chairman of the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation, established in 2020 to preserve Aino and Alvar Aalto's early masterpiece. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Alvar and Aino Aalto Estate Ltd. Heikki Aalto-Alanen is a lawyer by profession and has worked in the Nordic financial market.

His book tells the story of Aino and Alvar Aalto, depicted through their previously unpublished correspondence from 1921-1949, photographs and drawings.

Now 11 rights sold for Elina Backman’s ’WHEN THE KING DIES’!

We are very happy to announce that Albanian rights to Elina Backman’s bestselling thriller WHEN THE KING DIES have been acquired by Dritan!
Elina Backman’s Nordic thriller WHEN THE KING DIES has already been sold to 11 territories and counting. TV series is in development by Aurora Studios.

Rights are currently free in  the US, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Russia, Hungary, Latvia etc

Click here to request 155-page long English sample, synopsis and media kit.

About the book:
Saana is a former click-bait journalist who spends a summer in the quiet town of Hartola. But when she begins to dig into the case of a teenage girl who died 30 years earlier, the peace of the small town is shaken. Meanwhile in Helsinki, crime investigator Jan Leino is solving a murder at the King’s Gate on Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. Saana and Jan continue working on their own cases until their paths cross – for more than one reason.

About the author:

Elina Backman, 37, is a media & marketing professional living in Helsinki, in an old wooden 1920 house with a family of 2 kids and a husband. Elina loves books (all sorts), travelling, cycling and is a host of a Book & Wine Club. She is a creative soul with a commercial mind, and her goal is to find readers globally – her dream is a Netflix series based on her novels.

PS! FILI translation and printing grant application period is closing soon – please send your applications before 1st of November 23:59 to get up to 70% off your Finnish translation costs or 1000€ off your picture book printing cost. More info here.Also, if you are looking for translators from Finnish, we’ll be happy to help you and check also FILI’s translators’ database: Kääntöpiiri website

PPS! Is Nordic Crime not your cup of tea? 
No worries, see our complete Fall 2020 Fiction list here

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND:
Otava (orig.)

ALBANIA:
Dritan
ESTONIA:
Varrak (2-book deal)
CZECH REPUBLIC:
Grada
GERMANY:
Piper Verlag (2-book deal)
LITHUANIA:
BALTO
NETHERLANDS:
De Bezige Bij/Cargo
(2-book deal)
NORWAY:
Cappelen Damm (2-book deal)
POLAND:
Czarna Owca
SLOVAKIA:
Arkus
SWEDEN:
Bokfabriken (2-book deal)
TV/FILM:
Aurora Studios

About author


Elina Backman

Elina Backman is an author and a media & marketing professional living in Helsinki. Elina loves books (all sorts), traveling, cycling and is a host of a Book & Wine Club. She is a creative soul with a commercial mind, and her goal is to find readers globally.

Her debut novel All the King's Men was published in 2020 and immediately gained an enormous amount of attention from the Finnish media, including a praising review by the biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The Saana Havas series is now a best-selling series in Finland and an international TV series is in development. Elina's books have sold over 190 000 copies in Finland.

Together with Heidi Holmavuo, Elina has also narrated the true crime podcast Ratkaisematon (Unsolved), which turned into a full-length audio book as the two crime writers started investigating the murder of a young girl in 1955. They were able to uncover new evidence and their research led the police to reopen the investigation. This story is narrated in the book Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo.

Photo credit: Jonne Räsänen

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

Who Wanders in the Dark

Elina Backman


2024, Crime & Suspense

How to Face Death

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Before the Polar Night Falls

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo

Elina Backman


2021, Crime & Suspense

Still Waters Run Deep

Elina Backman


2020, Crime & Suspense

All the King's Men

Elina Backman

Related news

Feel-Good Fiction from Finland!

Feel-Good is here to stay!

Did you know that Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the World for three consecutive years? One of the reasons for this might be the Finns’ knack for Feel-Good literature!

Although the fall weather is rough, we are glad to have some fuzzy titles to keep us positive! Find the funniest, happiest titles with the best atmosphere for your publishing house below.


 

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD by Emmi Pesonen

Warm, humorous and beautiful debut novel from the point of view of a stepmother. Patchwork family life, and new beginnings.

  • Debut novel by acclaimed screenwriter and actress
  • Feature film in development by Aurora Studios

Amanda’s life is revolutionized when Onni curves into her life with a yellow minibus, chaos and four children riding along. She has been living an extended youth and cared mainly for her house plants until she met Onni and his kids. Happiness, the laundry pile and the dish mountains grow in their new home.

When Onni’s behavior starts to get weirder, she has to decide if love truly fixes everything.

Ask for the English sample for The Most Beautiful Word by clicking here.


 

FACELIFT by Miika Nousiainen

  • Newest title, sold already to Germany and Estonia!

Sami’s biological clock has been ticking for the past 15 years so loudly that sometimes it’s hard to hear his own thoughts.

But when his latest future-mother-candidate rides off with a biker guy, he makes a series of bad choices that cause him to anger the local motorcycle gang. How to fix a life where everything seems to go wrong? Sanni, a wellbeing blogger with perfectly instagrammable life arrives to offer a solution.

Ask for the English sample for Facelift by clicking here.


 

ROOTS by Miika Nousianen

Onni Kirnuvaara left to get groceries when his son was just a child – and never returned.
Years later, during a root canal treatment, the son finds out that he has a dentist brother, left behind as a child just like him.

The brothers embark on a journey to find out the truth about their father. After many detours, they find themselves in the Australian outback.

On their way to Darwin, secrets are revealed, new family members are found, and lengths of dental floss are needed. Digging to the roots hurts, but under the Southern Cross the ache starts to ease.

Ask for the English sample and synopsis for Roots by clicking here.


 

CHARLOTTA by Sara Medberg

Strict class hierarchy and fabulous silk ruffles rule in 19th-century Turku, Finland, where seamstress Charlotta is looking for her own Mr. Darcy.

Can an ordinary lady’s maid have it all: a meaningful life and the man of her dreams?

Ask for the English sample for Charlotta by clicking here.


 

HOPE NEVER DIES by Minna Lindgren

Marja Vehmarvarsi is a 62-year-old teacher, on the verge of retirement.

Marja’s parents Aina and Toivo are almost 100 years old, but nevertheless passionate YouTubers, whose goal is to save the Finnish school system – whatever it takes.

Marja’s popularity among the students grows as her parents’ radical plans spread over the internet.

Ask for the English sample and synopsis for Hope Never DIes by clicking here.


 

ANGRY WIDOW by Minna Lindgren

74-year-old Ulla has cared for her mean and slightly alcoholic paralyzed husband for the last 12 years.

At his funeral, all she can think is: finally! She reconnects with old friends and starts living every day as if it were her last.

The Angry Widow is an amusing and entertaining story about what it means to be seventy in a world where everyone over 65 ticks the same age box in a survey.

Ask for the English sample and synopsis for Angry Widow by clicking here.


 

SUNSET GROVE TRILOGY by Minna Lindgren

1st book:
Death in Sunset Grove is a devilishly funny and suspenseful story about old age, friendship and life in a relatively ordinary retirement home. Here the only fate worse than death is being drugged up and locked away inside the dementia ward. Even the sharpest senior can’t decipher all the nuances of this place; thankfully a few young people, including members of the biker gang and a grandchild’s boyfriend, offer some help.
2nd book: Residents Siiri, Irma and Anna-Liisa, all older than 90, decide to move from the retirement home into a shared apartment in the exotic neighbourhood of Hakaniemi

3rd book: The final part of the trilogy marks a return to the retirement community. But the place no longer feels like home, and has turned into a state-funded, technology-driven pilot project in elderly care. The conclusion brings together characters lost along the way, and murky details are brought to light. Legal justice is also served – in unexpected ways. A natural, long-awaited death finally collects some, but still not all, of our main characters.

Ask for the full English pdfs for Sunset Grove trilogy by clicking here.

About author


Emmi Pesonen

Emmi Pesonen (1977) is a Helsinki-based writer, screenwriter and actress. She graduated in 2001 as a Master of Theater Arts and has worked as an actor in several in theaters, movies, and TV series. Pesonen is bilingual (Finnish-Swedish) and she has translated and dramatized Swedish-language plays. She is also the screenwriter of a movie The Violin Player (Violinist, Mjölk Movies), which premiered in Finland in 2018, and has toured successfully at more than 20 film festivals around the world (including Gothenburg, Moscow, Singapore, Kaliningrad). The film deals with power structures in the art world, passion and giving up.  The Most Beautiful Word (Otava, August 2020) is Pesonen’s debut novel. The book tells a story of a patchwork family from the point of view of the new step-mother. It’s a story of endless love, irreversible decision and learning new things. The movie rights have been optioned by Aurora Studios and a film is currently being developed.

About author


Miika Nousiainen

Miika Nousiainen (b. 1973 in Säynätsalo) has worked as a news and current affairs journalist for MTV3's news department. In addition, he has written for several popular TV-shows.

Nousiainen’s debut novel, Raspberry Boat Refugee (2007), tells the story of Mikko Virtanen, a man who desperately wants to become Swedish at any cost. In this tragicomic work, Nousiainen makes sharp observations about our western neighbor and illustrates that we’re all self-proclaimed experts on Sweden.

Roots (2016) follows the search for a missing father, taking readers across continents from Lieksa, Finland, to Australia. The book was also well-received internationally.

In Facelift (2020), Nousiainen gently explores themes of family and the longing for connection.

In addition, he has written The Danger of the Long Distance Runner (2009) and Forrest Giant (2011).

Nousiainen's novels have been adapted countless times and translated into languages such as Swedish, German, Dutch, Italian, and Estonian.

Miika Nousiainen have been awarded with: Laila Hirvisaari Foundation Grant (2008), Kalevi Jäntti Prize (2009) and Honorable Mention in the Sports Museum Foundation’s Sports Book of the Year Competition (2010)

Photo credit: Jonne Räsänen / Otava 2020

About author


Minna Lindgren

Minna Lindgren (b. 1963) is a freelance journalist and columnist known for her whimsical writing style and fearless approach to topics as strange as opera and death. In addition to novels, she has authored nonfiction books on classical music. In 2009, Lindgren won the Bonnier Journalism Prize for her article entitled “Father’s Death” (“Isän kuolema”).

Lindgren is best known for the Sunset Grove trilogy, which has been sold to 18 territories, and the final part, The End of Sunset Grove, was nominated for the International Dublin Literature Award in 2019. She has also written four standalone novels and a non-fiction book about the history of opera.

Minna Lindgren’s books have been critical and commercial successes, in Finland and internationally.

About author


Sara Medberg

Sara Medberg is a historian, who has just finished her doctoral dissertation about the education of highborn girls in the 18th century. The ideas for her novels come from her research. In her thesis she studies young womens' conduct manuals in Sweden in the 18th century from the perspective of the modernising ideals for women and the upbringing of girls.

Sara has received academic scholarships from the Swedish Cultural Foundation, Waldemar von Frenckell's Foundation and the Swedish Literature Society. Including others, her literary work is sponsored by the Finnish Author Association and Otava's Book Foundation.

Medberg enjoys costume dramas, fashion from the past, castles, mansions, shopping and running. Her novels have sold over 100,000 copies across all territories.

THE MARIMEKKO STORY sold to Japan: The Greatest of All is Love.

Wonderful news! Japanese rights of THE GREATEST OF ALL IS LOVE. THE MARIMEKKO STORY have been acquired by Shodensha. This no.1 bestselling non-fiction title was published in Finland in April, with over 30,000 copies sold, and feature film in development by Aurora Studios. Rights were previously sold in Estonia.

The editor at Shodensha is excited: ”We saw that this title could shed light to the problems which Japan is facing today. Not only is it a business book, but also it will become a book to give inspiration to and encourage the readers here to give the gender gap serious thought. Finland ranks very high on the Gender Gap Index, and is a country where the social norm is for women to be active. Japan needs to know about the Finnish social environment, and the energy, lifestyle and story of Ms. Kirsti Paakkanen. As a general publisher, we are confident that we are flexible and promote this title which carries the author’s thoughts to fit perfectly in the Japanese society.”
Shodensha, established in 1970, is general trade publisher of magazines (women’s fashion, lifestyle, etc.), novels, nonfiction (business, how-to), paperbacks, and manga of all genres.

The Greatest of All is Love. The Marimekko Story.

The breath-taking rags-to-riches story of Marimekko’s former owner and CEO Kirsti Paakkanen, who took over the Finnish design house and turned Marimekko into a successful worldwide brand name.


Author bio:
Ulla-Maija Paavilainenaward-winning journalist, is the author of several well-received novels and non-fiction books. She has worked as the editor-in-chief at several top Finnish magazines over the past 25 years.

Suurin niistä on rakkaus
Otava, April 2020, 346 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
ESTONIA: Helios
JAPAN: Shodensha

Reading materials:
English sample, Finnish edition

About author


Ulla-Maija Paavilainen

Ulla-Maija Paavilainen, award-winning journalist, is the author of several well-received novels and non-fiction books. She has worked as the editor-in-chief at several top Finnish magazines over the past 25 years. One of her specific areas of interest is the role of women in working life and analysing the power structure and what is required for women to have successful careers.

Paavilainen’s most recent work is the moving biography of the legendary entrepreneur Kirsti Paakkanen, who took over Marimekko, one of Finland’s most famous design brands. Kirsti Paakkanen: Greatest of All is Love is the story of Marimekko, an authentic rags-to riches tale of how a poor girl from the countryside first founded the world’s first all-women’s advertising agency, Womena. Selling Womena when she was 62, Paakkanen bought Marimekko, a global design company that was on the verge of bankruptcy and turned it around into an international iconic fashion house.

Bibliography


2020, Memories & Biographies

The Greatest of All Is Love. The Marimekko Story

Ulla-Maija Paavilainen

Related news

The life and work of world-famous pioneering architect couple AINO AND ALVAR AALTO to be published by Otava and represented worldwide by the Elina Ahlback Literary Agency

We are thrilled to announce the first deal for a unique book about the life and work of the world-famous architect couple Aino and Alvar Aalto. Otava Publishing will publish Aino and Alvar Aalto in Finnish in September 2021. The book is based on previously unpublished correspondence between the couple from 1921-1949 and compiled and written by Heikki Aalto-Alanen, a grandson of the Aaltos.

“It is a great pride and joy to have the opportunity to work with Heikki Aalto-Alanen on publishing this intimate and powerful story of Aino and Alvar Aalto, the world-famous masters of Finnish architecture and design. This will be the first time readers receive an inside look into their partnership in life, love and work. This is a story that truly deserves to be told to readers — Aalto-scholars, enthusiasts and just about everybody — around the world”, says Minna Castrén, Literary Director, Otava Publishing Company Ltd.

 

Aino & Alvar Aalto: Mirror Like an Ocean Reflecting Your Smile
by Heikki Aalto-Alanen

This is the love story of the world-famous, pioneering design couple Aino and Alvar Aalto.
Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino are internationally celebrated for their architecture, furniture, glassware and other interior design, but their personal lives have been relatively unknown – until now. This book, written by the Aaltos’ grandson, contains photos, sketches, and personal letters between Aino and Alvar beautifully illustrating how inseparable this couple was both in work and love.

“Countless books have been written about Alvar Aalto’s architecture and other works. Recently, Aino Marsio-Aalto has also received the recognition she deserves in her own right as well as in her role in the rise of Alvar Aalto as one of the leading architects of the 20th century,” says Heikki Aalto-Alanen. “The voice in this book is personal. I want to tell the story of Aino and Alvar’s unique partnership, relationship, and their joint life work from the perspective of a family member. I also want their own voices to be heard.”

In addition to the photographs from the family archive, the book is illustrated with Aino and Alvar’s drawings of each other and of their children, as well as landscape drawings made while traveling, along with other architectural drawings and photographs.

English-language material to be available in November 2020

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Otava

About author


Heikki Aalto-Alanen

Heikki Aalto-Alanen is the grandson of architects Aino and Alvar Aalto, who has previously served as vice chairman of the Alvar Aalto Foundation, been a member of Artek’s Board of Directors, member of the Alvar Aalto Academy Board, and held other positions maintaining Aino and Alvar Aalto’s artistic work and heritage. Today he is serving as the chairman of the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation, established in 2020 to preserve Aino and Alvar Aalto's early masterpiece. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Alvar and Aino Aalto Estate Ltd. Heikki Aalto-Alanen is a lawyer by profession and has worked in the Nordic financial market.

His book tells the story of Aino and Alvar Aalto, depicted through their previously unpublished correspondence from 1921-1949, photographs and drawings.

Bibliography


2021, General Nonfiction, Memories & Biographies

The Story of Aino and Alvar Aalto

Heikki Aalto-Alanen

Related news

Hungarian rights sold to Mabel Merryweather series!

Hungarian rights sold to MABEL MERRYWEATHER series by Noora Kunnas and Teemu Juhani

We are excited to announce the third foreign sale for Mabel Merryweather series:  Mabel Merryweather and the Miniature Pirates by author Noora Kunnas and illustrator Teemu Juhani has been sold in Hungary to Pagony!

“Mabel Merryweather and the Miniature Pirates is a vibrant, cheerful and light text from the beginning to the end. It is an adventure novel, but with new, fresh elements like a singing rooster and mini-pirates. Not only has it an exciting story, it also has a very good message – the elderly people are not depicted as passive and helpless but on the contrary: the grannies and the children solve problems together!”

– Hanna Győri, editor, Pozsonyi Pagony Kft. Hungary

Request the English samples and synopses by clicking here

This fast and wacky middle-grade series has adorable, quirky black-and-white illustrations by Teemu Juhani, and the humorous story draws inspiration from the world of Roald Dahl.

About the books:

Book 1: Mabel Merryweather and the Miniature Pirates
Otava 2019, 140 pp.
Nick and Lilly’s visit to their rule-loving, child-hating uncle Jim turns into an adventure as the children get to know their exiting, eccentric neighbor: Mabel Merryweather. Mabel and her friends are preparing for a flower arrangement competition, when the town is hit by a jeweler thief. Nick, Lilly and Mabel have their own problems as Mabel’s decorative miniature pirates have come to live and are rummaging through the backyards. And what happened to the main judge of the competition – a pop singer Monika who disappeared in the same day?  Something must be done to bring peace and order back to the town of Dalton.

#2 Mabel Merryweather and the King of the Thieves
Otava 2020, 144 pp.
The town of Dalton is celebrating a local children’s poet’s 140th anniversary, and everyone is dressed up as a character from a poem. But amongst the happy people there’s also a gentleman thief who has terrorized art museums all spring. Through many mistakes and misunderstandings Nick and Lilly help the police to catch a thief – and to teach a lesson to a grumpy literary critic.

Rights sold for the series:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

DENMARK: ABC Forlag
GERMANY: Mixtvision Verlag
HUNGARY: Pagony

About author


Noora Kunnas

Noora Kunnas is a children’s author from Helsinki, Finland. She has the knack for making both children and grownups laugh while they’re immersed in her zany books. She loves animals and British humor – she grew up watching Jeeves and Wooster and eating ice cream straight from the container. Kunnas draws her inspiration from the world of Roald Dahl. The trademark of her books is a nutty humor, spiced with quirky characters, as well as the titillating mood of various settings, where anything – and we mean anything – is possible.

Noora Kunnas has published eight children’s books at Otava (2015 – 2022),  and her works have been nominated for the prestigious Tiiliskivi and Lukuvarkaus literary prizes in Finland. She graduated from the Turku Academy of Arts with a degree in film, and she worked in television since.

About author


Teemu Juhani

Teemu Juhani is a Finnish illustrator, comic artist and picture book author whose illustrations have been published in picture books and children's fiction in over 20 countries. In addition to children's books Teemu has illustrated magazines and educational material. Originally from the fields and woods of North Karelia, Teemu now lives, works and eats way too many cakes in Helsinki.

Estonian rights sold to HILJA’S SUMMER AT THE GREEN HOUSE

We cannot be happier to announce that Hilja-series has now a publisher in Estonia!

Eesti Raamat acquired the rights for the first book in the series: HILJA’S SUMMER AT THE GREEN HOUSE.
Previously, the series has been published in Finland and Germany.

”We love that children can easily relate to “Hilja´s Summer in The Green House”. Stories of Hilja are heartfelt and funny, with a twist of irony.
Who needs superpowers or fairy godmothers when you have two sisters, grannies and aunties!”
– Reet Trummal, editor, Eesti Raamat, Estonia

 

HILJA’S SUMMER IN THE GREEN HOUSE (#1 in Hilja-series)
by Heidi Viherjuuri, illustrated by Nadja Sarell

Hilja is a seven-year-old girl who lives in a wooden house that always needs some fixing. Her family consists of her mother, father, little sister Taimi and big sister Veini. Grandpa is also closely involved in the life of the Green House. He helps Dad with the renovation, takes the kids to fish, and tells jokes.  Hilja has only seen her grandma in an old photograph. However, there are three ladies in the neighborhood who are making sure that Hilja doesn’t have just one grandma but three!

The late summer is full of hustle and bustle. Weather they are celebrating something, catching fish or making Midsummer magic it is never boring! When cousin Martti comes to visit, Agent H and Agent M begin a spy mission to Aunt Strawberry’s house. The excursion ends up in the aunt’s vegetable garden, where secret agents are assigned the task K – weeding.

The idyllic countryside scenery provides room for imagination. These stories are not full of action and crime., but life in the Green house is never too smooth, and the story is spiced with just the right touch of anarchist humor.

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Mäkelä (orig.)
ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
GERMANY: WooW Books

About author


Heidi Viherjuuri

Heidi Viherjuuri lives in Cologne, Germany, where she writes about things big and small and also everyday life situations. She loves green tea, weekdays, history, traveling by train and having silly laughs with her son. Heidi´s works have rich language and are straight-to-the-point at the same time and one of her favorite books is the Finnish thesaurus.

About author


Nadja Sarell

Nadja Sarell is an illustrator living in Helsinki, Finland. She graduated with MA in Dance from Theatre Academy Helsinki. Soon after that she moved to a small town in North Wales to study children’s book illustration. She graduated from North Wales School of Art and Design with BA in Illustration for Children’s Publishing in 2004.

Since then she has worked as a freelance illustrator for children’s publishing in Finland and abroad. She loves to teach art, illustration and dance for both children and adults. She is also passionate about surface pattern design and enjoys creating charismatic, expressive book characters.
If Nadja was an animal, she would be a cat living in an old mansion with a large fireplace and a comfy sofa. Her favourite things are her family, music, dancing, black coffee and chocolate.

LITTLE BOOK OF BAD MOODS sold to Georgia!

We are very happy to announce that LITTLE BOOK OF BAD MOODS will also be published in Georgian! The happy publisher that just acquired the rights is Sula Kauri.
The rights for the series have now been sold to 31 countries, but are still available in: Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Korea, Albania, Macedonia, Indonesia, Arabic, Bosnia, Vietnam etc.

“I haven’t laughed this hard for a long time. Reading the activities, one easily realizes the scale and pointlessness of one’s bad mood. These feelings will quickly pass. Especially quickly when one starts listing the dark corners of one’s mind. This book is the funniest way to spend time this summer!”
– Ilta Sanomat newspaper, Finland

Ask for English materials by clicking here

LITTLE BOOK OF BAD MOODS
by Lotta Sonninen and Piia Aho

 

Fed up with being positive? Try the opposite – an activity book in style of Keri Smith’s Wreck This Journal. Rights sold to 32 territories!

Are you done and over with positivity and wellbeing? Here’s an adults’ activity book of negativity and ill-being! List your enemies, vent the rage and hide the book from your spouse, children and colleagues.

The Little Book of Bad Moods parodies the positivity trend and adults’ activity books in a hilarious way and is suitable for everyone who has ever held a grudge and looked for a safe way to let it out. The book includes activities like the blame game (what’s wrong with your life – and whose fault it is), getting frank (the things you should have said then and there) and crying over spilled milk (no need to forget and forgive). Let’s get cranky!

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (Orig. publisher)
BRAZIL: Globo Livros
CHINA: Citic Press
CROATIA: Stilus knjiga
CZECH: Euromedia
DENMARK: Modtryk
ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
FRANCE: Le Livre de Poche
GEORGIA: Sula Kauri
GERMANY: Droemer Knaur
HUNGARY: Partvonal
ICELAND: Forlagid
INDONESIA: Gramedia Pustaka Utama
ISRAEL: Kinneret-Zmora
ITALY: DeA Planeta Libri
JAPAN: President Sha
LATVIA: Zvaigzne
LITHUANIA: Baltos Lankos
NETHERLANDS: A.W. Bruna
NORWAY: Vigmostad & Bjorke
POLAND: Zysk i S-ka
PORTUGAL: Planeta
RUSSIA: Bombora (Eksmo)
SERBIA: Vulkan
SLOVAKIA: Ikar
SPAIN: Plaza & Janés/PRH
SWEDEN: HarperCollins Nordic
TAIWAN: China Times
TURKEY: Pegasus
UKRAINE: Vivat Publishing
UK & COMMONWEALTH: Bloomsbury
UNITED STATES: Gallery Books/S&S

About author


Lotta Sonninen

Lotta Sonninen works as an executive editor of nonfiction. She has also taught creative writing and translated many books into Finnish. She got the idea for The Little Book of Bad Moods when working on yet another book on positivity. She secretly thinks that bad moods are good for you.

About author


Piia Aho

Piia Aho is a Helsinki-based AD and graphic designer with a great love for book design. She always makes an effort to find the perfect visual tone for each book – whether it is toned down or crazy wild or anything in between. The little books of bad mood are her getaway from serious stuff.

Two new deals for Miika Nousiainen!

We are more than excited to announce that Eesti Raamat from Estonia has pre-empted 2 titles of Miika Nousiainen: FACELIFT (2020) and ROOTS (2016).
The first title  – ROOTS  – will most likely be published already in 2021 and FACELIFT will follow.


FACELIFT
by Miika Nousiainen

Sami has a dream: he desperately wants to be a father. His biological clock has been ticking for the past 15 years so loudly that sometimes it’s hard to hear his own thoughts. But it’s not so easy to become a father, first of all, you need to find a suitable future mother candidate.

But when Sami’s latest future-mother-candidate rides off with a biker guy, he makes a series of bad choices that cause him to anger the local motorcycle gang. How to fix a life where everything seems to go wrong? Sini, a wellbeing blogger with perfectly instagrammable life arrives to offer a solution.

”Nousiainen comes to grips with profound topics, managing them with an ease and wits that keeps readers hooked from the page one. In “Facelift”
the modern superficiality gets pointed out in the most entertaining manner.”
– Reet Trummal, editor, Eesti Raamat, Estonia

Ask for English materials for FACELIFT by clicking here


ROOTS 
by Miika Nousiainen

Onni Kirnuvaara left to get groceries when his son was just a child – and never returned. The father was never mentioned again. Years later, during a root canal treatment, the son finds out that in addition to his bad dental karma he has a dentist brother, left behind as a child just like him.

The brothers embark on a journey to find out the truth about their father. After many detours they find themselves in the Australian outback. Lousy fathers are fathers too, after all.

”Nousiainen´s novel about the laws of life is truly enjoyable: both amusing and thought-provoking, sharp and warm. Life has its own unique ways to make us face the problems that are not necessarily the most comfortable to face. With or without anesthesia – one simply cannot bypass his roots!”
– Reet Trummal, editor, Eesti Raamat, Estonia

Ask for English materials for ROOTS by clicking here

Rights sold: ROOTS

FINLAND, Otava (Original publisher)

CZECH REPUBLIC, XYZ
ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
GERMANY, Nagel & Kimche
HUNGARY, Kossuth
ITALY, Iperborea
LITHUANIA, Alma Littera
NETHERLANDS, Prometheus
SWEDEN, Brombergs

 

Rights sold: FACELIFT

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
GERMANY: Kein & Aber

About author


Miika Nousiainen

Miika Nousiainen (b. 1973 in Säynätsalo) has worked as a news and current affairs journalist for MTV3's news department. In addition, he has written for several popular TV-shows.

Nousiainen’s debut novel, Raspberry Boat Refugee (2007), tells the story of Mikko Virtanen, a man who desperately wants to become Swedish at any cost. In this tragicomic work, Nousiainen makes sharp observations about our western neighbor and illustrates that we’re all self-proclaimed experts on Sweden.

Roots (2016) follows the search for a missing father, taking readers across continents from Lieksa, Finland, to Australia. The book was also well-received internationally.

In Facelift (2020), Nousiainen gently explores themes of family and the longing for connection.

In addition, he has written The Danger of the Long Distance Runner (2009) and Forrest Giant (2011).

Nousiainen's novels have been adapted countless times and translated into languages such as Swedish, German, Dutch, Italian, and Estonian.

Miika Nousiainen have been awarded with: Laila Hirvisaari Foundation Grant (2008), Kalevi Jäntti Prize (2009) and Honorable Mention in the Sports Museum Foundation’s Sports Book of the Year Competition (2010)

Photo credit: Jonne Räsänen / Otava 2020

Bibliography


2024, Commercial/Upmarket, Humor

Push, Pace, Position, Pray

Miika Nousiainen


2020, Commercial/Upmarket, Humor

Facelift

Miika Nousiainen


2016, Humor

Roots

Miika Nousiainen


2007, Humor

Raspberry Boat Refugee

Miika Nousiainen

Related news

Estonian rights sold for THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD!

We are very excited to announce that Emmi Pesonen’s debut novel THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD now has a first international publisher!
Eesti Raamat from Estonia was very happy to acquire the title:

”Emmi Pesonen takes a warm and calm approach when describing the delicate subject of becoming a stepmother. It is a story of love at its finest.”
– Reet Trummal, editor, Eesti Raamat, Estonia

Ask for English materials by clicking here

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD
by Emmi Pesonen

Warm, humorous and beautiful debut novel from the point of view of a stepmother. Patchwork family life, and new beginnings.

  • Debut novel by acclaimed screenwriter and actress
  • Feature film in development by Aurora Studios

Amanda’s life is revolutionized when Onni curves into her life with a yellow minibus, chaos and four children riding along. She has been living an extended youth and cared mainly for her house plants until she met Onni and his kids. Happiness, the laundry pile and the dish mountains grow in their new home. Everything is always lost and the house is permanently messy, but Amanda firmly believes that love conquers all obstacles. But when Onni’s behavior starts to get weirder, she has to decide if love truly fixes everything.

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
TV & MOVIE RIGHTS: Aurora Studios

About author


Emmi Pesonen

Emmi Pesonen (1977) is a Helsinki-based writer, screenwriter and actress. She graduated in 2001 as a Master of Theater Arts and has worked as an actor in several in theaters, movies, and TV series. Pesonen is bilingual (Finnish-Swedish) and she has translated and dramatized Swedish-language plays. She is also the screenwriter of a movie The Violin Player (Violinist, Mjölk Movies), which premiered in Finland in 2018, and has toured successfully at more than 20 film festivals around the world (including Gothenburg, Moscow, Singapore, Kaliningrad). The film deals with power structures in the art world, passion and giving up.  The Most Beautiful Word (Otava, August 2020) is Pesonen’s debut novel. The book tells a story of a patchwork family from the point of view of the new step-mother. It’s a story of endless love, irreversible decision and learning new things. The movie rights have been optioned by Aurora Studios and a film is currently being developed.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

The Magician's Daughters

Emmi Pesonen


2020, Commercial/Upmarket

The Most Beautiful Word

Emmi Pesonen

Related news

29th territory for MONSTER NANNY series!

We are very happy to announce that Ukrainian publisher School Publishing House has now acquired the rights for all 3 titles in Monster Nanny series. The series now has 29 rights sold and a feature film in development by Scott Free Productions.

Congratulations to Tuutikki Tolonen, Pasi Pitkänen and School Publishing House!

The rights are still available in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Japan, Serbia, Slovakia, Iceland, Korea, Croatia, Israel etc
If you are interested, request the full English materials for Monster Nanny trilogy by clicking here.

 

MONSTER NANNY TRILOGY:

Book 1: Monster Nanny
Mörkövahti. Tammi 2015, 300 pp.

The Hellman children must make do with a nanny while their mother is away at a spa. The only problem? Their nanny is a monster.

Grah is hairy, dusty, and doesn’t talk. When the siblings discover that other neighborhood kids have been left with similar creatures, they start to wonder where the monsters came from. With the parents away, the kids work together (between bickering) to figure out the mystery of the monsters.
Book 2: Monster Route
Mörköreitti. Tammi 2016, 280 pp.

Mimi 6 years, has snuck into the monsters’ underground world after her monster friend Grah. She travels in their tunnels, led by the odd Gate Keeper. Back at home, Koby and Halley put their heads together and manage to get in touch with Mimi. But who is the mysterious and frightening ruler of the monster world?

Book 3: Monster Message
Mörköviesti, Tammi, March 2020, 250 pp.

Hellman kids face new troubles. Mom and Dad want to move into a bigger home on the other side of the city. Mimi’s talking bathrobe feels strangely shrunk, and drops hints of leaving. Monstrologist Runar Kalli is starting to act his age without his rejuvenating root potion – and he’s 122. Something must be done. When Mimi finds crumpled leaves with strange markings in her room, they look like messages from underground, but who’s delivering them and why? And why does the Gatekeeper of the underground world appear in their bathroom?

The three books are all illustrated by Pasi Pitkänen.

MONSTER NANNY SERIES:

Rights sold:

FINLAND, Tammi (orig. publisher)

AUSTRALIA, Allen & Unwin
BOSNIA, Šahinpašić
BRAZIL, DarkSide Books
CHINA, Beijing Children’s Publishing House
CZECH REPUBLIC, Portál
DENMARK, Turbine
ESTONIA, Tiritamm
FRANCE, Editions Robert Laffont
GERMANY, Carl Hanser Verlag
HUNGARY, Tessloff Babilon
ITALY, Salani/Mauri Spagnol
LATVIA, Zvaigzne
LITHUANIA: Nieko Rimto
NETHERLANDS, Luitingh-Sijthoff
NEW ZEALAND, Allen & Unwin
NORWAY, Gyldendal Norsk
OCEANIA, Allen & Unwin
POLAND, Vesper
PORTUGAL, Asa Editiones/Leya
ROMANIA, Editura Univers
RUSSIA, Rosman
SLOVENIA, Mladinska knjiga
SPAIN (Spanish), La Galera
SPAIN (Catalan), La Galera
SWEDEN, Rabén & Sjögren
TURKEY, SEV Redhouse Kidz
UKRAINE: School Publishing House
VIETNAM, Nha Nam
UNITED STATES: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
FILM RIGHTS, Scott Free Productions

 

About author


Pasi Pitkänen

Pasi Pitkänen has become known for his richly detailed illustrative work on several children’s books such as the extremely popular Monster Nanny trilogy by Tuutikki Tolonen. He has also worked at Rovio Entertainment as an illustrator, character designer, and graphic designer. Pitkänen is the illustrator of the popular Kepler62 series and the author of two Children's titles Monster Tournament and The Island of Lost Animals.

Among Pitkänen’s hobbies are quantum physics, people-watching, B-movies, insects and baking.

About author


Tuutikki Tolonen

Tuutikki Tolonen is the author of several acclaimed children’s books, plays and academic articles. She teaches creative writing and has worked as an editor and reporter at Vinski, a Finnish literary magazine for children. For Monster Nanny she received the Arvid Lydecken award.  Her inspiration for the Monster Nanny trilogy sparked during a family breakfast. “My son Leo, then six, said: ‘I heard on the radio yesterday that all moms have to go on vacation and monsters will take their places,” she says.

Her other bestselling series is the Agnes-series, of which the first book "Agnes and the Garden of Dreams" was in 2021 nominated for the Arvid Lydecken Award, received an honorable mention for the Runeberg Junior Award, and won the Luku Varkaus Award. Tolonen tells that the inspiration for Agnes comes for her interest for weird and inexpicable tales, ghost stories and mysteries: "I wanted to write a book my daughter Aili, then nine, would like to read - not too long, not too scary, but very curious."

Tuutikki is nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2026.

Photo credit: Otto Virtanen

German and Danish rights sold to MABEL MERRYWEATHER series by Noora Kunnas and Teemu Juhani

We are excited to announce that the first foreign rights of Mabel Merryweather series by author Noora Kunnas and illustrator Teemu Juhani have been sold. The German rights were acquired by Mixtvision Verlag, and Danish rights went to ABC Forlag.

”We are beyond delighted to publish Noora Kunnas’ and Teemu Juhani’s books at Mixtvision in 2021. The story is hilariously funny and quirky in the very best way and we can’t wait to see what our German readers think about the books!” – Kerstin Rabe, Editorial Director, Mixtvision Verlag, Germany

This fast and wacky middle-grade series has adorable, quirky black-and-white illustrations by Teemu Juhani, and the humorous story draws inspiration from the world of Roald Dahl.

About the books:

Book 1: Mabel Merryweather and the Miniature Pirates
Otava 2019, 140 pp.
Nick and Lilly’s visit to their rule-loving, child-hating uncle Jim turns into an adventure as the children get to know their exiting, eccentric neighbor: Mabel Merryweather. Mabel and her friends are preparing for a flower arrangement competition, when the town is hit by a jeweler thief. Nick, Lilly and Mabel have their own problems as Mabel’s decorative miniature pirates have come to live and are rummaging through the backyards. And what happened to the main judge of the competition – a pop singer Monika who disappeared in the same day?  Something must be done to bring peace and order back to the town of Dalton.

#2 Mabel Merryweather and the King of the Thieves
Otava 2020, 144 pp.
The town of Dalton is celebrating a local children’s poet’s 140th anniversary, and everyone is dressed up as a character from a poem. But amongst the happy people there’s also a gentleman thief who has terrorized art museums all spring. Through many mistakes and misunderstandings Nick and Lilly help the police to catch a thief – and to teach a lesson to a grumpy literary critic.

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
DENMARK: ABC Forlag
GERMANY: Mixtvision

About author


Noora Kunnas

Noora Kunnas is a children’s author from Helsinki, Finland. She has the knack for making both children and grownups laugh while they’re immersed in her zany books. She loves animals and British humor – she grew up watching Jeeves and Wooster and eating ice cream straight from the container. Kunnas draws her inspiration from the world of Roald Dahl. The trademark of her books is a nutty humor, spiced with quirky characters, as well as the titillating mood of various settings, where anything – and we mean anything – is possible.

Noora Kunnas has published eight children’s books at Otava (2015 – 2022),  and her works have been nominated for the prestigious Tiiliskivi and Lukuvarkaus literary prizes in Finland. She graduated from the Turku Academy of Arts with a degree in film, and she worked in television since.

About author


Teemu Juhani

Teemu Juhani is a Finnish illustrator, comic artist and picture book author whose illustrations have been published in picture books and children's fiction in over 20 countries. In addition to children's books Teemu has illustrated magazines and educational material. Originally from the fields and woods of North Karelia, Teemu now lives, works and eats way too many cakes in Helsinki.

Introducing EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN OF HISTORY – first sale to Estonia!

We have a brand new bestselling non-fiction title to introduce to you! It’s called EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN OF HISTORY, written by journalist Maria Pettersson, and today we are extremely happy to announce the first foreign sale to Estonia.

Äripäev in Estonia pre-empted this exciting title that has sold out already three prints in two weeks in Finland!

 

EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN OF HISTORY:
Pirates, Psychics, Priestesses and Princess Spies

by Maria Pettersson

Women whose stories your history teacher never told you. 

  • The captain who ruled the biggest pirate fleet in history.
  • The scientist who changed our understanding of physics, while taking the most famous geniuses of her time as her lovers, and getting in trouble for gambling.
  • The con-artist who could fool any jeweler in Europe.
  • The baseball star who played wearing a fake beard.
  • Teenagers recruited by the Resistance because of their innocent looks, who learned to blow up railways and shoot Nazis from their bicycles.
  • The master of Jujutsu who taught the Suffragettes to fight back.
  • The cult leader who made her followers undergo cosmetic surgery to look more like her.
  • The kidnapped girl who ended up ruling the biggest empire that had ever existed, with her female lover as her queen.

EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN OF HISTORY  introduces over a hundred exceptional women from different periods of history and from all corners of the world. It is a veritable treasury of captivating stories and unsung ballads about the exciting women in history.
Outrageous, amazing, terrible, heroic, thrilling and above all extraordinary; their life stories make the reader gasp and ask: “Why haven’t I heard of them before?”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

As a child, Maria Pettersson’s dream job was to be an international adventurer. Instead, she became an award-winning journalist, the editor-in-chief of several magazines and a serious history geek.

She has worked for the biggest newspapers, radio stations and TV channels in Finland. She has travelled in over 70 countries, got married in Vegas and spent her honeymoon in North Korea.

Her hobbies include games and roleplaying, observing big machines, studying small Slavic languages and visiting dead dictators. She currently lives in Helsinki, Finland.

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Atena (orig.)
ESTONIA: Äripäev

About author


Maria Pettersson

As a child, Maria Pettersson’s dream job was to be an international adventurer. Instead, she became an award-winning journalist, the editor-in-chief of several magazines and a serious history geek. She has worked for the biggest newspapers, radio stations and TV channels in Finland. She has travelled in over 70 countries, got married in Vegas and spent her honeymoon in North Korea. Her hobbies include games and roleplaying, observing big machines, studying small Slavic languages and visiting dead dictators. She currently lives in Helsinki, Finland.

Bibliography


2020, Memories & Biographies, History & Politics

Extraordinary Women of History: Pirates, Psychics, Priestesses and Princess Spies

Maria Pettersson

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EVIL’S NET by Max Seeck published in Finland today

Max Seeck’s new thriller EVIL’S NET was published in Finland today. The rights of this book have already been sold to over 20 languages, and it’s a sequel to FAITHFUL READER – rights sold to 40 territories.

Congratulations to Max and Tammi publisher!


About the book:

Jessica Niemi has another mystery on her hands: Two famous Instagram bloggers go missing, and a strange picture is uploaded
on both of their accounts. It’s a picture of an old lighthouse on a rocky island. And underneath there’s a poem. A poem that describes their deaths…

Jessica starts to investigate the disappearances and soon she finds out that the two bloggers have been sharing a secret that got them involved in something very mystical and dark.

FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
BELGIUM: A.W. Bruna (2-book deal)
BULGARIA: EMAS (2-book deal)
CANADA: Berkley/Penguin Random House (2-book deal)
CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada (2-book deal)
DENMARK: Gutkind (2-book deal)
ESTONIA: Pegasus (2-book deal)
FRANCE: Michel Lafon (2-book deal)
GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe (2-book deal)
GREECE: Livani (2-book deal)
HUNGARY: Animus (2-book deal)
LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji (2-book deal)
MACEDONIA: Matica (2-book deal)
NETHERLANDS: A.W. Bruna (2-book deal)
NORWAY: Aschehoug (2-book deal)
POLAND: Sonia Draga (2-book deal)
PORTUGAL: Bertrand Editora (2-book deal)
ROMANIA: Litera (2-book deal)
SERBIA: Vulkan (2-book deal)
SLOVENIA: Didakta (2-book deal)
UNITED KINGDOM: Welbeck Publishing UK (2-book deal)
UNITED STATES: Berkley/Penguin Random House (2-book deal)

About author


Max Seeck, New York Times Best Selling Author

Max Seeck – New York Times Bestselling Author of THE WITCH HUNTER.

Winner of the prestigious Glass Key Award 2023 for his novel THE LAST GRUDGE.

Jessica Niemi series is being adapted into a English-language TV series by Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures

“An exceptional combination of hardboiled Scandi-noir and eerie ghost story. [--] Seeck marries breathtaking suspense with an expertly drawn heroine. This is guaranteed to send shivers up even the most unshakable readers’ spines." – Publisher's Weekly, starred review (Ghost island)

"Each new step has been an artistic success. Max Seeck, last year's winner of the Glass Key Award for best Nordic detective story, has a golden touch for Finnish suspense fiction." - Kai Hirvasnoro, Kansan Uutiset newspaper

“Another star has been added to the firmament of thriller writers,” announced Iltalehti newspaper, when Max’s debut novel was published in 2016. Four books later, Max Seeck’s novels have been sold to more than 40 countries, including US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries and as far as Korea!

His Jessica Niemi series landed him on the New York Times Bestseller list! The new MILO series has already been sold to 9 territories, with several rights pre-empts ahead of the Finnish publication!

Max Seeck has a background in sales and marketing, and has lately been able to dedicate his time to his lifelong love of writing. His interests include well-conducted research, reading Nordic Noir and listening to movie soundtracks as he writes.

Photo credit: Mikko Rasila

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

Milo #2: Betrayed

Max Seeck


2024, Crime & Suspense

Milo #1: Checkmate

Max Seeck


2022, Crime & Suspense

Ghost Island

Max Seeck


2021, Crime & Suspense

The Last Grudge

Max Seeck


2020, Crime & Suspense

The Ice Coven

Max Seeck


2019, Crime & Suspense

The Witch Hunter

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Mephisto Touch

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Call of Hades

Max Seeck


2016, Crime & Suspense

Angels of Hammurabi

Max Seeck

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Emmi Itäranta’s brilliant third novel THE MOONDAY LETTERS published today

Emmi Itäranta is one of the most internationally successful contemporary Finnish authors. Her first novel MEMORY OF WATER is published in 23 territories, and filming of the movie has begun this fall.

The Moonday Letters by award-winning author Emmi Itäranta, focuses on big themes. It is dedicated to all those who have lost their homes. Itäranta worked on The Moonday Letters for three and a half years while the world went through increasing turmoil. The climate crisis grew more urgent, authoritarianism and populism gained more ground in world politics. The novel did not strive to directly reflect these issues, but they could not help but filter into the fictional reality of the book.
Emmi Itäranta tells about the writing process:

“Years ago my editor cleverly planted the idea in my mind that there were not many space operas by Finnish authors, and that it might be interesting to see some. The thought began to take root. In January 2017 the first image of the story emerged in my imagination: a woman is sitting in a coffee shop on the Moon, watching Earth from there and thinking that she can never return to her home planet. The image spoke to me not only of a future world, but also of loss and longing for home. The book grew around these themes.”   “And on top of it all I completed the book in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.”

“As I was putting the finishing touches on the book, the parallels with the current reality took even me by surprise.” Itäranta, who lives in the United Kingdom and is currently visiting Finland, says The Moonday Letters portrays first and foremost the grief of losing Earth, the only home of the human species, as it was.

“I believe we are already living in the middle of this grief in relation to the loss of biodiversity and the climate crisis that we see all around us. I also believe it is possible and meaningful to process these feelings of loss through fiction.”

 

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015, and The Moonday Letters (Kuunpäivän kirjeet) in September 2020. Her new title Snowsinger (Lumenlaulaja) was published in 2025.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award).

Itäranta’s CV is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Photo credit: Liisa Takala

Bibliography


2025, Literary Fiction, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Snowsinger

Emmi Itäranta


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

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Frank Martela’s A WONDERFUL LIFE sold to Portugal – 23 territories conquered!

Frank Martela’s non-fiction bestseller A WONDERFUL LIFE: Insights for Finding a Meaningful Existence is now sold to 23 territories – Portuguese rights were acquired by Editora 2020. The deal was negotiated in collaboration with MB Agencia

Editora 2020 is the Portuguese publisher of Yuval Noah Harari and two Nobel Prize winning authors: Olga Tokarczuk and Svetlana Alexievich.

Published in the US in March by HarperCollins, Frank Martela’s A WONDERFUL LIFE is becoming an international bestseller around the world, but the rights are still available in Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, Slovenia,  Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovakia, China etc.

“Frank Martela has written an essential primer for making sense of the absurdities of modern life. Philosophically probing yet eminently readable, A Wonderful Life is a book you can refer to again and again on your journey towards purpose.” – Daniel H. Pink, author of the New York Times bestsellers WhenDrive, and To Sell is Human.


A WONDERFUL LIFE: Insights for Finding a Meaningful Existence
Harper Design, 24th of March 2020, 200 pp.

In this engagingly insightful book, Frank Martela – one of the only academic experts who has contributed to both the philosophical and psychological research on meaning in life – takes you on a voyage through the history, philosophy, and psychology of meaningfulness and worthy living.

The journey starts in the 19th century, where it is revealed why and how the Scottish author Thomas Carlyle came to be the first person in history who actually used the phrase »meaning of life.»

The life stories of Carlyle and Russian author Leo Tolstoy serve as representative examples of the transformation that this book aims to guide you, the reader, through. Finally, an answer is provided to the question of meaning that is compatible with latest scientific knowledge about human nature, yet still both inspiring and actionable.


Frank Martela, PhD., is essentially the only contemporary academic researcher who has published several articles on the topic of the meaning of life with a unique perspective on the science of happiness.

He has collaborated with key experts of the topic and presented his research in numerous academic conferences as well as invited lectures at universities such as Stanford University, University of Edinburgh, and Simon Fraser University. He is a popular lecturer and author of three well-received and bestselling non-fiction books.

Currently a post-doctoral researcher at Aalto University, Finland, he has been a visiting scholar at University of Rochester, NY. and Australian Catholic University.

Rights sold:

WORLD ENGLISH: HarperCollins/Harper Design (orig.)

CROATIA:
Planetopija
ESTONIA:
Rahva Raamat
FINLAND:
Gummerus
FRANCE:
Editions Leduc.s
GERMANY:
Blessing Verlag
GREECE:
Klidarithmos
ITALY:
Edizioni Lindau
JAPAN:
HarperCollins Japan
KOREA:
Across Publishing
LATIN AMERICA:
Ediciones Urano
LATVIA:
Zvaigzne
LITHUANIA:
Obuolys
NETHERLANDS:
Ambo Anthos
NORWAY:
Gursli Berg Forlag
POLAND:
Czarna Owca
PORTUGAL:
Editora 2020
ROMANIA:
Editura Humanitas
RUSSIA:
Bombora
SERBIA:
Odiseja
SPAIN:
Ediciones Urano (World Spanish)
TAIWAN:
Crown
TURKEY:
Orman Kitap

About author


Frank Martela

Professor Frank Martela, PhD, is a philosopher and researcher of psychology specializing in the question of meaning in life. His articles have appeared in Scientific American Mind, Harvard Business Review, Salon, CNBC and his work has been featured on Quartz and on the BBC. His research has been published extensively in numerous academic journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Journal of Personality, Metaphilosophy, Southern Journal of Philosophy, and Academy of Management Review. He has spoken to more than one hundred audiences worldwide, including invited lectures in universities on five continents, including Stanford University and Harvard University. He’s been interviewed by the New York Times, Discover Magazine, New Scientist, Vice News, Fox News,and Monocle Observer among others. He is Assistant Professor at Aalto University in Finland. Outside of work, Frank is a father to three lovely children, an amateur-level soccer player, with an occasional skiing trip in the winters. He is made in Green Bay, so Packers holds a special place in his heart.

Bibliography


2025, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

Stop Chasing Happiness: A Pessimist’s Guide to a Good Life

Frank Martela


2023, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

The Meaning Manifesto: Why Work Needs to Have a Purpose

Frank Martela


2020, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

A Wonderful Life: Insights on Finding a Meaningful Existence

Frank Martela

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World English rights sold to FUTURE SKILLS by Perttu Pölönen

Perttu Pölönen and his bestselling non-fiction book FUTURE SKILLS are conquering the US and the English-speaking world! Today we sold World English rights of FUTURE SKILLS to Start Publishing/Viva Edtitions in the US for publication in Fall 2021. Start Publishing belongs to Start Media company, and their books are distributed by Simon & Schuster in the US. We are thrilled! Moreover, the audio rights of Future Skills were sold to to Recorded Books also in the US for simultaneous publication in fall 2021. The deals were brokered in collaboration with Rhea Lyons/HG Literary. Warmest Congratulations to futurist Perttu Pölönen and his US publishers!

Future Skills is an important book for our times. Its mission to support the cultivation of ”soft” skills like compassion, creativity, and teamwork–so often overlooked in today’s workplace–is vital as we move into this unpredictable decade. I’m also excited to work with Perttu Pölönen, whose impressive work as an inventor, composer, and futurist make him perfectly positioned to assess future trends with a hopeful outlook.”
– Hannah Bennett, Senior Acquisitions EditorStart Publishing, US

Take a look at the video where Perttu introduces himself and his book.
FUTURE SKILLS by Perttu Pölönen
In Finland, the book has sold over 10,000 copies, and is in its 5th print run! The author is 25-years old, selected as one of the 35 Innovators Under 35 by the MIT Technology Review. Just last week Perttu Pölönen was given “Changemaker of the Year 2020 in Finland Award”. Perttu is a composer, public speaker, futurist, and innovator and fluent in English: www.perttupolonen.com

We must believe that educating our hearts will bring results, success, and happiness. It’s hard to know what you may want to do in the future, but it’s even more difficult to say what you can do today to bring that about. This book will help with both.”  – Author Perttu Pölönen

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
KOREA: BP Publisher
TURKEY: Büyükada
WORLD ENGLISH: Start Publishing / Viva Editions
WORLD ENGLISH (audio): Recorded Books

About author


Perttu Pölönen

Perttu Pölönen is a futurist, inventor and an inspirational speaker. In the Finnish media, Perttu has been called a gentle highbrow and fearless inventor. Future Skills has been an instant bestseller in Finland – where Perttu has become one of the most sought-after speakers inspiring thousands of people in his lectures.

Bibliography


2023, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

The Digital Spell: The Hidden Power of Persuasive Technology

Perttu Pölönen


2021, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

Future Identities

Perttu Pölönen


2020, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

Future Skills

Perttu Pölönen

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Introducing GENTLE POWER by Emilia Lahti

We invite you to the world of GENTLE POWER:  The creator, author Emilia Lahti, is an international keynote speaker, activist, and PhD candidate whose graduate thesis, advised by Angela Duckworth, is the basis of the book. It’s all about how ”gentle power,” and not ”hard power” or “win at all costs”,  is the key to leading the way through the uncertain and change-filled era we have ahead of us.

Watch a video that the author Emilia Lahti recorded introducing the book, GENTLE POWER, which will change the world:

 

GENTLE POWER: Accessing the Ancient Wisdom Within to Face a New Era
by Emilia Lahti

Based on the author’s pioneering study on sisu, GENTLE POWER shows how this centuries-old Finnish concept of integrity-fueled fortitude is the key to confidently striding into, and conquering, our uncertain future.

Lahti’s work and personal experience shows us that true success can’t be measured by simply keeping score, and it can’t be nurtured by powering through to the finish line at all costs: instead, it is deeply rooted in developing a mighty heart and fighting a fair fight. What’s more, Lahti argues that sisu is a source of hidden energy that is innate within everyone — and it simply needs to be embraced and nurtured in order to access its transformative power.

The world is in dire need of gentle leadership, and through the grounding, self-reflective practice of sisu, we can pursue a higher level of excellence in our professional lives, as members of a family unit, or as part of a greater community.  At once inspirational and informative, GENTLE POWER has the polish and investigative curiosity of Angela Duckworth’s GRIT, but also strongly evokes Brené Brown’s DARING GREATLY, as Lahti frequently pulls from her own personal journey towards her discoveries and doesn’t shy away from her pitfalls and challenges along the way.

Emilia Lahti is an international keynote speaker, human rights activist, ultra-runner and world’s first academic researcher on the Finnish concept of sisu. She has spoken at dozens of companies and campuses, including Facebook and UC Berkeley, and her work has been featured in Business Insider, Forbes, and Scientific American, among other places. More info at: https://www.emilialahti.com/.