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Lynda La Plante forms own rights company
Crime writer Lynda La Plante has launched a new company, La Plante Global, which will control all of her future book, TV and film deals, as well as digital content and production.
La Plante’s former PR director at Simon & Schuster, Nigel Stoneman, has been made head of development at the company, handling negotiations for the author's novels and screen work and developing new content across all media.
Agent Gill Coleridge, who previously represented all La Plante's literary rights, will continue to represent the author's backlist and backlist foreign rights, including for her next novel Twisted, out from S&S in June.
La Plante, who is the c.e.o. of La Plante Global, said of the business venture: “I wanted to consolidate all areas of my business and have a platform upon which my team and I can strategically plan the growth of the business. Nigel and I have worked together for over a decade and I could think of nobody better to join me in this new venture.”
The author also announced that she is currently writing a prequel to acclaimed TV series "Prime Suspect", titled Tennison, which she will adapt for the screen. Stoneman is currently negotiating a deal for this book, and a follow-up, with Simon & Schuster. La Plante said she was “extremely excited” to be working on Tennison, commenting: “Jane Tennison is a character who millions of people know and admire from my books and TV series, Prime Suspect, portrayed brilliantly by Helen Mirren. But nobody knows what drove her to become a DCI or want to join the police force in the first place. When you first meet her in the early 90s, she’s a very complex character, but what made her so?”
Tennison will be published next year, with the TV adaptation to follow in 2016, the 25th anniversary of "Prime Suspect".
La Plante is also working on several drama and factual television projects to be announced later this year.
Stoneman, who has worked with La Plante for the past 13 years, said: “The decision to join Lynda at her new venture was a very fluid and easy one for me to make. Having worked so closely with Lynda and her brand, I fully understand the direction she wants to take the company and the key areas for growth. She is an extremely talented woman - driven and ambitious like many of her characters, but also incredibly funny and a joy to work with.”
Lynda La Plante's books have total sales of over 2.2m copies via Nielsen BookScan records, which began in 1998. Her best seller in Nielsen BookScan was Above Suspicion (2004) with sales of 284,479. Sales for her most recent novel Wrongful Death (September, 2013) currently stand at 23,455.
