Thunderbirds Kickstarter project lands publishing deal

The estate of "Thunderbirds" creator Gerry Anderson, which last year used Kickstarter to launch its Gemini Force One series, has struck a publishing deal with Orion Children’s Books and Gollancz.
 
Gollancz will publish a limited edition of the first book Black Horizon, which was developed by Anderson before his death, for the original Kickstarter supporters in 2014. Gollancz will sell the book via specialist bookseller Goldsboro Books.
 
Orion will then publish a paperback version in spring 2015, followed by books two and three in the series in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
 
The deal was agented by Robert Kirby of United Agents with Orion Children’s Books editorial director Amber Caraveo.
 
Jamie Anderson, son of Gerry Anderson, launched the project on Kickstarter last year. On the project’s website, he said he turned to the crown-funding tool because many publishers “can’t seem to find a place for a Gerry Anderson concept in their set of narrowly banded age ranges”.
 
However, he has now said that he is delighted to be teaming up with Orion, who “share our passion for GF1”.
 
Gerry Anderson came up with the concept of GF1 in 2008 as a series of books about an organisation which fights against terrorist events. He died before finishing the first book so the estate hired author MG Harris, author of The Joshua Files series of books (Scholastic), to complete the job.
 
The project has so far raised more than £33,000.