Pan Macmillan signs two more from Marie Kondo

Tidying expert and author Marie Kondo has signed a deal to publish a graphic novel and picture book with Pan Macmillan.

Both books are inspired by Kondo’s KonMari Method of tidying. The graphic novel, The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up, about a young woman in Tokyo who exorcises the spirits of boyfriends past, organises her living space and finds her passions through a series of decluttering sessions with Kondo, will be published by Bluebird on 17th October. 

The picture book, KIKI & JAX: The Life-Changing Magic of Friendship, is about a boy and a girl, one a collector and the other a sorter, who try to find a way to make room for what has always sparked joy - their friendship. It is co-authored and illustrated by Salina Yoon and will be released on 5th November by Macmillan Children's Books.

Carole Tonkinson, publisher at Bluebird, and Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, publisher at Macmillan Children’s Books, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Neil Gudovitz at Gudovitz & Company Literary Agency.

Tonkinson said: “Last year Bluebird signed Marie Kondo’s forthcoming co-authored book Joy at Work for release in April 2020, and we are hugely excited to extend our partnership with her. I think the Manga book is genuinely life-changing and will not only appeal to Marie’s huge core audience, but also to new readers.”

Rasmussen added: “We have admired Marie and her brand for a long time and were so pleased to discover that her wonderful new book is focused on a child reader and family sharing. We are delighted to welcome her to our picture book list and can't wait to introduce Kiki and Jax to a young audience."

Kondo has sold 362,812 books for £3.2m through Nielsen BookScan and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying has sold 256,351 copies to date.