Oneworld launches its biggest hardback debut campaign for Gunty's The Rabbit Hutch

Oneworld has revealed its biggest ever hardback debut publicity and marketing campaign for summer superlead The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty.

The publisher sent out 350 proofs, the largest proof distribution in its history, to reviewers, influencers and booksellers. As a result, the initial submission for The Rabbit Hutch is one of the biggest ever achieved by Oneworld for a debut novel, with Waterstones alone ordering 4,000 copies.

Marlon James, winner of the Booker Prize for A Short History of Seven Killings (Oneworld), has written for the blurb. He wrote: "Here is something new, a first novel with the wisdom and tenderness of a masterwork…addictive, mesmerising and unforgettable." A reviewer in the Wall Street Journal called it "the most promising first novel I’ve read all year."

The novel has been picked by a nationwide poll of Waterstones booksellers to be on the shortlist for the inaugural Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, which will be announced on 25th August.

"Set in a crumbling apartment block in the fictional town of Vacca Vale in America’s post-industrial Midwest, The Rabbit Hutch is both heartbreaking and hilarious in equal measure," the synopsis reads.

The publicity campaign has resulted in glowing reviews in the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail, which picked it for summer reading round-ups. Reviews in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal have also praised Gunty.

The Observer ran a profile of the author, and an extract of the novel will appear in the next edition of Granta magazine. The Booksellers Association magazine, Booktime, is running a Q&A with Gunty in the September-October edition.

The marketing campaign has included a nationwide outdoor flyposting campaign in collaboration with Jack Arts, a Tandem collective read-along with the author on Instagram, advertising in the Women’s Prize solus newsletter, a newsletter on Bookshop.org, and advertising in magazines, on Amazon and social media.

The marketing team has also produced an extensive range of point-of-sale material for Waterstones and independent bookshops, which includes posters, standees, bookmarks, tote bags and enamelled badges. Still to come is a major advertising campaign on London Underground, starting on 12th September.

Gunty signed 2,000 copies of her debut for booksellers around the country. She will be back in the UK this month for the Waterstones award announcement on 25th August, and will be doing more signings and bookshop events in the days leading up to it.