Orion buys Malpas trilogy

Orion has signed a self-published erotic trilogy in a six-figure US dollar deal.

Genevieve Pegg, editorial director at Orion Fiction, bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Jodie Ellen Malpas' This Man series in a deal with the Hachette Book Group in the US.

Malpas lives in Northampton. She wrote the This Man trilogy while working for her father's construction business, self-publishing This Man on Amazon in October 2012. Beneath This Man followed in January 2013, which became a number one Kindle bestseller, and This Man Confessed was released in July 2013. Collectively, the books have sold more than 250,000 copies, according to the Orion.

The books are set in London high society and follow self-destructive aristocrat Jesse Ward and his explosive relationship with spirited counterpart Ava O'Shea.

Orion will republish the e-books of all three titles and publish paperback editions in the autumn, coinciding with Grand Central Publishing's release of the US editions. The books will be given exclusive new material to make them appeal to fans of the original series.

Pegg said: "Jodi’s natural storytelling gift has already made her an internet sensation and we can’t wait to share her writing with even more readers. Passionate, compelling and addictively entertaining, everyone needs a little bit of This Man magic in their lives."

Foreign rights to the trilogy have been sold in Italy, Hungary, Holland, Spain, Germany and Latin America.

Photo credit:  Megan Laurie, LSL Photography