Penguin signs A Girl Called Jack

Penguin has signed world rights in a cookbook from the budget food blogger Jack Monroe.

Michael Joseph cookery publisher Lindsey Evans signed the book in a pre-emptive deal with Robert Gwyn Palmer, head of publishing at DCD Publishing. DCD also represents Monroe for television, licensing, endorsements, consumer products, public appearances and DVD.

Monroe, a single mother from Southend, blogs at A Girl Called Jack about how she uses a budget of just £10 a week to nourish herself and her son—all she has left after rent and bills. In 2012, then unemployed, Monroe started the blog to advise people on how to eat cheaply; it currently has 100,000 unique visitors a day, according to the publisher.

Adrian Sington, DCD Publishing c.e.o., said: “Jack is a woman of our times—facing head-on the realities of recession-hit Britain and responding with a ‘make do and mend’ way of thinking that we all need to consider. We look forward to further brand development opportunities through the channels DCD operates in including television and merchandising."
 
Lindsey Evans, cookery publisher at Penguin, said: “Jack Monroe is a fresh new voice for our times and I am so pleased that Penguin will be publishing her first cookbook. Not only has she managed to feed herself and her son on just £10 a week but she has done so by coming up with delicious and nutritious recipes, all within that budget. More importantly, she can now show us how we can do the same.”

The title, which is due for publication in March 2014, will include over 100 recipes.