HQ Digital to unleash Dunn's Pug Actually

HQ Digital has signed Pug Actually, a "quirky rom-com with a canine twist" by Matt Dunn.

The publisher signed UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Hayley Steed at the Madeleine Milburn Agency. The e-book and audiobook publish in June 2021, with the hardback to follow in October 2021.

Pug Actually follows Doug the pug “on a heart-warming mission to help his unlucky-in-love owner, Julie, move on from her womanising boss and find the perfect man”. The blurb goes on: “Navigating the complexities of human relationships isn’t easy – but Doug knows that being a ‘rescue’ works both ways.”

Dunn is the author of 13 romantic comedy novels, including A Day at the Office (Lake Union) and Then I Met You (Lake Union). His books have sold more than 500,000 copies, according to the publisher, and he has been shortlisted twice for Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year prize.

He said: “I loved every moment of writing Doug the pug's story, and I hope readers will feel the same way. I'm absolutely thrilled he's found such a brilliant home with HQ Digital.”

Dushi Horti, commissioning editor at HQ Digital and editor of Pug Actually, added: “I am incredibly excited to be publishing Pug Actually. Matt’s warmth, humour and perceptive writing shine throughout this quirky rom-com with a canine twist, and I know readers are going to fall in love with Doug the pug.”

Steed said: “Everyone could use a dose of warmth and escapism right now and Matt has delivered that in bucketloads with Doug the pug and this brilliantly charming rom-com. I can’t wait for everyone to read Pug Actually later this year!”