Scholastic falls for BookTok star and Waterstones bookseller Talbot's 'spooky romantasy'

Scholastic has fallen for a “spooky romantasy” by BookTok star and Waterstones bookseller Rosie Talbot. 

Yasmin Morrissey, senior commissioning editor, acquired world rights to two books directly from the author. The first, Sixteen Souls, will be published in paperback original on 13th October. It had generated more than 250,000 TikTok views before acquisition and will be backed with an “innovative consumer campaign” aimed at the TikTok demographic, the publisher said. 

Also known as @merrowchild, Talbot is a Waterstones bookseller with an engaged TikTok following that has garnered her 2.9 million likes. In Sixteen Souls, someone is stripping Europe’s most haunted city of its spirits. When one of his ghostly friends is taken, reclusive 16-year-old teenage seer Charlie Frith must put his own safety aside to save the ghosts of York from a fate worse than death. Charlie reluctantly teams up with fellow seer Sam Harrow and the pair unearth a chilling purpose behind the disappearances. As Charlie slowly comes to terms with his romantic feelings for Sam, the stakes become even higher as time quickly runs out for the pair. 

Talbot said: “I’m thrilled that Sixteen Souls has found its home with the incredible team at Scholastic. Their vibrant passion for Charlie’s story, his ghosts and the world of haunted York is electric! I’m very excited to become part of the Scholastic family alongside so many talented authors who I’ve long admired.” 

Morrissey added: “Rosie is a distinctively talented author, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime acquisition. Sixteen Souls is a swoony romantasy where Rosie has intricately plotted a stunning mystery with a fantastically diverse cast of characters. With Rosie’s TikTok platform and job as a bookseller, she has a masterful understanding of the YA market and is uniquely placed to reach a strikingly engaged readership. We are so lucky at Scholastic that we get to bring this epic debut to market.”