Two Roads buys Lexx's Jürgen Klopp 'diary'

Kate Hewson, editorial director at John Murray imprint Two Roads, has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in comedian Laura Lexx’s imaginary diary about being married to Liverpool FC manager Jürgen Klopp, Klopp Actually.

The deal was done with Diana Beaumont at Marjacq in association with Andrew Roach Talent.
 
The book was picked up from Lexx’s viral Twitter thread about Klopp. Klopp Actually imagines what football’s most sensible heartthrob would say as the book's heroine navigates the stresses and anxieties of day-to-day life, from job interviews to furniture shopping in IKEA to making a birthday cake for their daughter, Klipp.
 
Klopp Actually will publish in hardback, e-book and audio in early autumn 2020, with a second book Pivot, a novel about an amateur women’s netball team, to come in 2022.
 
Lexx's original Tweet about Klopp has so far received 5.6 million views on Twitter, 600,000 interactions, over 13,000 retweets and 55,000 likes, with interaction and endorsements from celebrities as diverse as Seth Meyers, Gary Lineker, Marian Keyes, Philippa Perry, Billy Bragg, Naga Munchetty, Sara Pascoe, Carol Vorderman, Georgie Bingham and Emma Kennedy.
 
Hewson said: "Laura’s Jürgen Klopp thread was the first thing to make me laugh in days, and it translates wonderfully to the page—it’s the hilarious, heartfelt escapism we all need right now. Just as exciting, though, is Laura’s funny, warm-hearted novel, and we’re thrilled to be Laura’s publishing home for what we’re sure is the start of a brilliant new branch of her career."