American publishing company Amazon Crossing, owned by internet giant Amazon, has bought the publishing rights to three novels by crime writer Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson and one historical novel by Vilborg Davídsdóttir.
“It was very surprising,” Ingólfsson told Fréttabladid, adding that being published on the American market is a great honor. “I had always thought that the US market was an impenetrable fortress and trying to enter it wouldn’t be worth it.”
Flateyjargáta (“The Flatey Mystery”; 2002) by Ingólfsson will appear on the US market in the fall, Engin spor (“No Trace”; 1998) in April 2012 and Afturelding (“Daybreak”; 2005)—which was adapted into the crime series I Hunt Men (2008)—in June the same year.
Davídsdóttir’s book that will be translated to English is called Galdur (“Sorcery”; 2000) and is set in 15th century Iceland where a young mother and her illegitimate son are cast under the spell of the assistant to the Bishop of Hólar who knows more than the words of the Bible.
Neither of these authors’ books have been published in English before. These are the first publications announced by Amazon Crossing, which is planning to release at least ten books by ten different Icelandic authors in English both in print and for Kindle in conjunction with Iceland being guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair in the fall.
Amazon Crossing bases its selection of Ingólfsson and Davídsdóttir’s work to a large extent on reader reviews from different countries; they have especially been praised on the German Amazon site. Ingólfsson’s books have sold 150,000 copies in Germany.
Click here to read more about Amazon Crossing’s plans.
