Yen Press to Publish Manga Adaptation of International Bestselling Novelist James Patterson's Daniel X
NEW YORK, November 6, 2009 -- Yen Press announced today that it will adapt the first three novels in international bestselling novelist James Patterson's DANIEL X series into manga with Korean artist Seung-Hui Kye. Kye has published extensively in his native Korea with 13 manhwa books (Korean manga) to his name that have been translated and published in over 10 countries.
The first volume of Yen's previous adaptation of Patterson's work, MAXIMUM RIDE, spent 31 weeks on Nielsen BookScan's graphic novel bestseller list and was named one of the top 25 manga properties in both the first and second quarters of 2009.
Like MAXIMUM RIDE, the DANIEL X manga will appear in Yen Press's manga anthology YEN PLUS before the book is collected into a trade paperback format in summer 2010.
Kurt Hassler, Publishing Director, Yen Press, says: “The MAXIMUM RIDE manga adaptation has been a stellar success since its release earlier this year which is a real testament to James Patterson's versatility as a great storyteller in any medium. Yen Press is incredibly excited to be a part of helping to bring DANIEL X into the comics world for existing fans of the series and new readers alike.”
Patterson says “It's been great to see my Maximum Ride characters come to life in the drawings and storytelling devices unique to manga. It's a cool medium and I'm really looking forward to seeing early sketches of Daniel and his alien enemies.”
James Patterson is one of the top-selling writers of all time. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1976, his books have sold more than 170 million copies. According to Guinness World Records, no other author has had more #1 New York Times bestsellers. His books for young readers, include the award-winning Maximum Ride and Daniel X, series, and the forthcoming Witch & Wizard series. In total, these books have spent more than 200 weeks on national bestseller lists.
Yen Press is an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA dedicated to publishing graphic novels for adults and young readers. Yen Press' focus is primarily on licensed manga, but also publishes across the wide spectrum of the graphic novel market, including, but not limited to: original manga publications, original American comics/graphic novels, webcomics, licensed adaptations, and children's graphic novels.
Hachette Book Group USA is a leading trade publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the second largest publisher in the world. Hachette Book Group's product lines include adult, illustrated, religious, children's and audio books under the Little, Brown and Company, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Grand Central Publishing, FaithWords, Center Street, Orbit, Yen Press and Hachette Book Group Digital Media imprints.
