COUV

Rights list

Agents

Language

Agent

Website

German

Liepman AG Litterary Agency

www.liepmanagency.com

Dutch

Marianne Schönbach

www.schonbach.nl

Italian

Luigi Bernabo Associates

www.bernabo.it

Spanish

Silvia Bastos

www.silviabastos.com

Japanese

Tuttle-Mori Agency

www.tuttlemori.com

Corean

Milkwood Agency

milkwoodagency.com

Russian

Anastasia Lester Agency

http://lesteragency.free.fr/

Danish Swedish Norwegian Finnish Icelandic

Agence littéraire Wandel Cruse

www.wandelcruseagency.blogspot.fr

Croatian

Andrew Nurnberg Associates

www.andrewnurnberg.com

Other

Camille Lucet [email protected] +33 (0)1 53 01 01 78

www.editionskero.com

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www.editionskero.com

A publisher with authors’ interests at heart Kero was born out of the conviction that the revolution in the book market called for a whole new type of publishing company – one that reflected the way authors relate to their readers today. Kero provides authors with a new way of working with their publisher: a different kind of relationship, based around shared values and creative ambitions, for all types of media, both print and digital – and leading to a unique new encounter between authors’ message and those who read it. With a score of books already published, this new approach to publishing has hit the mark, gaining the confidence of authors, attracting a wide range of works and enjoying huge public success. A different way of relating to authors 

Kero releases a maximum of 25 titles a year – ensuring plenty of time is devoted to each book in an increasingly tough market.

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Kero offers authors a new type of contractual relationship, enshrined in an appropriately new form of contract (in terms of duration, percentages, advertising, and so on), rooted in a relationship of trust and characterised by balance, transparency and freedom.

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Kero gives authors permanent, dedicated, real-time access to print, distribution and sales figures for their works. All the potential of multi-channel publishing

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Kero is committed to providing authors with 360° resources to get their message out in France and internationally, using print, digital and broadcast media.

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Kero can draw on a powerful distribution network in France and internationally, as well as its media investments. Immediate support from authors

Laurent Gounelle, Laurent Baffie, Philippe Vandel, Serge Hefez, Marek Halter, Michel Rostain (Goncourt First Novel Award 2011), Catherine Charrier, Mitch Albom, Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak, Sonali Deraniyagala and others. Average print run: 30,608 copies

Shortlisted for the « International Publishing Industry Excellence Awards 2014 » Category: « International Adult Trade Publisher of the Year ». The London Book Fair in association with The UK Publishers Association

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TABLE OF CONTENTS London Book Fair 2014 Le jour où j’ai appris à vivre – Laurent Gounelle ......................................................................7 Celui dont le nom n’est plus – René Manzor ................................................................................8 La Tentation barbare – Pierre JB Benichou ................................................................................9 Un tout petit rien – Camille Anseaume ................................................................................... 10 Les Cavaliers afghans – Louis Meunier....................................................................................... 11 Le droit d’aimer – Anne-Marie Mariani ...................................................................................... 12 Backlist Le philosophe qui n’était pas sage – Laurent Gounelle ....................................................... 13 En finir avec le mal de dos – François Stévignon ................................................................... 14 Faites-le! – Marek Halter ................................................................................................................... 15 Recent acquisitions ........................................................................................................................ 16 Contacts ............................................................................................................................................... 17

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Le jour où j’ai appris à vivre Laurent Gounelle Manuscript status: to be delivered (June 2014) Publication date: October 2014 40,000 words (approx.)

Novel #7th bestselling French author

Resume Following on from his best-sellers “Le philosophe qui n’était pas sage”, “L’homme qui voulait être heureux” and “Dieu voyage toujours incognito”, Laurent Gounelle is back with a new, uplifting and inspiring novel. The story is that of an ordinary man who becomes his own hero. As a young father with a job as an insurance agent, Jonathan’s life is unremarkable and on the whole successful. Everything seems to be fine, until one day a spanner is thrown into the works: he meets a woman who reads his palm and predicts that his life is shortly to come to an end. Jonathan is sceptical, but finds he cannot simply carry on in his job as before. He starts wondering about the meaning of his life and how to make the most of the time he has left. His aunt – the feisty Margie, a former biologist who has founded an institute devoted to research into neuroscience and paranormal phenomena, decides to take him in hand and put him through a series of experiments. These experiments (based on genuine scientific observations) end up transforming Jonathan’s view of his life and completely revolutionising his approach to it – with a whole cascade of consequences. Although he is the target of various schemes, he wins through and ends up becoming famous in spite of himself.

Rights All rights available for this book. PREVIOUS TITLES: Le philosophe qui n’était pas sage, Kero (2012) Dieu voyage toujours incognito, Anne Carrière (2010) L'homme qui voulait être heureux, Anne Carrière (2008) SOLD TO: Hay House (ENGLISH US) ; Sperling & Küpfer Editori (ITALIAN), Maeva “L’homme qui voulait être heureux” ; Planeta “Dieu voyage toujours incognito” (SPANISH) ; Verlagsgruppe Random House (Goldmann) (GERMAN); Futami Shobo (JAPANESE); Balgunsesang (COREAN) ; Athena Press (The Eurasian Publishing Group) (CHINESE TAIWAN); China Citic Press (CHINESE); Editora Objetiva (PORTUGUESE); Livanis (GREEK); Pegasus (TURKISH); Kinneret (HEBREW); Sinisukk publishing (ESTONIAN) ; Shtëpia Botuese Toena (ALBANIAN); Ulpius Haz Kiado (HONGRIAN) ; Bertelsmann media “L’homme qui voulait être heureux” ; Swiat Ksiaskzi “Dieu voyage toujours incognito” (POLISH); Rybka (CZECH); Sinais de Fogo (PORTUGUESE) Uitgeverij Archipel (DUTCH); Alma Littera (LITHUANIAN); Colibri publisher (BULGARIAN); Editura Philobia (ROMANIAN) Dar Al Kitab Al Alami (LEBANESE); Fokus (CROATIAN)

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Celui dont le nom n’est plus René Manzor Manuscript status: available (French) Publication date: May 2014 94,000 words

Thriller

Resume

Rights

Dawn breaks over London. On a kitchen table lies a man’s body – minus its internal organs. The murderer is an old lady of impeccable standing. How could she have come to kill the man she brought up as her own son? It makes no sense – and yet everything points to her as being guilty. Two days later, the same thing happens again: a man is killed in similar fashion by the person who loves him more than anyone else in the world. And so it goes on, with a new victim every twenty-four hours. All the murders are linked by a common thread: distraught suspects and epitaphs in letters of blood: “May this sacrifice bring peace to the soul of He whose Name is no more”. Amid these inexplicable murders, three destinies become

All rights available for this book.

interwoven. McKenna is an Irishman: a policeman, the father of four boys, widowed a year ago and still grief-stricken. Dahlia Rhymes is an American criminologist who specialises in ritual and satanic murders, assigned to fathom out what makes killers tick. Nils Blake is a semi-retired barrister who is willing to return to court to defend these unlikely perpetrators. Three destinies – and three lives irreversibly changed. The tale is packed with breath-taking suspense, larger-than-life characters and a completely unexpected plot twist at the end. Halfway between the works of Chattam and Grangé, on the borderline between love and death, this thriller will make its mark on you.

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PREVIOUS TITLES: Les Âmes rivales, Kero (2012) SOLD TO: Pocket (FRENCH), Chaek-Se-Sang Pub (COREAN)

Born with the storytelling urge, René Manzor originally pursued his passion in cinema. His first two films caught the attention of Hollywood. After working as a scriptwriter and director on major US productions (The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Demons of Deception) as well as for French TV, his first novel, Les Âmes rivales (‘Rival souls’), was published in 2012.

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La Tentation barbare Pierre JB Benichou Manuscript status: available (French) Publication date: March 2014 352 pages – 104,000 words

Debut

Resume

Rights

After an uneasy night, Max wakes with a start, and is horrified to discover that she is there again, watching him from his bedside.

SOLD TO: Pocket (FRENCH) Movie : Outside films

Fleeing a rather mediocre career as a ghostwriter – and a failed marriage – Max has come to try his luck in New York. He soon rediscovers love in the arms of a beautiful redhead, Maureen; and also agrees, in the utmost secrecy, to write the latest novel by Emilie Roubaix, the fashionable author of the moment. But the nightmares he thought he had left safely on the other side of the Atlantic are assailing him once again. Not only that, his worst fears have been realised: the young girl is back. Who is this silent child who haunts his nights? Is her return something to do with the new novel he’s writing? To find out, Max will have to dig through his memories and face up to his past. Devilishly put together, La Tentation barbare (‘The barbaric temptation’) is an engrossing read tinged with both delight and anxiety. Pierre JB Benichou takes us from one revelation to another as the scene shifts between Paris, Marseille and New York, in the footsteps of a man in search of his memory.

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Pierre JB Benichou was born in 1952. In addition to being a ghostwriter, just like his hero, he has also worked in the film industry as a distributor, director and producer, as well as a festival organiser. After spending four years in New York, he now lives in Tel Aviv, where he devotes himself entirely to writing. La Tentation barbare is his first novel under his own name.

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Un tout petit rien Camille Anseaume Manuscript status: available (French) Publication date: February 2014 252 pages – 33,000 words

Debut Long-listed Prix de la Closerie des Lilas 2014 Long-listed Prix du Roman Version Femina 2014

Resume

Rights

At 25, Camille’s world falls apart when she finds out that she’s pregnant by the man with whom she shares her bed – but little else.

SOLD TO: Pocket (FRENCH)

“The biggest commitment we’d ever made to each other was to say we’d be in touch at the weekend – and that was on a Tuesday. […] It’s about much more than sex, but a lot less than love. We’re stuck somewhere in the middle.” When her lover hears the news, he walks out and doesn’t come back. And so begin twelve weeks of hesitation – amidst meetings with friends, shouting matches with her family, and doctor’s appointments. Camille draws up lists of pros and cons, despairs as she climbs the seven floors to her garret flat, and bursts into tears when one of her yoghourts plunges to a sticky end below. The clock is ticking, but she just can’t make up her mind: should she keep the baby and bring it up on her own, or get rid of it and try and pick up where she left off? Camille Anseaume has written an endearing – and poignantly accurate – novel about the painful yet joyous transition from one way of life to another. At the end of the day, this tender, poetic and amusing narrative says more about the birth of a mother than the birth of a baby.

Camille Anseaume is a journalist for women’s magazines. She also runs the blog “Café de filles”, voted ‘star blog’ by ELLE magazine’s editorial team.

Review « Lots of energy and plenty of drive. » – ELLE « Next to nothing is appealing, amusing, poetic and moving: the story of a woman who gradually becomes a mother before our eyes. Superb. » – Questions de femmes « One of the most sensitive novels so far this year. » – Cosmopolitan « This contemporary sociological portrait manages to be witty, tender and sensitive all at once. » – France 2

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Les Cavaliers afghans Louis Meunier Manuscript status: available (French) Publication date: May 2014 336 pages – 83,000 words

Non-fiction

Resume

Rights

This engaging account of ten years of adventures in Afghanistan provides a fascinating insight into the culture and customs of the country. All too often in the West, Afghanistan is seen only through the lens of negative news coverage. This book shows what life is really like there, and Louis Meunier offers us a compelling introductory narrative as he embarks on his quest for the Buzkashi.

All rights available for this book.

On graduating from business school in 2002, rather than following a career path set in stone, Louis Meunier decided to go in search of adventure. He went off to work for an NGO in Afghanistan at a time when the country was fully engaged in post-war reconstruction. He was blown away by the beauty of the land and the dignity of its inhabitants. More particularly, after being enthralled by Joseph Kessel’s novel Les Cavaliers (‘The Horsemen’), he dreamed of being present for a Buzkashi game – a tournament where the riders can do just about anything, gladiator-style, to place a goat’s body in the “hallal” or Circle of Justice. These formidable horsemen are known as Chapandaz. It was not long before Louis had just one idea in mind: finding the horse of his dreams and becoming a Chapandaz himself. This engaging account of ten years of adventures in Afghanistan provides a fascinating insight into the culture and customs of the country. All too often in the West, Afghanistan is seen only through the lens of negative news coverage. This book shows what life is really like there, and Louis Meunier offers us a compelling introductory narrative as he embarks on his quest for the Buzkashi.

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Louis Meunier arrived in Afghanistan in March 2002 to help with the national reconstruction programme. He went on to guide groups of mountaineers through the Pamir Mountains and cross Afghanistan on horseback. He was part of the Kabul Buzkashi team for three years alongside the legendary Chapandaz horsemen. In 2007 he set up Taimani Films, a broadcast production company based in Kabul. Louis produces and directs films for television and cinema, including the documentaries Prisonniers de l’Himalaya (‘Himalaya Prisoners’) and 7 000 mètres au-dessus de la guerre (‘7,000 metres above war level’). www.editionskero.com

Le droit d’aimer Anne-Marie Mariani Manuscript status: available (French) Publication date: January 2014 160 pages – 36,000 words

Non-fiction #10 in Non-fiction best-seller list

Resume

Rights

“Your daddy is a priest.” The words bounced around in Anne-Marie’s head as she realised, then and there, what the dark family secret about her was.

SOLD TO: J’ai lu (FRENCH), Film TV: Chabraque Productions

Anne-Marie has now decided to tell her story – so that the children of priests will never again feel they have to remain silent. The book reads like a detective story, as the author goes in search of her roots, looking for all those who sought to keep the love of a man for a woman secret, caring nothing for the life of a child. My father is a priest – so what? Why should his child be forced to call him “godfather”; why should he not be allowed to bring up the daughter he loves? Why should a father not be allowed to love? This book offers us a lesson in happiness – and an incredible love story that transcends the laws of men and the Church. Although it could have had a very different ending, in the end this love story resulted in a beautiful young woman. Today, Anne-Marie is a grandmother – and only now has she decided to reveal her secret, to tell the Church what things are like for the many children worldwide born to priests and nuns, and to open its eyes to the reality of those in its orders. Spiritual guides they may be, but they are only human nonetheless. Priestly celibacy dates from 1074, when Pope Gregory VII decreed that all candidates for ordination must first take a vow of celibacy; but that means that no such vow existed before then. That was ten centuries after Christ – so why should such a law be permanent now? “Let them choose, if they wish, to love, marry, and have children. Let them live – they would be no less respected, and the Church would not be any the worse either, anything but. It would be greater, truer, and more just.”

Review « An overwhelming book. » – Radio Classique

Anne-Marie Mariani is the child of a relationship between priest and a nun. She has set up an association called ‘The Children of Silence’ (Les Enfants du Silence) to serve as a listening ear for others with similar stories. Today, she is herself a mother and grandmother, and has decided to tell her story for the first time.

« A rare and intimate personal account. » – Le Monde des Religions « This is a true-life novel, replete with unsuspected twists, strong emotions, a colonial dash of the exotic, secrets, and transgression. » – Le Dauphiné Libéré

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Le philosophe qui n’était pas sage Laurent Gounelle Manuscript status: available (French) Publication date: October 2012 330 pages – 63,800 words

Novel

Resume

Rights

Sandro is crippled by grief. The love of his life died under mysterious circumstances last year. A journalist, she had been on a trip to South America to investigate an ancient and mysterious tribe, reputed to be the happiest in the world. Burdened by a desire for vengeance, Sandro does the only thing he feels he can – he journeys to the deepest, darkest reaches of the Amazon rainforest to search out the tribe that he believes is responsible for his misery. His plan for revenge is simple: to rob them of their happiness, by teaching them hitherto unknown concepts like jealousy, rivalry, covetousness and greed. But Sandro’s mission is complicated when he meets Elianta, the beautiful new shaman of the tribe, who is determined to protect her people and maintain the peace and serenity of their simple existence. The third book by the chart-topping Laurent Gounelle, LE PHILOSOPHE QUI N’ÉTAIT PAS SAGE is a captivating novel full of humour and suspense, which raises fundamental questions about human nature and the society that we live in.

SOLD TO: Planeta (WORLD SPANISH), Balgunsesang (COREAN), Random House (GERMAN), Sperling & Kupfer Editori (ITALIAN), Alma Littera (LITHUANIAN), Pegasus (TURKISH), Colibri publisher (BULGARIAN), Rybka (CZECH), China Citic Press (CHINESE), Pocket (FRENCH)

#7th bestselling French author

 Review « A captivating novel. » – France Info « Laurent Gounelle offers us enlightening insights. » – Questions de femmes « Gounelle is an optimist, a humanist, and an unrivalled storyteller, taking a stand against the yawning spiritual vacuum in our civilisation. » – L’hebdo

Laurent Gounelle is a writer

and a specialist in the social sciences. He trained in France and in the US. His books exude his enthusiasm for philosophy, psychology and personal development. His previous novels have all become best-sellers and been translated worldwide.

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En finir avec le mal de dos François Stévignon Manuscript status: available (French) Publication date: September 2013 208 pages – 33,400 words

Non-fiction

Rights

Resume No more backache! At last, an effortless method that deals with the causes of pain and brings relief within three weeks – without any drugs.

SOLD TO: Gorbaccio (ITALIAN), Pocket (FRENCH)

Do you have painful shoulders, a bad hip or persistent lower back pain? Treatments often have no long-term effect on any of these ills. We take pain-killers and anti-inflammatory drugs, go for a massage and end up considering having surgery. These all-too-frequent stages all focus on the effects and on the pain itself, but forget the fundamental element: the causes. By concentrating on the times when our back is obviously under strain, we forget the most important thing: the remaining ninety percent of the time when we don’t think about our posture – slumped on the sofa watching a good film, working hunched over our keyboard, or reading in bed propped up with pillows. Paradoxically, the tricky times are in fact those times when we feel we’re resting our back. The Stévignon method addresses these passive postures, helping us to spot them and get rid of them altogether by changing our environment. The book includes a test to assess bad posture, case studies and a step-by-step method. Simple three-week step-by-step programme. Review « Books don't get more practical than this. » – Le Parisien

François Stévignon has been a physiotherapist for over thirty years. A qualified osteopath and vertebral therapist, he quickly developed a keen interest in persistent pain. Having treated some 100,000 cases during the course of his career, including sportsmen and women, accident victims and patients suffering from chronic pain, he has accurately identified the crucial points in people’s daily routines and developed a successful, tried and tested method to address these.

« François Stévignon breaks ranks to reveal how you can prevent and relieve long-term pain. » – Féminin Bio 

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Faites-le! Marek Halter Manuscript status: available (French) Publication date: June 2013 216 pages – 33,800 words

Non-fiction

Resume

Rights

Words are more powerful than weapons or hate. Marek Halter has used words to reverse terrible circumstances, enabling hope and freedom to thrive. “If you have a project and you believe in it, do it. If you don’t do it, you only have yourself to blame. Human nature is such that once you’re committed; you’ll always find somebody to help you.” Marek Halter is committed to promoting a better and more just world. Be it in Israel/Palestine, Russia, Biafra, Argentina or Afghanistan, his courage has taken him to many battlefields in an attempt to ensure the chief victory is humanity itself. In France, his militancy has had its impact on half a century’s worth of major movements, including antiracism, feminism and interfaith dialogue. Caught up in the urgency of these different struggles, Marek Halter had never taken the time to explain the underlying reasons for his actions. In an age in which ideology is a thing of the past, he puts forward a genuinely innovative attitude for individuals in today’s world: leading by example. He also examines what motivates people to act, leaving the comfort of their homes to look after others.

SOLD TO: J’ai Lu (FRENCH)

Review « Everybody dreams of there being more justice in the world. Marek Halter has actually done something about it […] in his new book, simply called Do it! » – France Info « In Do it!, Marek Halter relates the exceptional encounters he has had over the course of his career. » – Paris Match

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PREVIOUS TITLES SOLD TO: Transworld Publishing (ENGLISH UK), Sony Magazine (JAPANESE), Planeta (SPANISH), Crown Publishing Group (ENGLISH US), Vremea (ROMANIAN), Kronta (LITHUANIAN), AlpressGaramond (CZECH), Proszynski (POLISH), Luitingh (DUTCH), Baum (COREAN), Editoria Nova Ftonteira (PORTUGUESE (BRASIL)), Editorial Bizancio (PORTUGUESE), Editions Oceanida (GREEK), Riva (BULGARIAN), Newton Compton Editori (ITALIAN)

Marek Halter is a writer devoted to upholding human rights. Defined by a difficult childhood spent in the ghettos of Warsa, he bore the brunt of antiSemite violence that ravaged Europe in the 1940s. In action and in writing books such as THE MADMAN AND THE KINGS and THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM, Marek has been internationally recognised for his progressiveness and moral steadfastness. www.editionskero.com

Recent acquisitions

Category

Author

Title

Agency

Fiction

Caroline Kepnes

You

WME

Fiction

Marie-Hélène Bertino

2 am at the Cat’s Pajamas

WME

Fiction

Gayle Forman

Just one day, Just one year

Fiction

Mitch Albom

The time keeper, The first phone call from heaven 3 books deal

Fiction

Carlos Acosta

Pig’s foot

Fiction

Sonali Deraniyagala

Wave

Fiction

Markus Zusak

The messenger

Nonfiction

Bill Browder

Red Notice

Nonfiction

Jenna Miscavige Hill

Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape

Cover

Gernet Agency

David Black

Bloomsbury UK

Trident

Curtis Brown

Conville & Walsh

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To be published

Harper Collins

www.editionskero.com

Contacts

14 bis, rue des Minimes 75003 Paris – France +33 (0) 1 53 01 21 62 www.editionskero.com www.facebook.com/EditionsKero @EditionsKero

Philippe ROBINET – CEO Camille LUCET – Managing Director Catherine BOURGEY – Head of Communication Marine MONTEGUT – Editor Caroline RASMONT – Marketing & Digital Development

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[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

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