Publishing house, LUZIFER-Verlag, turns Ben Blackshaw German.
International espionage has flung Robert Blake Whitehill’s hero, Ben Blackshaw, across the globe, but so far, the books that feature him have been printed only in English. That’s about to change. Publishing house LUZIFER-Verlag, founded by Steffen Janssen, will bring the Blackshaw series to the German-speaking world starting in 2016, with the publication of Deadrise, the first of Blackshaw’s missions.
Janssen says the growth of LUZIFER-Verlag rapidly outpaced his original vision. “We started out with a small list of novels, mostly horror and dystopian books,” said Janssen. “Things worked out pretty well, people liked our picks, and we expanded very quickly. More and more popular authors became interested in working with us. And finally, Robert Blake Whitehill.”
Today, Janssen knows the tastes of the LUZIFER-Verlag readers better than ever. “German readers are not unlike English or American readers, especially when we talk about action or suspense,” said Janssen. “We love James Bond, we love spies, agents, espionage and explosions. We want to read books that work like our favorite movies.”
After being kept on the edge of his seat by the cinematic storytelling of the first Blackshaw book, Janssen sensed his readers would love all the exciting adventures of the Chesapeake hero. “Good guys fighting bad guys, lots of action,” said Janssen. “And because of that, I think the German audience will love Blackshaw. I couldn’t put it down.”
When he contacted author Whitehill’s representatives, Janssen negotiated for the three published titles, Deadrise, Nitro Express and Tap Rack Bang, but he also bought the unpublished fourth Blackshaw book sight unseen: Geronimo Hotshot.
Janssen’s boldness was rewarded. When he reached out, he had no idea the first three Blackshaw franchise titles were already in development for adaptation into movies with HatLine Productions. Janssen was elated. “A lot of books create movies in your head, but even if you have the rights to a bestseller series, it doesn’t necessarily mean that a studio is interested in making movies out of it,” said Janssen. “Deadrise has a nuke, a race against time, conspiracies, mercenaries, an evil villain, a tough action hero and people on Amazon clamoring that the books should be movies. So, HatLine producing the Blackshaw franchise is like winning the lottery for LUZIFER-Verlag. ‘The Ben Blackshaw Series: Now Major Motion Pictures!’ Doesn’t this sound lovely?”
Whitehill can’t wait to see his series reach an entirely new audience. “It’s absolutely thrilling to know the declassified Blackshaw missions will be translated into German, including audiobooks and offered by such a daring, innovative company as LUZIFER-Verlag,” said Whitehill. “Janssen has my complete trust he’ll do the Ben Blackshaw Series proud.”
For more information about Robert Whitehill, visit www.RobertBlakeWhitehill.com. For Whitehill speaking, contact Andrea Sanchez at (512) 206-0229 or www.sheltoninteractive.com. For Whitehill Representation, contact Liza Moore Ledford at (443) 239-3567.
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