The young adult fantasy book series The Red Harlequin by Roberto Ricci has secured two new publishing deals with China’s Lazy Joy Digital Technology Company and Saga Egmont France. The deal, negotiated by multiplatform rights agency Pantomimus Media, will see the books made available to nearly half the world’s population, with translations in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, Russian and Turkish.

Beijing-based audiobooks platform Lazy Joy Digital Technology Company will distribute audio, print and eBook versions of all five books in the The Red Harlequin series to the Chinese market, including the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong and anywhere Chinese language books are sold, starting in 2021 in China.

“Lazy Joy is an audiobook and ebook platform in China, Europe, Russia, APAC, Africa and the world,” says Yu Meng, chief executive officer and founder, Lazy Joy. “There is a great appetite in China for stories with epic, legendary stories, featuring strong heroes and villains in the battle of good against evil. The Red Harlequin series is a timeless, sweeping saga with great drama, engaging characters and gripping plots that will appeal to our readers.”

Digital publishing specialist Saga Egmont France has acquired the French audio rights to the first three books of the series. Book one of the audiobooks, De Masques et de Chromes, is already on sale across all digital outlets, with book two following on Feb. 8, and book three on March 1. Founded in Denmark in 2014, Saga Egmont has expanded into seven European markets with a catalog of more than 27,000 audiobooks and 50,000 eBooks from across the globe.

"We are delighted to include ‘The Red Harlequin’ in our growing catalogue, and to expand our reach in the key French market with such a strong and compelling title," says Sophie Debefve, editor, Saga France, "We very much look forward to working with author Roberto Ricci to make the launch of this book series an enduring success."

The deals follow the launch of Dreamscape's Red Harlequin audiobooks in English, Fabler Audio's Red Harlequin audiobooks in Italian and SonoLibro’s The Red Harlequin audiobooks in Spanish.

“I am thrilled to welcome these new publishing partners to our rapidly expanding Red Harlequin family,” says Roberto Ricci. “Audiobooks are enjoying tremendous growth all around the world and are also being listened to by younger generations. Digital platforms are the perfect way for us to make The Red Harlequin's stories universally available to our target audience."