Little Brown plans five Glee novels, Glee: The Beginning set for August 2010 launch
Little Brown Books For Young Readers, the publishers behind the Twilight series, are planning to bring out five books based on the hit US television series, Glee. Little Brown and the creative team behind the Glee TV series will collaborate on the Glee novels.The first novel – Glee: The Beginning – will be a prequel to the TV series that tells the story of a high school glee club. Glee: The Beginning will be launched in August 2010, in time for the premiere of the show’s second season.
Glee, a dramatic comedy about a high school glee club, tells the story of a high school show choir (New Directions) at William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. Glee stars Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester, the club director and Spanish teacher who hopes to restore the club to its former glory, Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester, the spirited cheerleading coach who is the Glee Club’s nemesis, and Lea Michele as the singing standout.
Jessalyn Gilsig plays Terri Schuester, Will’s wife of five years, on Glee, which airs on Fox and recently concluded its first season. Also starring in the TV series are Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jayma Mays, Kevin McHale, Rachel Berry, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Jenna Ushkowitz, Naya Rivera, Heather Morris, Harry Shum Jr and Dijon Talton.
The first season of Glee began airing in the United States in September 2009, and will soon be broadcast in India by the Star network.
Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, Glee was originally conceived as a film. The music for the series is chosen by Ryan Murphy, who seeks a balance between show tunes and chart hits. The music has been a huge success, prompting Columbia Records to release a series of Glee records (starting with Glee: The Music, Volume 1 in November 2009).
Songs from Glee can be digitally downloaded through iTunes up to two weeks before new episodes. Other digital outlets and mobile carriers offer the service a week later.
Glee won the 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series—Musical or Comedy. The series also received three other nominations that year – Best Actress (Lea Michele), Best Actor (Matthew Morrison), and Best Supporting Actress (Jane Lynch). Glee also won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy in 2010.
More marketing plans are afoot. 20th Century Fox’s licensing division has also signed an agreement that allows Glee clothing to be sold at Macy’s, and merchandise and accessories to be retailed at mall chains like Claire’s.