International Tumblr Sensation Emily Trunko to Publish Two Books with Crown Books for Young Readers
New York, NY — Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, has acquired and will publish DEAR MY BLANK and THE LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED, book projects based on the popular Tumblrs of the same name, created by fifteen-year-old Emily Trunko. The two-book deal for U.S. rights was negotiated by Emily Easton, Executive Editor, Crown Books for Young Readers, with Heather Flaherty at The Bent Agency on behalf of Emily Trunko, and was announced today by Phoebe Yeh, Vice President and Publishing Director of Crown.
Trunko’s Dear My Blank Tumblr (dearmyblank.tumblr.com) launched in March 2015 and showcases anonymous letters that people never intend to, or don’t have the courage to, send—ranging in length from a single sentence to thousands of words, and covering a range of topics and emotions from heartbreak, unrequited love, betrayal, loss, self-awareness, courage, and pride. Over 20,000 anonymous letters from people of all ages have been submitted to the Tumblr, and about 100 new letters arrive every day. The site received 34,000 new notes/comments last month alone.
Cosmopolitan calls the Tumblr “an addictive site full of strangers’ secrets,” Distractify says it is “a safe haven for hundreds of letters that will never be sent,” and Hello Giggles raves that Dear My Blank is “Tumblr’s newest obsession.”
Upon the recent launch of her second Tumblr, The Last Message Received (thelastmessagereceived.tumblr.com), Trunko gained 40,000 followers in just three weeks, with nearly 5,000 messages coming in the last two weeks. The Tumblr showcases highs and lows of the human condition, sharing the last messages people received from someone significant in their lives—death, breakup, friendship ending, family fights, etc. Some posts are screenshots of a last text exchange, along with a note giving the background behind the texts.
The two books to be published by Crown, DEAR MY BLANK and THE LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED, will be curated collections of the original Tumblr posts, which have resonated with both teens and adults. The books will be published in 2016, dates to be announced.
“The emotions evoked by Emily Trunko’s Tumblrs are universally understood and felt,” says Easton. “We are excited to bring the Tumblr posts together into two unique book collections, DEAR MY BLANK and THE LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED, enabling readers to connect with the very real and relatable human content on a more personal level.”
EMILY TRUNKO is the creator of the Dear My Blank and The Last Message Received Tumblrs. Trunko was born and raised in a small town in Ohio and homeschooled.
Media Contact: Dominique Cimina
Director, Publicity & Corporate Communications
dcimina@penguinrandomhouse.com / 212-782-9314
Crown Books for Young Readers is an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
###
