WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON: The Letters of Note website receives more than 1.5 million hits a week. The first original Letters of Note Hardcover edition sold more than 110,000 copies in the UK, was a Sunday Times bestseller, and has been published in 18 territories.

MASSIVE SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING: Twitter @LettersOfNote=613K Followers.

TIMELESS AND WIDE APPEAL: Letters from a huge range of famous/infamous and historical/contemporary figures that will attract readers across demographics. For fans of the Letters of Note site and Maria Popova’s popular Brain Pickings site; for fans of history and pop culture.

PERFECT FOR GIFTING: Beautiful design, high quality and variety of letters, and the universal appeal of the themes.

PUBLISHING PLANS: We’ll launch twelve volumes total, four per season—all organized around a universal theme.

GLOBAL PUBLISHING PARTNERS: McClelland & Stewart will partner with Canongate (UK) and Penguin (US) to promote and grow the international fanbase for the series. There are eight additional publishing partners: Companhia des letras (Brazil), Editions du Seuil (France), Heyne (Germany), Brainfood Media (Greece), Feltrinelli (Italy), Podium (Netherlands), Gayatri (Russia), and Salamandra (Spain).

POPULAR EVENT SERIES: Letters Live—the event series inspired by the book—goes from strength to strength, selling out venues around the world, with performers such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and many others.

SHAUN USHER is a writer and sole custodian of the popular blogs lettersofnote.com and listsofnote.com. He is the author of the bestselling Letters of Note, More Letters of Note, Lists of Note, and Speeches of Note. Along with Simon Garfield’s To the Letter, Letters of Note inspired Letters Live, a series of live performances celebrating the enduring power of literary correspondence, with great performers reading remarkable letters to a live audience in London. He lives in Manchester, UK, with his wife Karina and their two sons.

Author Residence: Manchester, UK

Praise for Shaun Usher and Letters of Note:

“Reading through them is addictive, like dipping into a bag of variously tempting assorted candies, knowing that the next one will always bring surprise and pleasure. Usher has an evident knack for selecting letters that land with the force of a good short story, with personalities and dramatic arcs emerging swiftly, from just a page or two. Many of the writers are famous people, caught in a moment of accessibility and rawness or off-the-cuff virtuosity.” —The New Yorker

“Funny, tragic, brilliantly incisive, historic, lyrical, romantic, and studiedly offensive, this stupendous compendium of letters ancient and modern is my book of the year. You will never tire of it.” —Stephen Fry

“The literary equivalent of a box of chocolates—bite-sized and pure addictive pleasure…The result is beautifully produced, with photographs and colour facsimiles of much of the correspondence. A gorgeous Christmas present.” —The Sunday Times

“It is hard to see how Letters of Note could ever be surpassed.” —Mail on Sunday
 
Praise for Shaun Usher and More Letters of Note:

“Another mailbag stuffed with funny, heartbreaking, and passionate letters…engaging, eclectic, geekily and gleefully enthusiastic and laugh-out-loud funny.” —The Times

“Shaun Usher’s More Letters of Note mines the archives for more gems of the epistolary arts.” —The Guardian

“Funny, shocking, and poignant, More Letters of Note must be one of the most entertaining books of the year.” —Financial Times

“From the genuinely funny: Marge Simpson duelling with First Lady Barbara Bush to the truly heartbreaking: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg’s last goodbye to their children before execution. Usher’s book is unlike anything else you have read. After all, where else can you find out why Norman Mailer refused money to his father, or how Janis Joplin felt before breaking America? Exactly.” —GQ

“Some of the letters will make you laugh, other heartbreaking examples will make you cry.” —Independent