EXCLUSIVE: Gossip Girl fan favorite Blair Waldorf’s Manhattan exploits are set to continue in a new standalone novel, titled Blair, from the original series author Cecily von Ziegesar.
Deadline can exclusively reveal that Alloy Entertainment has sold the novel, to be written by von Ziegesar, to Karen Kosztolnyik, VP, Executive Editorial Director of Fiction at Grand Central Publishing, in a major deal. Charlotte Mursell, Publisher of Orion Fiction at Orion, a division of Hachette UK, will publish alongside the U.S. in a global English-language launch.
Blair is set 20 years after the original bestselling Gossip Girl series. Think Blair Waldorf in her 40s, we’ve been told. Details about the novel are still under wraps, but it’s expected to follow the former NYC socialite as she returns to the Big Apple to climb her way back to the top of Upper East Side food chain.
The publishing date is tentatively set for Summer 2027.
The book is repped by Alloy alum Sara Shandler at The Book Group. Josh Bank, Joelle Hobeika and Jess Harriton are overseeing the project for Alloy’s book division, alongside Alloy president and chief creative officer Leslie Morgenstein.
Alloy Entertainment retains film and television rights for the new novel, following the company’s longstanding model of licensing only the book rights to publishers while holding onto the rest. No news yet on how this might develop into a scripted project for the small screen, but no doubt it’ll spark some interest in the television world.
The original 2002 Gossip Girl novel sold more than 6 million copies, was translated into 25 languages and remained on the New York Times bestsellers list for more than 100 weeks. Alloy launched the six-season Gossip Girl television series with creators/showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and Warner Bros. Television in 2007. The IP has become a major cultural phenomena in the years since, spawning a two-season revival on HBO Max in 2021.
Alloy Entertainment is known for some of the most recognizable book-to-series hits including The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, The 100, and You. The company is currently in pre-production on the eight-episode series The Probability of Miracles for Amazon and is also in production on the Netflix film In a Holidaze, starring Maddie Zeigler and Rob Lowe.
