Katie Kirby’s “Hurrah for Gin” gets licensing deal

By John Freeman on October 12, 2019

Hurrah for Gin by Katie Kirby

Licensing agency Riverside Brands has just added the popular online parenting series, Hurrah for Gin, to its portfolio, a comedic pastiche of modern day parenthood survival by Katie Kirby, whose third book, Reluctant Adult, quickly hit the Sunday Times bestseller list earlier this month.

Based on digital marketer Katie Kirby’s own trials and tribulations of parenting, Hurrah for Gin offers an amusing account of parenting young children through a series of relatable real life scenarios, depicted by stick figures with humorous speech bubbles.

Reluctant Adult by Katie Kirby was published by Hodder & Stoughton earlier this month

Hurrah for Gin has a large social following – with approaching 500,000 followers on Facebook and over 20,000 followers on Twitter. Riverside Brands intends to build on the Katie’s success by implementing a dedicated consumer products programme, spanning multiple categories.

“I started my blog on a whim one night, probably under the influence of gin after a bad day,” says Brighton-based Katie of the origins of Hurrah for Gin. Katie has already released a number of prints based on her work and calendars and diaries are also already available.

“I will be the first to admit that I have struggled with many aspects of parenting but am firmly of the opinion that if you don’t laugh about the challenges, you will cry.

“Through Hurrah For Gin, I try to give a real and humorous account of parenting young children – the happy, the sad, the good and the bad. I hope you enjoy reading.”

“We’re delighted to add Hurrah for Gin to the Riverside Brands’ collection and see huge potential for the brand,” says Riverside Brands’ MD Ashley Holman. “We’ve kickstarted our outreach to licensees in relevant categories including greeting cards, stationery, gift, nightwear and outerwear and the brand is being really well received so far – we’re looking forward to solidifying these deals by the end of the year.”

• Hurrah for Gin is online at hurrahforgin.com | Facebook | Twitter

• Riverside Brands is online at www.riversidebrands.co.uk

• Hurrah for Gin books on AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.