Deal of the Week
Random House Kisses a Prince On October 29, Prince’s memoir will be published. Esther Newberg and Dan Kirschen of ICM brokered the deal for world rights in 2016 with Chris Jackson at Random House. Prince died of an accidental drug overdose later that year and publication was delayed. The Beautiful Ones will combine Prince’s own writing, personal photos, and original lyric sheets. It culminates with his original handwritten treatment for the 1984 film Purple Rain, the publisher said. Dan Piepenbring, who was Prince’s chosen collaborator, will write the introduction. “Prince is a towering figure in global culture,” Jackson said. “This book is a beautiful tribute to his life... a genuinely moving and energizing literary work, full of Prince’s ideas and vision.”
HMH’s Rosenthal Signs Two Deals It’s been a busy week for HMH editor-at-large David Rosenthal, who nabbed two high-profile books. From Flip Brophy at Sterling Lord Literistic, he bought world rights to Final Draft: The Selected Work of David Carr, which will be edited by Carr’s widow, Jill Rooney Carr. Ta-Nehisi Coates will provide an introduction. “David Carr was a great journalist, mentor, and teacher,” HMH publisher Bruce Nichols said. “His passing at age 58 was a tremendous loss, but with this collection, he can continue to inspire and teach us all.” The book collects Carr’s pieces from a range of publications including the Atlantic, New York magazine, the New York Times, the Twin Cities Reader, and the Washington City Paper. It is set for publication in spring 2020. Rosenthal’s second big deal of the week was a preempt for two books from writer and cartoonist Will McPhail, whose work for the New Yorker has earned him the National Cartoonist Society’s Reuben Award for cartoonist of the year for the past two years.In, the Story of Nick is a graphic novel about an introverted illustrator and his quest to make real connections with others; it will be out in fall 2020. The second book in the deal, Collected Cartoons, will gather more than 50 of McPhail’s New Yorker cartoons and an equal number of previously unpublished works. Heather Karpas at ICM brokered the deal for North American rights.
Lily King’s Next to Grove Atlantic Elisabeth Schmitz at Grove Atlantic bought world rights from Julie Barerof the Book Group to Writers and Lovers by Lily King, the Kirkus Prize–winning author of Euphoria, which was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist and was chosen by many for 2014 best books lists, including those by PW and the New York Times Book Review. The publisher described King’s new book, planned for publication in winter 2020, as “a captivating novel of love, art, and ambition that captures a transitional moment in a young woman’s struggle to succeed—creatively, financially, sexually, existentially.”
Moby’s Vegan Cookbook to Avery Lately, musician, entrepreneur, activist, and philanthropist Moby has been putting down the mic and picking up the pen. On the eve of next week’s publication by Faber & Faber of his new memoir, Then I Fell Apart, he signed a deal with Avery’s Lucia Watson for Moby’s Little Pine Kitchen Cookbook, due for release in spring 2021. Known by some as “the godfather of veganism,” according to his publisher, Moby is the owner of Little Pine Kitchen, a contemporary vegan restaurant in Los Angeles’s Silver Lake neighborhood. The restaurant donates 100% of its profits to animal charities. Angela Miller of Miller Bowers Literary Management brokered the deal for world rights.
Children's Deals Roundup We’ve got a big crop of new children’s and YA deals this week, including a new picture book from Oliver Jeffers, the bestselling author-illustrator of Here We Are; a YA novel from NBA longlisted author Samantha Mabry, loosely inspired by the story of King Lear and his daughters; and a debut YA novel from HarperCollins Children’s Books executive editor Andrew Eliopulos.
GCP Goes for a Woman in Red At Grand Central, Karen Kosztolnyik preempted The Woman in Red, a debut novel by Diana Giovinazzo, the cocreator of weekly literary podcast Wine, Women and Words and founder of the Creating Herstory blog, where she explores women’s history and literature. Her novel is, according to the publisher, the fictionalized true story of Anita Garibaldi, the headstrong revolutionary and fierce wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi, whom she fought alongside for liberty and national self-determination in Italy, Brazil, and Uruguay. Johanna V. Castillo at Writers House sold the world English rights.
Mother Jones’s Editor to Dey Street Alessandra Bastagli at Dey Street Books acquired world English rights to Mother Jones national affairs editor Mark Follman’s Trigger Points. In the book, the publisher said, Follman offers a narrative about how mental health and law enforcement leaders in the emerging field of behavioral threat assessment are preventing mass shootings by identifying potential attackers before they strike. Howard Yoon of the Ross Yoon Agency repped the author.
Behind the Deal
Jenny Jackson, v-p, senior editor at Knopf, signed a
high-six-figure, two-book deal with Swedish author Camilla Läckberg, who, Jackson said, is
known as the “reigning Queen of crime in Europe” but hasn’t yet reached such
notoriety in the U.S. Overseas, Läckberg’s books, including The Ice Princess
and the rest of the Fjällbacka series, have been translated into 43 languages
and sold more than 23 million copies. The U.S. rights to the two forthcoming
books were sold by Anna Frankl and Joakim Hansson at the Nordin
Agency in Stockholm. Jackson is confident that, with the publication of the
first book in the deal, The Golden Cage, Läckberg’s reputation in the
U.S. will soar, noting that with an urban, cosmopolitan backdrop, it is a huge
departure from the Scandinavian noir of her previous thrillers (published by
Pegasus), which are all set in the small Swedish town of Fjällbacka. In Golden
Cage, Jackson said, Läckberg weaves a suspenseful story about a woman who
has it all: a perfect husband, a lovely daughter, a luxury apartment in the
city—and a dark past. Describing it as Crazy Rich Asians but with more
blood and champagne, the book is “over-the-top and juicy,” Jackson said. “It is
a world of fabulousness with fashion, food, and snark—like Big Little Lies
but with sharper teeth.”
International
- Across the
pond, Picador scooped up three books by late American writer Bette
Howland in a four-way auction, The Bookseller reported. Editor
Kishani Widyaratna acquired the U.K. and Commonwealth rights from Caspian
Dennis at Abner Stein, in association with Renee Zuckerbrot at Massie
& McQuilkin Literary Agents. When the press publishes her complete
story collection, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, in May 2020, it
will be her first book published in the U.K. Her memoir W-3 and a
trio of novellas, Things to Come and Go, will follow. A sometime
lover and protegee of Saul Bellow, who called her “one of the significant
writers of her generation,” Howland was awarded a MacArthur “genius grant”
in 1984 but then never again published another book. Her books have been
out of print for a while, but she was rediscovered by Brigid Hughes,
founder of A Public Space, which will publish Calm Sea in May in
the U.S. Widyaratna said she “had been waiting to read Howland’s writing
ever since reading about her mysterious and tragic story.”
- Also in the
U.K., there’s excitement about Jennifer Weiner’s first novel in
four years, Mrs. Everything. The Bookseller reported that Little, Brown
imprint Piatkus picked up U.K. and Commonwealth rights from Lisa Keim at
Atria. The book follows two sisters with differing dreams and paths over
three decades.
Page to Screen
- Deadline announced
that Rosemarie DeWitt is set for a lead role opposite Reese
Witherspoon and Kerry Washington in a limited Hulu series based on Celeste
Ng’s novel Little Fires Everywhere. Liz Tigelaar developed and
wrote the script for Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, Washington’s Simpson
Street and ABC Signature Studios.
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Deal of the Week
St. Martin’s Snatches Heather Morris’s Next St. Martin’s chairman Sally Richardson and executive v-p and publisher Jennifer Enderlin snapped up North American and audio rights from Kate Parkin at Bonnier Books in the U.K. for Cilka’s Journey, the sophomore effort from New Zealander Heather Morris, whose current bestseller, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, is published by Harper. Like Tattooist, Cilka’s Journey is based on a true story. It follows Cilka, one of the central figures in Tattooist, who was only 16 when she was taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942 and whose beauty both saved her life and condemned her to being the concubine of the camp commandant. Per the publisher, “Morris crafts a powerful story of the triumph of the human spirit in the direst of times.”
Ecco Preempts for a Senator Denise Oswald at Ecco preempted world rights to a memoir by Montana Democratic senator Jon Tester—cowritten with Aaron Murphy, his former chief of staff—from Julie Stevenson of Massie & McQuilkin. Respecting the senator’s wish to keep the amount of the deal confidential, Stevenson confirmed only that it was “a significant deal.” The only farmer in the U.S. Senate, Tester faced fierce competition in the red state, which President Trump visited four times in order to bolster his opponent’s campaign in 2018. He is a frequent guest of Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell on CNBC and Bill Maher on HBO, as well as on Fox News. A fall 2020 publication is planned.
Riverhead Pays Six Figures for Sikh Wisdom Riverhead executive editor Jake Morrisey paid six figures to win at auction More of This Please: Self-Care for the Soul from Sikh Wisdom by religion scholar, activist, and educator Simran Jeet Singh. “Simran offers what I think is a refreshing approach to confronting the darkness that swirls around us—the anger, ignorance, and outrage that assault us everyday,” Morrisey said. Singh is Sikh and was born and raised in Texas. In the book, Morrisey added, he “proposes hopeful and very human ways to overcome the toxicity that is seeping into our lives.” Tanusri Prasanna at Foundry Literary + Media negotiated the deal for North American rights.
NBA Award–Winning Poet Back to TriQuarterly At TriQuarterly Books, an imprint of Northwestern University Press, editor Parneshia Jones celebrates poetry month with the acquisition of poet Nikky Finney’s Lovechild’s Hot Bed of Occasional Poetry: Poems and Artifacts. The collection is due out in April 2020 and is her first since Head Off & Split won the 2011 National Book Award for Poetry. That book went on to sell more than 25,000 copies, which, “for a poetry collection, is pharaonic,” the publisher said. The deal for world rights was unagented.
Children's Deals Roundup Check out this week’s crop of children’s and YA deals, including a new YA novel by I.W. Gregorio, pitched as a "mostly happy story" about love and mental health; a picture book from Caldecott Honor author-illustrator Elisha Cooper; and a new entry in the 1.5 million-copy selling Dino Tales series by Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown, called Democracy for Dinosaurs: A Guide for Young Citizens.
Berkley Buys a Royal Story In an exclusive submission, Berkley executive editor Kerry Donovan preempted North American and audio rights to former journalist and British bestselling author Wendy Holden’s The Governess—a historical novel about Marion Crawford, the royal governess to Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret when they were children—which, Donovan said, will appeal to devotees of Netflix series The Crown as well as fans of Jennifer Robson’s The Gown. The author was represented by Deborah Schneider at Gelfman Schneider/ICM on behalf of Jonathan Lloyd of Curtis Brown in London. Publication is set for next summer.
Carly
Simon Goes to FSG
FSG’s Colin Dickerman picked up North American and audio rights to Touched by the Sun, Carly Simon’s book about her long friendship with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whom she met at a Martha’s Vineyard summer party. “In the last few years, I found myself doing what I’ve done with all the other things in my life that were too big to look at directly and too important to understand fully as they were happening,” Simon said. “I put it down on paper. Publicly, Jackie was important to all of us, but privately, out of the public eye, I loved her.” Bill Clegg, who has an eponymous agency, brokered the deal.
FSG’s Colin Dickerman picked up North American and audio rights to Touched by the Sun, Carly Simon’s book about her long friendship with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whom she met at a Martha’s Vineyard summer party. “In the last few years, I found myself doing what I’ve done with all the other things in my life that were too big to look at directly and too important to understand fully as they were happening,” Simon said. “I put it down on paper. Publicly, Jackie was important to all of us, but privately, out of the public eye, I loved her.” Bill Clegg, who has an eponymous agency, brokered the deal.
Artisan Acquires Cookbooks for Summer and Winter Judy Pray, executive editor at Artisan, paid high five figures for world rights to the next two cookbooks from Marnie Hanel and Jen Stevenson, the team behind The Campout Cookbook and IACP Award–winner The Picnic (coauthored with Andrea Slonecker). The Beach Party Cookbook will be published in early 2021; The Apres Ski Cookbook will come out in summer 2021. Sharon Bowers at Miller Bowers Griffin repped Hanel, and Stacey Glick of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret repped Stevenson.
Behind the Deal
After a lively auction, Bob Bender at Simon & Schuster
prevailed with a
mid-six-figures bid to win North American rights to Angus Fletcher’s Shakespeare’s
Eureka from Kneerim & Williams’s Carolyn Savarese, who called
Fletcher “a modern-day polymath.” Fletcher holds dual degrees in neurobiology
and English literature and was a science prodigy who, disillusioned with
working with data, sought a career based in humanistic values, which led him to
his current position as a professor of story science at Ohio State’s Project
Narrative. According to the publisher, Shakespeare’s Eureka is an
examination of literary masterpieces from Homer to the present day that argues
literary innovation is as significant as scientific innovation, and that
reading great literature enhances readers’ emotional and psychological
well-being. Foreign rights for the book will be customized. “Fletcher wants to
give foreign publishers the opportunity to customize their edition for their country,”
Savarese explained. “There will be a core group of chapters, 15 to 20, that
overlap with the American edition, but then publishers in the British and
translation markets will get to add, swap, mix, and match selections of
chapters beyond the core group to incorporate those they feel will resonate in
their particular country.” 
International
- Last week,
we reported that Isabel Allende jumped from Atria to Ballantine
for the U.S. publication of A Long Petal of the Sea. This week, The
Bookseller reports that in the U.K., she’s moved from Scribner to
Bloomsbury, where Alexis Kirschbaum won the U.K. and Commonwealth rights
at auction from Peggy Boulos Smith at Writers House, on behalf of Johanna
V. Castillo of Writers House and the Carmen Balcells Literary Agency.
- According
to Publishers Marketplace, in Kazakhstan, Raisa Kader at
Teppe & World bought rights to R.J. Palacio’s Wonder in a deal
brokered by Adrienne Santamaria at Trident Media Group on behalf of Alyssa
Eisner Henkin.
Page to Screen
- In what Deadline
described as “spirited bidding,” Amazon Studios won at auction
rights to Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
(beating Paramount and Warner Bros.), due for publication in May from
Griffin. The rom-con is a story of the son of a U.S. president who falls
in love with Prince Henry of Wales.
- R.J.
Palacio’s Wonderis heading to Broadway R.J. Palacio’s
Wonder is heading to Broadway as a musical produced by Hamilton coproducer
Jill Furman for Lionsgate, the studio behind the 2017 film adaptation of
Wonder starring Julia Roberts. In a statement, Palacio said that the
project is “quite literally, a dream come true.”
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Copyright 2019, PWxyz LLC
Deal of the Week
PW Exclusive: Isabel Allende Jumps to Ballantine Isabel Allende has left Atria and signed with Ballantine for her new novel, A Long Petal of the Sea, due in early 2020. The Chilean author is a National Book Award laureate and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. “We feel so honored to publish Isabel Allende on the Ballantine list,” said Kara Welsh, executive v-p, Ballantine Bantam Dell. “This gorgeous, sweeping novel is wonderful, and her readers will love it.” The novel traces the lives of a young pregnant widow and a doctor who escape Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War aboard the SS Winnipeg, which Pablo Neruda deployed to help the refugees of the conflict begin a new life in Chile (Neruda was Chile’s special consul for immigration in Paris at the time). Johanna V. Castillo of Writers House, on behalf of Carmen Balcells Literary Agency, brokered the rumored six-figure deal for North American rights with BBD editor-in-chief Jennifer Hershey.
St. Martin’s Nabs Nikki Haley’s Book Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the UN and governor of South Carolina, signed a deal with St. Martin’s for an as-yet-untitled fall 2019 book, in which, the publisher says, “she will talk candidly about her tenure as UN ambassador” and will also be “deeply personal, describing the experiences that shaped Haley’s actions as governor and ambassador, as well as the challenges she and all women face when they assume roles traditionally occupied by men.” In a release, Haley said, “My hope with this book is to give people a unique window into recent history and inspire us toward a better future.” Robert B. Barnett of Williams & Connolly negotiated the deal for world rights with SMP editor-in-chief George Witte.
Atria Speedily Preempts a Brontë story PW is first to report that, five days after receiving the manuscript, Atria’s Daniella Wexler preempted a debut historical novel, Brontë’s Mistress by Finola Austin, based on the true, heretofore untold story of Lydia Robinson and her affair with Branwell Brontë. According to the publisher, “the novel gives voice to the courageous, flawed, complex woman slandered in Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Life of Charlotte Brontë as the ‘wicked’ elder seductress who corrupted the young Brontë brother, driving him to an early grave and bringing on the downfall of the entire Brontë family.” Danielle Egan-Miller at Browne & Miller negotiated the deal for world English and audio rights.
PEN Winner Nick Flynn to Norton Bill Clegg at the Clegg Agency sold North American rights to Mister Mann, a memoir by PEN/Martha Albrand Award–winner Nick Flynn, to W.W. Norton’s v-p, executive editor Jill Bialosky. The book is an exploration of parenthood and grief, tracing the effects of Flynn’s upbringing by his single mother and her suicide. Flynn is the author of three previous memoirs all published by Norton and is the author of four poetry collections.
Children's Deals Roundup Check out this week’s crop of children’s and YA deals, including a chapter book series by Google product designer Vicky Fang, a middle grade novel by The DUFF author Kody Keplinger, and a new picture book series from Caldecott Honor artist Brian Lies.
Dutton Preempts Captain America No, Dutton isn’t getting into comic book superheroes—but it did just sign up a memoir from baseball great David Wright, a seven-time all-star voted the “Face of MLB,” written with MLB.com beat writer Anthony DiComo. Captain chronicles Wright’s 14 years in the major leagues, in which he helped lead the New York Mets to their first division title in a generation and earned the nickname Captain America for his heroics with Team U.S.A. in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. John Parsley at Dutton preempted world rights from Rob Kirkpatrick at Kirkpatrick Literary in the agency’s first deal.
Philomel Flies with Astronaut Abby Talia Benamy at Philomel has acquired, at auction, a book by Abigail Harrison (aka Astronaut Abby) titled Dream Big! Act Big! Inspire Others! A Guide to Changing the World, set for spring 2021. The book is aimed at helping young readers reach for and achieve their dreams. Harrison works as an international space and STEAM ambassador and is the founder of the Mars Generation, a nonprofit focused on getting adults and kids excited about science and space. Heather Flaherty at the Bent Agency negotiated the deal for world rights.
Yangsze Choo Goes Back to Flatiron Amy Einhorn and Caroline Bleeke at Flatiron paid a rumored mid- to high six figures for world rights, excluding U.K., for the next two (as-yet-untitled) books from Yangsze Choo, whose The Night Tigerwas a Reese’s Book Club pick. Jenny Bent of her own agency repped the author.
Behind the Deal
With sales of Adrian McKinty’s The Chain to 31
countries— 24 of which signed on
at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October—Mulholland has already made back the
high-six-figure advance it paid for that and a second title from McKinty. The
author is the recipient of a number of awards, including the Edgar, but his
agent, Shane Salerno of the Story Factory, said, “This very clearly is his
breakout book.” Josh Kendall and Reagan Arthur acquired the world rights for
the book, which comes out in July in the U.S. The Chain is a tale of a
chain-letter-like kidnapping scheme. When a woman’s daughter is abducted, she
is told that the only way to get her back is to kidnap another child. Her
daughter will be released when the next victim in the chain’s parents kidnap
another child. If she doesn’t kidnap a child, or if that child’s parents don’t
kidnap a child, her daughter will be murdered. The book has won early praise
from heavy hitters, including Stephen King, who said, “This nightmarish story
is incredibly propulsive and original.” Tana French called McKinty “one of the
most striking and memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years.”
International
- Re-naissance’s
Laurie Blum Guest has brokered a coedition agreement with the
Titan Publishing Group on behalf of Perilous Worlds for Conan and the
Living Plague, a novel by John C. Hocking. Titan acquired
rights for the U.K., Ireland, and British Commonwealth. Perilous Worlds’
U.S. edition is releasing this month. The U.K. edition will pub in
September.
- Diane
Turbide, publishing director of Penguin Canada, bought world
rights to The Billionaire Murders: The Mysterious Deaths of Barry and
Honey Sherman by Toronto Star investigative reporter Kevin
Donovan, for October publication. Samantha Haywood and Jesse
Finkelstein of the Transatlantic Agency brokered the deal.
Page to Screen
- Producer
Judith Verno optioned A Serial Killer’s Daughter (Thomas
Nelson) by Kerri Rawson for Sony Pictures Television. Rawson is the
daughter of Dennis Rader, who dubbed himself the BTK killer (the initials
stand for “bind, torture, kill”). Joel Gotler of the Intellectual Property
Group negotiated the deal on behalf of Rawson with Doug Grad of his own
agency.
- R.J.
Palacio’s Wonderis heading to Broadway R.J. Palacio’s
Wonder is heading to Broadway as a musical produced by Hamilton coproducer
Jill Furman for Lionsgate, the studio behind the 2017 film adaptation of
Wonder starring Julia Roberts. In a statement, Palacio said that the
project is “quite literally, a dream come true.”
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Phone 212-377-5500
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Phone 212-377-5500
Copyright 2019, PWxyz LLC
Deal of the Week
Morrow’s Wallet Bulges for Whitey Bulger According to Peter Steinberg at Foundry Literary + Media, “a lot of editors wanted Misery Mountain: The Inside Story Behind the Pursuit, Capture and Killing of Mob Boss Whitey Bulger,” but it was Matt Harper at William Morrow who snatched up North American and audio rights in a preempt in the low-to-mid six figures. Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge, a nonfiction team with a bent for tales of Boston, relate the story of infamous Boston mobster Whitey Bulger, with cooperation from Ritchie Eaton and Neil Sullivan, detectives who worked on the Bulger case.
Gallery Books Signs Meghan Daum Aimee Bell, v-p, editorial director at Gallery Books, acquired U.S., Canada, open market, and audio rights to The Problem with Everything by Meghan Daum, a former L.A. Times op-ed columnist who is the author of The Unspeakable and a 2015 Guggenheim fellow. In a release from the publisher, Daum said that the book, scheduled for publication in October, is about “the conflicted and tortured state of liberalism generally and feminism in particular.” Tina Bennett at WME brokered the deal.
Hanover Goes for Kasich Jenny Bent, who has an eponymous agency, sold North American and audio rights for former Ohio governor John Kasich’s book It’s Up to Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Change to Peter Joseph, editorial director of Hanover Square Press. In the book, which is slated for October, Kasich shares the guiding principles that have informed his public life for more than three decades. “We are thrilled to be publishing It’s Up to Us and look forward to sharing Governor Kasich’s hard-won experiences and life lessons to help Americans bridge the deep divide in this country,” Joseph says. “In these pages, we hope readers find the inspiration and guidance needed to help bring about the positive change we all want to see.”
Putnam Plunges In for ‘Little Threats’ In her first acquisition at Putnam, Danielle Dieterich preempted world rights to Emily Schultz’s Little Threats. Dieterich said she felt confident making this her maiden voyage, because “the kind of suspense that Schultz excels at—insightful, fast-paced, and beautifully written—is not only a fit for Putnam but is what readers have been gravitating toward these days.” In her follow-up to The Blondes, named a best book of 2015 by NPR, Schultz tells a story about the new questions and old tragedies that surface after a young woman who was found guilty of murdering her best friend is released from prison. Ryan Harbage of the Fischer Harbage Agency represented the author.
Children's Deals Roundup Another big crop of children’s and YA deals this week, including a debut YA novel by Irish journalist and podcaster Caroline O’Donoghue that was preempted by Walker Books for world rights; Edgar Award-nominated author Erin Bowman'sfirst middle grade novel; and a picture book from Moana art director Andy Harkness that Bloomsbury preempted in a two-book deal.
Dutton Buys a Seat at the Trump Show At Dutton, John Parsley signed a deal with David Larabell at CAA for North American rights to Front Row at the Trump Show by Jonathan Karl, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent, to be published in 2020. Karl’s book takes readers behind the scenes and shows what it is like to cover an unconventional White House and a president who has declared war on the press. Karl covered the Bush and Obama presidencies and has followed Trump since the early 1990s, when he was a reporter for the New York Post.
Blackstone Woos Authors Away from PRH Blackstone has ventured beyond audio into print and e-books of late, and now, in a new partnership with the Story Factory, the company is expanding its presence in those markets. Launching the partnership is a seven-figure deal with three authors with impressive records: Steve Hamilton, Reed Farrel Coleman, and Meg Gardiner>, all of whom have been published by Penguin Random House. Shane Salerno of the Story Factory represented all three authors during the months-long negotiations with Josh Stanton, CEO of Blackstone. The three authors moving to Blackstone have a combined 60 novels in print, six New York Times bestsellers, and 45 nominations for international literary awards, with 17 winners.
Viking Snags Comedian Aparna Nancherla In an exclusive submission, Viking’s Georgia Bodner scooped up Imposter Syndrome by Aparna Nancherla, a comedian, writer, and costar of Comedy Central’s Corporate, from CAA. The forthcoming collection of essays offers a meditation on her experiences with anxiety and depression, using humor to illuminate her interior life.
Behind the Deal
Harper’s Emily Griffin dished out seven
figures for world rights to the next two books by Liv Constantine, a
pseudonym for sisters Lynne and Valerie Constantine, the duo behind The Last
Mrs. Parrish, which was published last year and was selected for Reese
Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Book Club. Last Time I Saw You, their
second book is due in May. The first of the new contract, The Wife Stalker,
due out in summer 2020, is a psychological suspense story that centers on
Joanna, whose ex-husband has married a woman, Piper, whom Joanna suspects is a
black widow, as her two previous ex-husbands—and a stepdaughter—died in tragic
accidents. Fearing for the safety of her children and her ex-husband, Joanna is
determined to win her family back. But Piper is equally determined to keep them
for herself and schemes to make Joanna look deranged and dangerous. In a
separate two-book deal, Griffin also bought world rights to two thrillers from
Lynne Constantine, writing under the pseudonym L.C. Shaw, that will
launch the Jack Logan series, which centers on an investigative journalist.
Both deals were negotiated by Bernadette Baker-Baughman at Victoria
Sanders & Associates.
International
- The
Bookseller reports that Simon & Schuster scooped up U.K.
and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to The Killing in
the Consulate: The Life and Death of Jamal Khashoggi by Jonathan
Rugman, London’s Channel 4 News foreign affairs correspondent. Rugman
said, “It was shocking to return to Istanbul to report on the killing and
dismemberment of a fellow journalist. My book bears witness to Jamal’s
life as well as to his death. His story needs to be told and it should
never be forgotten.”
- According
to Publishers Marketplace, Stacey Hall’s as-yet-untitled sophomore
effort , set in Edwardian England, sold to Margaret Stead at
Zaffre for six figures. Her debut, The Familiars sold to eight countries.
Juliet Mushens at Caskie Mushens repped the author.
Page to Screen
- In good
news for library geeks everywhere, TV rights to Susan
Orlean’s The Library Book were sold to Paramount Television and
Anonymous Content, in association with Brillstein Entertainment, according
to Variety. Orlean will adapt the book for television along with James
Ponsoldt, who will direct the pilot. Anonymous and Inkwell Management negotiated
on behalf of the author. “I am so excited to see this book leap from the
page to the screen and tell the story of a place that’s so well-loved and
complex and interesting,” Orlean said.
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Phone 212-377-5500
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Phone 212-377-5500
Copyright 2019, PWxyz LLC
Deal of the Week
St. Martin’s Believes in Bruce Greyson’s ‘After’ For a high-six-figure sum, George Witte, St. Martin’s editor-in-chief, won at auction North American rights to Bruce Greyson’s After: A Skeptical Scientist’s Journey to Understand Life, Death, and Beyond, which explores near-death experiences. Witte has great confidence in the book, planned for winter 2021, because, he says, “millions of readers read Raymond Moody’s Life After Life and Eben Alexander’s Proof of Heaven.” He adds, “Greyson takes a scientific approach to the question of life, death, and beyond.” Based on 45 years of research and interviews with more than 1,000 people, Greyson, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, suggests that consciousness is not produced by the brain and may continue after death. Doug Abrams at Idea Architects brokered the deal. Across the pond, Transworld also paid six figures at auction to secure U.K. and Commonwealth rights from Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein.
Tor Pays Up for a Space Trilogy In another six-figure deal, executive editor William Hinton and editor Diana M. Pho of Tor Books have bought Maurice Broaddus’s debut space opera trilogy, which was pitched as “The Expanse meets Black Panther” and explores an intergalactic Afrofuturist empire. The deal was brokered by Jennifer Udden of Barry Goldblatt Literary for world rights. The first installment is set to publish in 2021. Broaddus is a science fiction and horror author living in Indianapolis, where he also works as a community organizer.
Tim McGraw and Jon Meacham Sing for Random House Kate Medina snapped up North American rights to Songs of America: Patriotism, Protest, and the Music That Made a Nation from CAA. Described by the publisher as “a celebration of America and the music that has inspired us,” Songs is authored by an unlikely duo: Tim McGraw, one of the biggest touring artists in country music, and Jon Meecham, a Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer and historian, author of the bestselling titles American Lion, The Soul of America, and Thomas Jefferson, among others.
Lupita Nyong’o’s Picture Book to S&S CAA sold Academy Award–winner Lupita Wyong’o’s first book to Zareen Jaffery at Simon & Schuster. Sulwe, a picture book, illustrated by Vashti Harrison (Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History), was inspired by Nyong’o’s childhood in Kenya and tells the story of a little girl who learns to embrace her own beauty. The book, to be published in October, was written entirely by Nyong’o, an agency representative said, adding that she spent many hours working with the illustrator.
Children's Deals Roundup This week yields an exciting batch of children’s and YA deals including a YA novel by Emilia Rhodes that the publisher calls This Is Us meets 500 Days of Summer, Amy Butler Greenfield’s The Hidden Life of Codebreaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman, and a middle grade novel by Jasmine Warga, and more.
Ecco Prevails in 10-Way Auction for a Debut Megan Lynch wrestled away North American rights to Of Women and Salt in a 10-house auction brokered by Marya Spence and PJ Mark at Janklow & Nesbit. The debut from Gabriela Garcia, a Rona Jaffe Award recipient, traces a lineage of Latin-American mothers and daughters across the diaspora. “This is a rare debut novel that is as emotionally powerful as it is formally inventive,” Lynch said. “It moved me to tears even as its structural high-wire act left me breathless.”
David
Mamet Goes to Bombardier Books
David S. Bernstein, associate publisher of Bombardier, an imprint of Post Hill Press, signed a deal with AGI Vigliano Literary for two works by playwright and author David Mamet (Chicago). In September, a collection of Mamet’s novellas, Three War Stories, will be published. December will see the publication of The Diary of a Porn Star by Priscilla Wriston-Wranger, as told to Mamet and with an afterword by him.
David S. Bernstein, associate publisher of Bombardier, an imprint of Post Hill Press, signed a deal with AGI Vigliano Literary for two works by playwright and author David Mamet (Chicago). In September, a collection of Mamet’s novellas, Three War Stories, will be published. December will see the publication of The Diary of a Porn Star by Priscilla Wriston-Wranger, as told to Mamet and with an afterword by him.
S&S Signs On to a Revolution Emily Graff at Simon & Schuster preempted North American rights to Teen Vogue columnist Lauren Duca’s How to Start a Revolution: Young People and the Future of American Politics from Monika Woods at Curtis Brown. After the 2016 election, Duca started to question everything she knew about the government and began a quest to learn more, according to the publisher. She spoke with hundreds of young people who had similar political awakenings, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and David and Lauren Hogg, survivors of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Dominican Flair Entices Harper Perennial Nick Owen of the Barcelona-based Pontas Agency sold world English rights to Amber Oliver at Harper Perennial, in a preempt, to A Taste of Sage, a debut novel by Y.S. Seraph, Yaffa draws on her Dominican background to create a story that merges romance with cooking, including recipes from her native cuisine. “As foodie culture grows,” Oliver said,”we believe that this is a perfect crossover.”
Behind the Deal
As it marks its 45th anniversary, Graywolf
picked up its fourth book from Claudia Rankine, a scholar and poet with
a long and distinguished list of credentials. She is a 2016 recipient of the
MacArthur “genius grant,” a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, the winner
of the 2014 Jackson Poetry Prize, the Frederick Iseman professor of poetry at
Yale, and a contributing editor of Poets & Writers. Gray wolf’s Jeff
Shotts signed the deal for world rights with Frances Coady at Aragi.
The essays in Just Us: An American Conversation, set to be published in
September 2020, take place in “transitionary spaces—on airplanes, at a
diversity training session, in a therapist’s office—where presumed neutrality
gives way to American culture’s overwhelming whiteness,” the publisher said.
“Rankine questions what it means in these spaces to interrogate white
privilege, well-meaning liberal politics, white male aggression, the
implications of blondeness, white supremacy in the White House, the Brett
Kavanaugh hearings, and the alarming move toward Brexit.” The press has
done well with Rankine: it has shipped more than 300,000 copies of her 2014
NBCC Award–winning Citizen: An American Lyric and has just published her
first play, The White Card.
International
- The
Barcelona-based Pontas Agency is having great success with Eloisa
Díaz’s Repentance, for which it has closed five deals in two
weeks. Rights to the English-language Argentina-set literary whodunit have
been sold in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K., where Weidenfeld
& Nicolson bought world English rights.
- The
Bookseller reports that Stephanie Land’s Maid
was sold to Women’s Publishing House in Vietnam by Itzel Hsu at the
Grayhawk Agency, on behalf of Jeff Kleinman and Melissa White at Folio
Literary Management.
- After four
years, Sophie Kinsella returns to her blockbuster series with Christmas
Shopaholic for Transworld, The Bookseller reported. Larry Finlay
acquired British Commonwealth rights from Araminta Whitley at the Soho
Agency.
Page to Screen
- Francis
McDormand and Plan B Productions have optioned Miriam Toew’s Women
Talking for feature development. The novel is a fictional
response to real events in a remote Mennonite community. The Wylie
Agency’s Sarah Chalfant brokered the deal.
- The Queen’s
Gambit by Walter Tevis (The Color of Money, The
Hustler, The Man Who Fell to Earth) was sold to Netflix, with two-time
Oscar nominee Scott Frank as writer, director, and executive producer.
William Horberh is a cowriter. Susan Schulman negotiated the deal for her
eponymous agency.
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Publishers Weekly,
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Phone 212-377-5500
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71 West 23 St. #1608
New York, NY 10010
Phone 212-377-5500
Copyright 2019, PWxyz LLC
Deal of the Week
Europa Signs a Japanese Literary Star Europa Editions editor Eva Ferri landed North American rights to three novels by Japanese writer Mieko Kawakami, who was selected in 2017 as one of the most exciting global talents in John Freeman’s Future of New Writing. Amanda Urban and Amelia Atlas at ICM Partners brokered the deal. Haruki Murakami said that the first title, Breast and Eggs (which has sold more than 250,000 copies in Japan), is “so amazing it took my breath away.” In the novel, which will be released in the U.S. in 2020, Kawakami explores womanhood in contemporary Japan, and, in particular, asks, “What does it look like for a woman to have a child outside the framework of heterosexual partnership?” Ferri also acquired Italian rights to the trio for Edizioni E/O. U.K. and Commonwealth rights to the three novels were won by Picador in a five-way auction.
Hoover Jumps to Montlake Romance For a rumored six figures, Montlake editorial director Anh Schluep snagged Colleen Hoover in a two-book deal for world English rights brokered by Jane Dystel at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. First up is Regretting You, due in fall 2020. “Montlake is thrilled to work with Colleen Hoover,” Schluep said. “Her novels deeply connect with readers, winning the Goodreads Choice Award in Romance three years in a row.” Hoover has been published by Atria.
Hanover Square Snares a Killer Debut In a two-book deal, editor John Glynn preempted North American rights to The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson. The deal was announced last week from the London Book Fair by HarperCollins’s HQ imprint, where editorial director Manpreet Grewal won a six-publisher auction of Jigsaw for U.K. and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada). Oli Munson at AM Heath negotiated both deals. Glynn called this serial-killer crime novel “an addictive page-turner,” adding, “The Jigsaw Man elevates the genre with inventive storytelling, complex characters, and an urgent layer of procedural authenticity.”
Abrams Preempts ‘The Suspect’ Abrams’s Garrett McGrath preempted The Suspect: An Olympic Bombing, the FBI, the Media, and Richard Jewell, the Man Caught in the Middle by former U.S. attorney Kent Alexander and Kevin Salwen, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and editor. Drawing on interviews with more than 150 sources and 90,000 pages of documents, the authors dig into the story of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing and Richard Jewell, a security guard whose quick thinking saved hundreds of lives, but who became the FBI’s main suspect. Sarah Smith at David Black Literary Agency sold the North American rights, and film rights have been optioned to Twentieth Century Fox, 75 Year Plan, Appian Way, and Misher Films.
Children's Deals Roundup We’ve got a big new crop of children’s and YA deals this week, including a Wonder Woman graphic novel from Shannon and Dean Hale, a YA novel by Estelle Laure inspired by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and a middle grade debut from Chantel Acevedo, a Latino International Book Award winner and finalist of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.
Debut by Award-winning Cartoonist to Boom! In another preempt, Boom! executive editor Sierra Hahn and president of publishing and marketing Filip Sablik snagged The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs by Celine Loup, an illustrator and Ignatz Award–nominated cartoonist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New Yorker. Due this fall, the tale of horror and suspense “explores the very real fears associated with new motherhood,” said the publisher. Meredith Kaffel Simonoff of DeFiore & Company Literary Management negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Teen Feminist Guide to Norton Norton Young Readers publishing director Simon Boughton picked up North American rights from Tanya McKinnon of McKinnon McIntyre to Feminist AF: A Guide to Crushing Girlhood by the founding members of Crunk Feminist Collective, Brittney Cooper, Chanel Craft Tanner, and Susana Morris,. Due for release in summer 2020—the 10th anniversary of the founding of the collective—the book is a guide for teen girls who want to be “unapologetically feminist and living their feminism out loud,” said the publisher.
Quinones’s Follow-up to Bloomsbury Bloomsbury’s Anton Mueller has acquired world rights to NBCC Award–winner Sam Quinones’s as-yet-untitled follow-up to the acclaimed Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic. Planned for an early 2020 release, it is an exploration of fentanyl and the quiet but groundbreaking steps communities across the nation are taking to end the opioid crisis. Quinones was represented by Stephany Evans at Ayesha Pande Literary.
Behind the Deal
St. Martin’s executive editor Michael Flamini
won at auction Sinclair McKay’s The Fire and the Darkness: The
Bombing of Dresden, 1945, a minute-by-minute account of the devastating
aerial bombardment of the German city of Dresden during the final days of WWII.
The book is set for publication in February 2020, the 75th anniversary of the
bombing. McKay, a literary critic for the Spectator and the Telegraph
and author of The Secret Lives of Codebreakers, mined newly opened
archives and other sources to take the reader into the heart of the inferno,
detailing how the Allies “rained fire down on what was left of the city,
conjuring a phenomenon of physics that turned the streets into a blast furnace,
the shelters into ovens and whipped up a molten hurricane in which the citizens
of Dresden were burned, baked, or suffocated to death,” said the publisher.
Readers will come to know such civilians as Margot Hille, an apprentice brewery
worker, and Anita Auerbach, a waitress in the White Riband Café, and, of
course, the Nazi officers who were in command of Dresden at the time. The North
American rights deal was brokered by Sarah Scarlett at Penguin Random
House UK. 
International
- In the
U.K., HarperFiction’s editorial director, Martha Ashby, preempted The
Book of Keys a debut novel by Holly Dawson, The
Bookseller reported. The book is inspired by a situation that Dawson,
a freelance writer, tweeted about in October: “Just heard about a guy who
died in my village left 3 houses to the council, with the stipulation that
they’re for young families to rent for a fixed period of 3yrs with rent of
£300 pcm (in an area where rent is £1000+). Because we all need to talk
more about the good humans.” The tweet went viral, and the BBC verified
the story in a subsequent article, according to the publisher. Jenny
Hewson at Rogers, Coleridge and White negotiated the deal for world
English rights.
Page to Screen
- Jennifer
Phang’s Good Neighbors Media bought film and television rights to
Todd Mitchell’s upcoming YA novel, The Naming Girl, a
steampunk fairy tale. Mitchell is repped by Curtis Brown Ltd.
- In an
exclusive submission, Del Rey editorial director Tricia Narwani scooped
up North American rights to Josh Malerman’s Malorie, the
sequel to Bird Box, which was adapted into a Netflix film that has
been streamed more than 80 million times. Malerman was shortlisted for a
2018 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel for his last
work, Unbury Carol.produce. The deal was brokered on behalf of the author
by Rosemary Stimola of Stimola Literary Studio and Jason Dravis of his own
agency.
Send editorial inquiries
about this e-newsletter to: internationaldeals@publishersweekly.com
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For additional assistance, contact us by email or at the address
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Publishers Weekly,
71 West 23 St. #1608
New York, NY 10010
Phone 212-377-5500
Publishers Weekly,
71 West 23 St. #1608
New York, NY 10010
Phone 212-377-5500
Copyright 2019, PWxyz LLC
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