People & Publishing Roundup, August 2020
ALAN DEAN FOSTER began composing classical music in April, and has completed several short pieces, a symphony, and a symphonic suite. His Nightwish suite is online at <www.facebook.com/alandeanfoster>.
COLSON WHITEHEAD won the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. At 50, he is the youngest author to receive that lifetime achievement award ever. Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys (Doubleday) won the 2020 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, presented July 9, 2020 for “outstanding novels and collections of short stories first published in the UK that illuminate major social and political themes, present or past, through the art of narrative.”
KATHRYN EVANS‘s Beauty Sleep (Usborne) won the 2020 CrimeFest Award for Best Crime Novel for Young Adults, announced July 7, 2020.
JULIA NOBEL‘s The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (Sourcebooks Young Readers) won the Silver Birch Fiction Award, presented by the Ontario Library Association to celebrate “fiction books for readers in Grades 3-6.”
KAZUO ISHIGURO sold Klara and the Sun, about an “Artificial Friend,” to Knopf with Jordan Pavlin to edit via Amanda Urban at ICM. Faber & Faber will publish in the UK, and Knopf in Canada.
ERNEST CLINE sold Ready Player Two, sequel to his bestselling Ready Player One, to Ballantine.
HARRY TURTLEDOVE ‘s Three Miles Down sold to Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Tor via Russell Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency.
PAUL TREMBLAY sold The Pallbearers’ Club, a second novel, and a collection to Jennifer Brehl at William Morrow via Stephen Barbara of Inkwell Management.
VALERIE VALDES sold Fault Tolerance (third in the trilogy begun in Chilling Effect) and a second title to Tessa Woodward at Voyager via Quressa Robinson at Nelson Literary Agency.
NGHI VO‘s The Chosen and the Beautiful – a queer “magical reimagining of The Great Gatsby” – and standalone companion Siren Queen went to Ruoxi Chen at Tor. com Publishing via Diana Fox of Fox Literary.
LUANNE SMITH‘s historical fantasy The Raven Sisters and a second title sold to Adrienne Procaccini at 47North via Marlene Stringer of Stringer Literary Agency.
WAYÉTU MOORE‘s Melanctha, inspired by West African myth, sold to Andrea Schulz at Viking via Susan Golomb of Writers House.
NEIL WILLIAMSON‘s fantasy Queen of Clouds sold to Ian Whates at NewCon Press via John Jarrold of the John Jarrold Literary Agency.
S.A. BARNES sold Dead Silence to Melissa Frain at Nightfire via Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media. Kelly Lonesome will edit.
KERRIGAN BYRNE sold four books in a historical series with fairytale elements to Monique Patterson at St. Martin’s via Christine Witthohn of Book Cents Literary Agency.
CARRIANNE LEUNG‘s “apocalyptic fairy tale” The After went to Jennifer Lambert at Harper Canada via Denise Bukowski of the Bukowski Agency.
N.E. DAVENPORT sold duology The Praetorian Trials to David Pomerico at Voyager in a pre-empt via Caitie Flum of Liza Dawson Associates.
SAARA EL-ARIFI‘s African-inspired epic The Final Strife sold to Tricia Narwani at Del Rey in a pre-empt via Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown on behalf of Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment. UK rights to three books sold to Natasha Bardon at Voyager UK via Mushens.
NATALIE HAYNES sold A Thousand Ships, a retelling of the Trojan War focused on the “women, girls and goddesses,” to Erin Wicks at Harper in a pre-empt via Peter Straus at Rogers, Coleridge & White.
MIKE MEGINNIS sold “pre-apocalyptic novel” Drowning Practice to Gabriella Doob at Ecco via Monika Woods of Triangle House Literary.
PAIGE CRUTCHER‘s Waking the Witches and another book went to Monique Patterson at St. Martin’s via Ashley Blake of Rees Literary Agency.
CALVIN KASULKE‘s Several People Are Typing, “narrated entirely via Slack chats… including a man who somehow uploaded his consciousness into the app,” sold to Robert Bloom at Doubleday in a pre-empt via Kent Wolf of Neon Literary. Myfanwy Moore at Hodder Studio bought UK rights in a pre-empt via Vanessa Kerr at Abner Stein on behalf of Neon Literary.
AYANNA GILLIAN LLOYD‘s The Gatekeepers and another title sold to Margo Shickmanter at Doubleday in a pre-empt via Jackie Ko of the Wylie Agency on behalf of Tracy Bohan. UK rights sold to Hermione Thompson at Hamish Hamilton, and Canadian to Amy Black at Bond Street Books.
ANNE MONTGOMERY sold The Castle, a crime novel with “a touch of mystic presence” to Ashley Carlson at TouchPoint Press via Donna Eastman of Parkeast Literary. Sheri Williams will edit.
JENN BURKE sold paranormal novel All Fired Up and two more to Stephanie Doig at Carina Press via Deidre Knight at the Knight Agency.
CLEA SIMON sold A Cat on the Case – third in the Witch Cats of Cambridge series – and Hold Me Down to Jason Pinter at Polis via John Talbot of Talbot Fortune Agency.
MUNISH BATRA & KEITH R.A. DeCANDIDO sold Animal to Kevin J. Anderson at WordFire Press.
EDWARD J. KNIGHT‘s Gunslinger went to Kevin J. Anderson at WordFire Press.
DANIEL MARCUS sold collection Bright Moment and Others to Kevin J. Anderson at WordFire Press.
NEAL COCHRANE‘s I Will Go to the Bank by the Wood, a “loose retelling” of “Beauty and the Beast” with queer and trans characters, went to Laura Stanfill at Forest Avenue Press.
JASE PUDDICOMBE sold fantasy The Life-Giver to Parliament House Press.
GLENN COOPER‘s pandemic novel The Cure and speculative medical thriller Jaws of the Final Beast sold to Holly Domney at Aries via Sarah Perillo of Curtis Brown on behalf of Jonathan Lyons.
KEVIN ST. JARRE sold pandemic novel Celestine to Eddie Vincent at Encircle.
NIKKY LEE sold The Rarkyn’s Familiar to Parliament House Press.
MONIQUE SNYMAN‘s Dark Country and four more titles sold to Vesuvian Books via Gandolfo Helin and Fountain Literary Management.
RACHEL SULLIVAN sold three books in the Obsidian Falls series to Heather McCorkle at Mystic Owl.
KASSANDRA FLAMOURI‘s In the Dark of the Moon went to Parliament House Press.
JENNIFER INGLIS sold fantasy Enchanting Sarah Greenberg to Tee Tate at City Owl Press via Amy Brewer of Metamorphosis Literary Agency.
JENAIYA ROSS, writing as J.L. DELAVEGA, sold Smoke and Other Storms and two more in the Revere trilogy to Tee Tate at City Owl Press, via Matthew Belford of the Tobias Literary Agency.
MARY A.J. sold fantasy Renegades to Candace Thomas at Cayelle.
KELSEY KICKLIGHTER‘s Of Beast and Burden and a second title went to Parliament House Press.
DAVID GARDNER sold The Journalist, a thriller with ghosts, to Eddie Vincent at Encircle.
KATIE WEBSTER‘s fantasy The Invitation, beginning the Lucy’s Crypt series, went to James Essinger at the Conrad Press. Fran Garratt will edit.
TRUDIE SKIES sold Fire Walker and another book in the Sand Dancer series to Rick Lewis at Uproar Books.
JEN KARNER sold Cinders of Yesterday to Heather McCorkle at City Owl Press via Jessica Reino of Metamorphosis Literary Agency.
LEIGH BARDUGO sold YA collection The Lives of the Saints, with illustrations by DAN ZOLLINGER, to Erin Stein at Imprint via Joanna Volpe of New Leaf Literary & Media.
VICTORIA AVEYARD sold YA fantasy Realm Breaker to Alice Jerman at HarperTeen via Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media
SOPHIE ANDERSON‘s children’s fantasy The Castle of Tangled Magic and another book sold to Rebecca Hill at Usborne via Gemma Cooper at the Bent Agency.
NINA VARELA‘s YA contemporary fantasy Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom and a second book went to Alexandra Hightower at Little, Brown Children’s at auction via Patrice Caldwell of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
GABE COLE NOVOA sold YA fantasy The Wicked Bargain to Jenna Lettice at Random House Children’s via Louise Fury of the Bent Agency.
JENNIFER MOFFETT sold a supernatural YA novel to Alex Borbolla at Atheneum via Shannon Hassan at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
REBECCA RODE‘s YA Of Majesty & Mayhem, “a feminist Pirates of the Caribbean,” went to Caitlyn Averett at Jimmy Patterson in a pre-empt via Kelly Peterson of Rees Literary Agency.
K.S. VALE sold Crossbones, “Pirates of the Caribbean meets Six of Crows,” to Deanna McFadden at Wattpad.
MINDEE ARNETT‘s Icelandic-inspired fantasy Riven and a second book went to Jordan Brown at Balzer + Bray via Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media.
BRANDIE JUNE CHERNOW‘s YA Gold Spun, a retelling of “Rumpelstiltskin”, went to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books via Steven Hutson of WordWise Media Services. Cassandra Farrin will edit.
CIARA DUGGAN‘s YA fantasy Awakened went to Shayne Layton at Parliament House Press.
LAUREN NICOLLE TAYLOR‘s Asian YA fantasy The Girl with the Hickory Heart and two more sold to Hannah Smith at Owl Hollow Press via Rebecca Angus of Golden White Literary.
CELIA McMAHON‘s YA fantasy Fearless Stars sold to Parliament House Press.
SEQUOIA NAGAMATSU sold debut How High We Go in the Dark, “in the vein of Station Eleven and Cloud Atlas,” and a second book to Jessica Williams at William Morrow in a pre-empt via Annie Hwang of Ayesha Pande Literary. UK rights went to Paul Baggaley at Bloomsbury via Margaret Halton at PEW Literary on behalf of Hwang.
New writer JOCELYN NICOLE JOHNSON‘s collection of linked stories (including some set in the near future) My Monticello, plus a second book, sold to Barbara Jones and Retha Powers at Holt in a pre-empt via Meredith Kaffel Simonoff of DeFiore and Company.
GWEN KIRBY‘S debut collection Shit Cassandra Saw sold to Margaux Weisman at Penguin via Sarah Burnes of the Gernert Company.
JENNIE WEXLER‘s first novel Where It All Lands, “a Sliding Doors-esque love story,” went to Alexandra Sehulster at Wednesday Books in a pre-empt via CAA.
Debut novelist JOSEPH HAN‘s Nuclear Family, a literary novel with a ghost, went to Jennifer Alton at Counterpoint via Danielle Bukowski of Sterling Lord Literistic.
IDDO GEFEN sold debut collection Jerusalem Beach and novel Mrs. Lilienblum‘s Cloud Factory to Ben Schrank at Astra House via Deborah Harris of Deborah Harris Agency.
ERIC NEHER sold The Killing Pledge to Candace Thomas at Surge.
LORETTA KENDALL‘s Dreamer went to Candace Thomas at Celest.
A.B. FINLAYSON sold first novel The Book and the Blade and two more to Parliament House Press.
HANNAH NELSON sold post-apocalyptic romantic adventure The Last She to Deanna McFadden at Wattpad.
New writer ALEXANDRA THORNTON sold Daughter of the Salt King to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Cassandra Farrin will edit.
PHILIP PULLMAN sold novella Serpentine, set in the world of His Dark Materials, to Knopf Books for Young Readers, with illustrations by TOM DUXBURY. The piece was written in 2004 for a charity auction but was unpublished.
FAITH HUNTER‘s novella Junkyard Bargain, sequel to Junkyard Cats, went to Jo Ann Peritz at Audible Originals via Lucienne Diver of the Knight Agency. Steve Feldberg will edit.
J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI sold how-to guide Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer to Glenn Yeffeth at BenBella Books via Emma Parry of Janklow & Nesbit.
DEVI PILLAI is now publisher of Tor Teen and Starscape in addition to her current position as vice president and publisher of Tor Books.
NAN A. TALESE, president, publisher, and editorial director of her eponymous Doubleday imprint, will retire at the end of 2020. She began her career in 1959 as a copyeditor at Random House, and founded her imprint in 1990.
JENNIFER ENDERLIN has been named president of St. Martin’s Press.
AMANDA RUTTER is now an agent at Jennifer Azantian Literary Agency, representing adult and YA SF and fantasy.
TIM PRATT delivered The Doors of Sleep to Eleanor Teasdale at Angry Robot.
ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY resold Shards of Earth and two more in the Final Architects trilogy to Brit Hvide at Orbit US via UK publisher Pan Macmillan.
LYNDALL CLIPSTONE resold Gothic fantasy Lakesedge and Forestfall to Cat Camacho at Titan Books in the UK and to Claire Craig at Pan Macmillan in Australia via Jill Grinberg of Jill Grinberg Literary Management. Holt Children’s will publish in the US.
MICHAEL ROWE resold Enter Night, Wild Fell, and October to Betsy Mitchell at Open Road via Sam Hiyate of the Rights Factory.
ALDOUS HUXLEY‘s Brave New World has been adapted as a TV series by NBC Universal’s new streaming service Peacock, and debuted July 15.
TV rights to S.A. CHAKRABORTY‘s The City of Brass were optioned by Complete Fiction via Kim Yau at Echo Lake Entertainment, on behalf of Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary Agency.
TV rights to HUGH HOWEY‘s Half Way Home were optioned by Aaron Baiers of CBS Television Studios via Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency, Angela Cheng Caplan at Cheng Caplan Company, and attorney Wayne Alexander. Howey will executive produce with Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin of Secret Hideout.
This and more like it in the August 2020 issue of Locus.
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